Palin and library books-more than one apparently

[earl maltz]

The claim  that any of the constraints on professional judgment reflect 
anything other than simple cultural/political norms strikes me as 
unsupportable.  How do any of you feel about decisions to not buy (or to 
remove) books that:

a) deny the Holacaust
b)  argue that homosexuals are a grave danger to American society and 
should be treated as such
c)  defend slavery or
d)  contend that creationism, rather than  evolution, should be taught 
exclusively in the schools.

I would suggest that the only reason that we don't see books such as these 
in our public libraries is because of the content of their ideas,

At 08:37 AM 9/15/2008 -0400, Beth Young wrote:
>To me, the significant difference goes beyond librarians' training or 
>ethic to their professional practice.  Professionally managed libraries 
>usually establish policies that address book purchasing, book shelving, 
>book removal, and so on.  These policies are thought out in advance and 
>are reasonably detailed. I think it's better to act based on 
>pre-established guidelines than on ad hoc reactions to particular titles, 
>and it makes sense that a library expert would be tasked with implementing 
>them.
>
>In my local library, for example, policies provide criteria for purchasing 
>titles (for adult & juvenile collections--covering titles, formats, 
>shelving/accessibility), for removing them, and for public comment on 
>them.  These policies are approved by the library board (appointed by the 
>elected county & city councils), but I don't know how common that 
>administrative structure is.
>
>I haven't been tracking the Palin/censorship stories closely, but didn't 
>ADN or another paper report that the Wasilla library used policies that 
>conformed with ALA recommendations for libraries of that size?  And the 
>Wasilla librarian was an officer of some sort in the ALA?  If so, I would 
>expect that the Wasilla policies conformed with best practices identified 
>by the ALA (much as local fire prevention codes often follow best 
>practices of the NFPA).  On the other hand, if the Wasilla library did 
>have established policies & procedures for public input, you'd think the 
>librarian would just say so.
>
>Beth
>
>
>
>On Mon, Sep 15, 2008 at 7:13 AM, Curtis, Michael K. 
><<mailto:curtismk at wfu.edu>curtismk at wfu.edu> wrote:
>>Librarians have a strong free speech-freedom to read ethic. This is not a 
>>first amendment difference perhaps, but it is a substantial 
>>difference.  Librarians because of their professional culture are less 
>>likely to pull books for questionable motives.  Or so it seems to 
>>me.  For example, Palin was apparently going after books because of their 
>>ideas, not because of space concerns, because no one had checked them out 
>>in a decade, etc.
>>
>>Michael
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: 
>><mailto:conlawprof-bounces at lists.ucla.edu>conlawprof-bounces at lists.ucla.ed 
>>u [mailto:conlawprof-bounces at lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Gene Summerlin
>>Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2008 10:44 PM
>>To: <mailto:CONLAWPROF at lists.ucla.edu>CONLAWPROF at lists.ucla.edu
>>Subject: RE: Palin and library books-more than one apparently
>>
>>
>>  But Marci, from a constitutional standpoint, wouldn't one have the same 
>> gripe if a new librarian came into town and made a decision to pull the 
>> book off of the city library's shelves?  Recognizing that we are now 
>> moving into a hypothetical beyond what has been established in Mayor 
>> Palin's case, my question is from a First Amendment standpoint does it 
>> matter whether the mayor is pulling the book or the librarian is doing 
>> so?  And if it does matter, why?
>>
>>Gene Summerlin
>>Ogborn, Summerlin & Ogborn, PC
>>610 J Street, Suite 200
>>Lincoln, NE  68508
>>(402) 434-8042 (office - direct)
>>(402) 434-8044 (facsimile)
>>(402) 730-5344 (mobile)
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: 
>><mailto:conlawprof-bounces at lists.ucla.edu>conlawprof-bounces at lists.ucla.ed 
>>u [mailto:conlawprof-bounces at lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of 
>><mailto:hamilton02 at aol.com>hamilton02 at aol.com
>>Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2008 9:28 PM
>>To: <mailto:davidebernstein at aol.com>davidebernstein at aol.com; 
>><mailto:conlawprof-bounces at lists.ucla.edu>conlawprof-bounces at lists.ucla.edu; 
>><mailto:curtism at bellsouth.net>curtism at bellsouth.net; 
>><mailto:VOLOKH at law.ucla.edu>VOLOKH at law.ucla.edu; 
>><mailto:CONLAWPROF at lists.ucla.edu>CONLAWPROF at lists.ucla.edu
>>Subject: Re: Palin and library books-more than one apparently
>>
>>Because a librarian is trained to be a librarian and hired as such.  An 
>>elected official always carries the potential threat of either imposing 
>>majoritarian views on others (viewpoint discrimination) or to 
>>unilaterally impose personal views (also viewpt discrimination though 
>>differently motivated).
>>The censorship instinct to serve her own religious world view when 
>>combined with her instinct to force creationism on the science curriculum 
>>and then combined with her views on abortion and abstinence- only sex 
>>education add up to a singular worldview.  The biggest difference between 
>>her and Biden is her willingness to impose her religious worldview on her 
>>political universe and his unwillingness to do the same.
>>
>>Marci.
>>
>>Marci A. Hamilton
>>Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law
>>Cardozo School of Law
>>Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>>
>>-
>
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