STEALTH CENSORSHIP
Sometimes though, the materials in question are censored by a librarian or community member who quietly removes it from the shelf. Nobody notices the missing item, and so this is called “stealth censorship.” The website www.firstamendmentcenter.org estimates that for every documented book that is challenged, there are four to five books removed by stealth censorship that aren’t officially challenged. This means that the new ideas and information contained within the book are lost to the community forever, and nobody has even noticed. It is of course impossible to document this form of censorship, and library patrons are ultimately the ones who lose out on potentially useful information. The question here is what can we as library professionals do to combat this issue? According to the Web site, www.SmartWriters.com, Judy Blume has stated that the only way to combat this blatant disregard for the First Amendment is to make noise. Do you have other possible solutions for the prevention of stealth censorship?
What if the motive was not to censor but to gain an advantage over someone else? Think back to a time when you were doing a school project and when you went to the library to locate the materials you needed for a project, they turned up missing. You later find out that other classmates were able to complete the assignment, and that they used the exact source you needed. Is this not also some sort of stealth censorship, as it goes against the principles of intellectual freedom?
The term stealth censorship has also been used in the context of Websites. SafeSurf reports that Web sites are being rendered inaccessible for merely being housed on a server that also happens to host one or two unrelated email marketing sites. Persons searching the Web are unknowing of the censorship because they receive a message that merely states that the sites are non-existent. What other forms of stealth censorship can you think of?
6 comments:
Stealth censorship occurs more often than not. I have known some librarians that did not want to deal with the headaches of a particular topic and they have quietly removed the book from the shelves of the library. However, I have seen it backfire, patrons wanting a particular book and have checked it out before, come back to the library or recommend it to someone; they find that the book is no longer owned by the library.
In addition, I think another way of stealth censorship comes by way of the patron. Material that is controversial and remains on the library shelves disappear by the fact a patron checks the book out and never returns it. They would rather pay the replacement cost of the book.
Also, books that have had controversial issues, the book eventually becomes forgotten about. During the process of weeding the collection librarians must make the choice to keep or discard of the book.
In regards to finding solutions to stealth censorship, first I believe giving it a less glamorous name might help. Calling it "obstruction of knowledge," for instance, makes it sound like the highly punishable act that it is. Second, I believe we are responsible, as future information professionals, to reinforce our role as knowledge keepers in the description of our duties and obligations to the public. This would create an intrinsic accountability that is implied as pertaining to all who call themselves librarians.
Also, interlibrary loans, MeL, and the MichiCard are all examples of how libraries have made huge efforts to provide the information patron's seek, even if another patron is simultaneously seeking the exact same information! This dramatically decreases the chances of another individual (or library) maliciously gaining an advantage over another.
Stealth censorship is felt in classrooms. I experienced this in a film class. We were scheduled to view a minority picture but at the last minute the showing was canceled because the movie was deemed offensive. The film, we were told, contained stereotypical images that modern audiences would find offensive. It is sad to see history tampered with and this is what happens when it is buried from view. This is the same case for books that are removed for similar reasons. This makes one wonder whether society hopes to erase such prejudice scars from record. There have been offenses made to many in the past and it is important for people to know this fact. To me erasing such material is like taking away the knowledge of the great wall from China or the pyramids from Africa it's all a part of history.
Small town America loves stealth censorship. They think if it is not on the shelf, it is not happening. Librarians are sometimes stealth operators when they make selections that limit topics or a certain viewpoint of a situation because of the community ideas or values in which the library is located. I can see how hard it is to go up against the very people you set out to serve. But a library can not be the great equalizer that it potentially is when our patrons do not truly have the very best collection possible.
This kind of censorship seems to happen in all areas of society. Think of all the information our government conceals from the public? Think of the history lessons about the birth of the United States of America? The farther back in time, the more biased those lessons are. Yes, make noise we must.
I attached this link to the Censorship entry of this week's blog, but it really should have been here.
http://webpages.charter.net/tomeboy/censorship.html
This is librarians on the role of librarians as censors in the process of selecting books for their library. It is written in strong and informal language, but/and it brings up a good point.
I was also thinking of the same example Nate used in his posting. After a patron tries to convince the library to remove the book from the shelf the patron checks the book out only to never return it. I can also see this same patron going to several libraries and doing the same thing so that it is very difficult for anyone in the nearby communities to have access to the material. One way a library could attempt to combat this, as some libraries have, is to report these individual to the credit bureaus as the late fines increase.
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