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Selection or Censorship?

Amanda Harding

Dominican University

LIS 748
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Working in a school library, there is no shortage of people questioning if all of the

materials in the collection are appropriate for the community being served. The librarian,

who is responsible for the ordering and managing of materials, has to be able to determine

what particular items will best meet the needs of the students and staff in the specified

school or district. Therefore, the issue becomes whether or not the librarian is acting as a

censor because the collection is being built on the librarian’s decisions, and throughout the

collection development process, items will be excluded. Librarians make collection

decisions for their communities, but “censors” does not accurately describe their role.

“Selectors” is much more applicable term because they are selecting materials based on the

library’s predetermined policy. As long as they are not denying access to materials

worldwide, and they are not refusing to purchase something based on personal prejudices,

they are not acting as censors.

In order to fully understand this concept, censorship and selection need to be

defined in contrast with one another. Johnson (2018) defines censorship as: “suppression

or prohibition of the production, distribution, circulation, or display of a work on grounds

that is contains objectionable or dangerous material” (p. 385). On the other hand, selection

is simply defined as: “the process of deciding which materials should be added to a library

collection” (Johnson, 2018, p. 399). The difference is that librarians are making the choice

not to add something based on the specific needs of their community instead of not adding

something based on a law in place. However, since the librarian is responsible for the

decision of what is and is not included in the collection, censorship can still appear to be
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present in all instances. Late librarian and library science scholar, Lester Asheim, makes

this declaration in a different way, while arguing that librarians practice selection and not

censorship. He illustrates his claim through an example of a patron attempting to obtain a

copy of Ulysses from the library. There are three reasons why a patron may be unable to

receive the book: its admittance into the United States was denied, the librarian made the

choice to not purchase it, or it was challenged and removed from the collection (Asheim,

2005, para. 5). Although, in each instance, the result is always the same, the second

instance is the only one that singles out a particular library, instead of targeting all

information institutions. When a material is denied to an entire community that would be

considered censorship. However, if a librarian makes the decision to not to purchase an

item, but a patron can still access it, that would be selection.

The American Library Association compiled a list of policies that should be used as

a guide for their institutions and services. According to their guidelines, libraries should

provide materials “presenting all points of view on current and historical issues,” but those

materials should “be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people

of the community the library serves” (Johnson, 2018, p. 60). The focus is on the specific

people who are going to be accessing this institution, which means not all materials may

meet the needs of the members of the community. For instance, a librarian in an elementary

school would not want to order books targeted towards teenagers because the content and

subject matter is not intended for a younger audience. The same reasoning would apply to a

high school not wanting to stock board books or picture books.

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School libraries are places where the presence of censorship appears prevalent,

considering school librarians potentially fear parental or administrative challenges to the

collection. Oftentimes, a librarian in a school is the person solely responsible for the

selection and ordering of library materials for the building, which brings up the concern of

whether or not they are acting as self-censors in order to avoid conflict with anybody who

might question something in the collection. Self-censorship is “the practice of not acquiring

materials because of their potential to generate controversy” (Garry, 2015, p. 76), and a

librarian would be practicing self-censorship if their decision to remove or not purchase a

title was based on personal prejudices, and not done for a logical reason. However, not all

librarians utilize this line of thinking, and many are guilty of censoring their collections to

some extent. Instances of self-censorship was confirmed in a 2009 survey published in

School Library Journal, “70% of the library professionals surveyed claimed that concern

about possible parent reactions factored into their decisions to acquire controversial titles”

(Garry, 2015, p. 76). Librarians can correct this by thinking logically about the issues at

hand before purchasing titles and deciding if they are relevant to their communities,

regardless of personal opinions.

School librarians may also self-censor because of perceived opinions of school

administrators. A 2016 survey of 471 school librarians was conducted in North and South

Carolina. These librarians were asked to rank their comfort level, as well as their principal’s

comfort level on various categories that were deemed “most commonly challenged” by the

American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom (Dawkins, 2018, p. 9). The

scale ranged from 1—being extremely comfortable—to 7—being extremely uncomfortable.

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The results showed that the librarians believed themselves to be more comfortable than

their principals when it comes to controversial topics. Overall, the librarians ranked their

principals to express the largest concern over the following categories: violence, LGBTQ

material, and offensive language (Dawkins, 2018, p. 10). Interestingly enough, statistical

analysis showed that the school librarians own discomfort increased the more they believed

their principals would feel discomfort. The survey was followed by an interview portion of

49 school librarians, who explained that they often chose not to include something because

of how they believed their principal would feel about it (Dawkins, 2018, p. 10). It is crucial

for librarians to meet with their principals to discuss a plan when it comes to this types of

issues.

School libraries can take measures in order to avoid censorship from occurring. To

start off, the librarian can ensure that there is a strong collection development policy in

place. According to Johnson (2018), collection development policies serve two purposes,

one of them being to “protect the library against external pressures,” which includes the

ability to “protect intellectual freedom and prevent censorship” (p. 87). With a policy,

librarians are given the opportunity to consider their positions on controversial topics and

are able to take a stand. The policy also ensures that if a parent or other member of the

community was to challenge an item in the collection, the librarians is equipped with the

proper tools to respond in a professional manner. If librarians are able to build their

collections around set guidelines approved by administration, as opposed to personal

opinions and biases, there is a less chance for censorship to occur.

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Overall, school librarians should possess a passion for abiding by the First

Amendment. Materials should not be excluded from a collection based on personal biases,

but instead should only be excluded if there is a logical reasoning for it, laid out in a

collection development policy. Leu (2015), a school librarian in Utah, declares, “ children

deserve to see their lives, their experiences, and their families reflected back in the books

they read. They should also be lucky enough to see other lives, other experiences, and

other families. That is the promise of the First Amendment, and I am proud to uphold it” (p.

45). That is a message that any school librarian can learn from and take to their own

libraries.
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References

Adams, H., Leu, D., & Venuto, D. A. (2015). Standing by their principles: Two librarians

who faced challenges. Knowledge Quest, 44(1), 42-47. Retrieved from

https://dom.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true

&db=eric&AN=EJ1073949&site=eds-live&scope=site

Asheim, L. (2005). Not censorship but selection. Retrieved from

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/NotCensorshipButSelection

Dawkins, A. M. (2018) The decision by school librarians to self-censor: The impact of

perceived administrative discomfort. Teacher Librarian, 45(3), 8-12. Retrieved from

https://dom.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true

&db=tfh&AN=128027170&site=eds-live&scope=site

Garry, C. P. (2015). Selection or censorship? School librarians and LGBTQ resources.

School Libraries Worldwide, (1), 73. Retrieved from

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https://dom.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true

&db=edsglr&AN=edsgcl.45899893&site=eds-live&scope=site

Johnson, P. (2018). Fundamentals of collection development and management. Chicago:

ALA Editions.