There was a good turn out to hear Lawrence Public Library Director Brad Allen talk about censorship efforts to ban particular books from schools and libraries. Sometimes parents object to a book because they are concerned that the material poses a threat to their child. Sometimes books are objected to because they are perceived as a threat to the establishment.
This topic is a timely one as presently there are numerous reports of organized efforts to protest critical race theory and other books addressing problems with American culture. Censorship has been an issue throughout American history. The Comstock Laws passed in 1872 provided prison time for sending pornography through the mail, which at that time included factual information on birth control. Currently our society is extremely polarized and considerable efforts have been employed to silence critics.
In 1982, the American Library Association (ALA) established Banned Books Week to celebrate the freedom to read and raise awareness of challenged and banned books. Many more books are challenged than are actually removed from the shelves. Most libraries have a process for dealing with challenges which involves collecting information about the challenge and convening a committee to review the objections and the book. The committee makes the decision about the fate of the book.
Presently, activists are attempting to put like-minded people on governing boards in an attempt to shape the culture. The variety of book challenges varies from children’s books to such authors as Toni Morrison, John Steinbeck and Harper Lee. A book may be removed from the collection for having inaccuracies, being dated, or having insufficient literary merits. However, most challenged books stay in the collection.
Allen was asked about the future of public libraries. He said that people have been predicting the demise of public libraries for many years. However libraries have embraced technology and demonstrated adaptability and relevance.
Allen has an interesting background, taking degrees in American Studies, Psychology, African Studies and Library Science. He also loves music and played in a funk band. Allen has served as director of the Lawrence Public Library for ten years and is credited with significant growth of library programing and services.
