So this is a pretty big topic to start out with, especially since I've been away for a while and am just starting up again. It's spurred by a little discussion we had in class just before exams. We talked about a problem that has been forefront in librarianship almost from the very beginning and you guessed it the topic was censorship.
Here's something I didn't know about censorship. More often then not the problem isn't the teachers and principals in schools. It isn't angry parents or religious leaders (although they make the most noise). The ones doing the most to censor school and public libraries? Usually the librarians. And this makes sense if you think about it, librarians do the choosing, and the buying and shelving, of anything that comes into the library. And these librarians know their customer base, they know they could get in trouble and lose their jobs over certain books. They know that some people will get very loud, and pull in the media, over a perfectly harmless book with a questionable title. This happened about a book called "The Earth, my Butt and Other Big, Round Things" which I've read, and in my opinion is perfectly appropriate to the age it's written for. So a librarian picks her battles and keeps the books she knows will cause problems off the shelves and voila: no issues, no stress and no bad publicity.
I'm tempted at this point to make a stink about how a librarian is supposed to be a guardian against this kind of censorship, nay, all kinds! People should have the right to choose their own reading without some larger force playing a role. That's what democracy is all about. But realistically speaking I'm just entering the field, I don't really have the experience to talk about an issue this big, because I don't know how I'd react in a situation like that. So I'll stick to my main point, and ask any readers out their to make comments on their stance on self censorship. Maybe we can get a more balance view from many rather than my one.
Finally, this blog was not created as a tool of censorship. I grew up reading manga and it's something that I really love. I want other people to find and love it too, that's why I want to see it in any library that has children as patrons. I know that many librarians don't understand manga, or have had bad experiences picking up something that was meant only for adults. That's why I write this, I'm hoping a librarian will see this and find a series here that they might not have otherwise picked up. Something they know they can offer to their kids, and that parents and teachers won't freak out when they see it on the selves. Every library has different needs and different places they draw the line for what is acceptable to kids and teens. If I had my way, all of these books I talk about would find their way to every library. That's what I feel, I hope you write and tell me what you feel. Speak up, I want to hear you!
