About The Site
This website was researched and completed by Shannon O'Donnell, a graduate student in S580 History of Libraries as part of the Master in Library Science online degree offered at Indiana University, Purdue University in Indianapolis. The website is intended for educational purposes on the history of self-censorship and intellectual freedom in American libraries. Below are some sections from the "Backstory" paper written to accompany this website project.
Backstory
How & Why Was This Topic Chosen?
The library as a symbol and advocate for intellectual freedom has always appealed to me. Banned Books Week was one of my favorite library celebrations, and I always enjoyed discussing the need to protect information from those who would silence it. When I started taking courses for the library science program, I remember learning about self-censorship and how it struck me that censorship is not a simple black and white debate. Furthermore, when I began taking History of Libraries, I learned that the American public library has not always been this steadfast beacon of intellectual freedom that defended the right to read. There was a time when censoring what books the library carried on its shelves was not only commonplace, but a practice librarians took pride in and was even lauded by the time period’s stance on morality. This history shows that the library is a complex institution and that once again understanding censorship, and by extension self-censorship, is not an easy task. Learning that the library has not always stood for intellectual freedom did not tarnish my love for libraries, but rather cemented in me the notion that what continues to make American libraries great today is the people – the librarians, staff, and patrons – who make up the institution.
What Are The Research Questions Addressed?
• Are there ways to curtail self-censorship in public libraries or libraries in general?
• How prevalent is self-censorship in public libraries or libraries in general today as well as in the past?
• Is understanding the history of intellectual freedom in the public library one way to address self-censorship?
Contributions of the Project to History of Libraries
I feel that when we talk about libraries and protecting intellectual freedom we often focus on the problems from the outside. Banned Books Week, the Freedom to Read Statement, and a number of other programs and policies created by the American Library Association anticipate most threats to intellectual freedom from patrons, parents, and organizations outside the library institution. Not that there isn’t any merit to that, but it is interesting how little we seem to talk about self-censorship. Furthermore, we do not often widely acknowledge that the public library in America did not always uphold patrons’ rights to intellectual freedom and that it is a fairly recent concept in the overall history of libraries.
Strengths & Weaknesses of the Project
The strength of this project was on finding historical evidence of library policy in the 19th century as well as the shift in policy that embraced intellectual freedom in the 20th century and beyond. This was all fairly well-documented with many instances of primary and secondary sources. On the other hand, a weakness of this project was finding history on self-censorship. Most evidence I could find was very recent, from the last couple of decades, and most of that evidence just focused on studies and surveys. The research was also limited to school libraries rather than public libraries. In fact I make a note of this in a 'Personal Observation' segment on the Self-Censorship page.
The library as a symbol and advocate for intellectual freedom has always appealed to me. Banned Books Week was one of my favorite library celebrations, and I always enjoyed discussing the need to protect information from those who would silence it. When I started taking courses for the library science program, I remember learning about self-censorship and how it struck me that censorship is not a simple black and white debate. Furthermore, when I began taking History of Libraries, I learned that the American public library has not always been this steadfast beacon of intellectual freedom that defended the right to read. There was a time when censoring what books the library carried on its shelves was not only commonplace, but a practice librarians took pride in and was even lauded by the time period’s stance on morality. This history shows that the library is a complex institution and that once again understanding censorship, and by extension self-censorship, is not an easy task. Learning that the library has not always stood for intellectual freedom did not tarnish my love for libraries, but rather cemented in me the notion that what continues to make American libraries great today is the people – the librarians, staff, and patrons – who make up the institution.
What Are The Research Questions Addressed?
• Are there ways to curtail self-censorship in public libraries or libraries in general?
• How prevalent is self-censorship in public libraries or libraries in general today as well as in the past?
• Is understanding the history of intellectual freedom in the public library one way to address self-censorship?
Contributions of the Project to History of Libraries
I feel that when we talk about libraries and protecting intellectual freedom we often focus on the problems from the outside. Banned Books Week, the Freedom to Read Statement, and a number of other programs and policies created by the American Library Association anticipate most threats to intellectual freedom from patrons, parents, and organizations outside the library institution. Not that there isn’t any merit to that, but it is interesting how little we seem to talk about self-censorship. Furthermore, we do not often widely acknowledge that the public library in America did not always uphold patrons’ rights to intellectual freedom and that it is a fairly recent concept in the overall history of libraries.
Strengths & Weaknesses of the Project
The strength of this project was on finding historical evidence of library policy in the 19th century as well as the shift in policy that embraced intellectual freedom in the 20th century and beyond. This was all fairly well-documented with many instances of primary and secondary sources. On the other hand, a weakness of this project was finding history on self-censorship. Most evidence I could find was very recent, from the last couple of decades, and most of that evidence just focused on studies and surveys. The research was also limited to school libraries rather than public libraries. In fact I make a note of this in a 'Personal Observation' segment on the Self-Censorship page.