Censorship in Libraries

[Judy Myers]

When I was a child in Orlando, at the public library I could use anything I
wanted in the children's collection, but the stacks in that library were
closed and the librarian would not let me go into the adult book stacks.  I
could request items from the adult stacks, and presumably the librarian
decided whether the items I had requested were suitable for a person my age.
After a few months she saw that my only request was for dozens of books
about horses each time (they had a great collection), and she allowed me to
go to the stacks myself.

I think this is a conceptual model that could work for public libraries
today.  It would seem to me to be perfectly acceptable to have a children's
area (whether it is a physical space or is defined in some other way) that
includes books and other materials that children are interested in, and to
make clear to parents what kinds of materials are accessable there.  Parents
can then decide if it is o.k. to leave a child there to explore.

What has changed since I was a child is that parents may not feel that they
can let children out of their sight in the library, and the library may have
terminals in only one area.  If the adult has work to do, it may not be
possible to watch the child's every screen at a nearby terminal.  However,
several options are possible, such as providing adults (and children with
parental permission) with passwords to bypass a censoring program,
designating certain terminals for children, etc.  None of these solutions
will keep children completely protected, and I think most parents and
governments can live with that.  

I believe that parents have a reasonable concern about exposing children to
the adult world.  There have certainly been times and societies that
protected children less well than ours does, but I don't believe we do as
well on this as we should.  And I believe that libraries can affirm
childhood as wall as broad access to information.


Judy E. Myers                              jm at uh.edu
Assistant to the Dean of Libraries         713/743-9805 (voice)
University of Houston Libraries            713/743-9811 (fax)
Houston, TX 77204-2091