{"id":8686,"date":"2013-09-20T01:54:43","date_gmt":"2013-09-20T06:54:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?p=8686"},"modified":"2023-05-10T15:42:56","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T20:42:56","slug":"a-look-beyond-banned-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\/","title":{"rendered":"A look beyond banned books"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
These classics and young adult books are among those most frequently challenged or banned. (Photo by Kathy Quirk<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s not just banned books that librarians are dealing with today \u2013 it\u2019s Internet filters, invasions of privacy and Internet censorship.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the view of Barbara Jones, director of the American Library Association\u2019s Office for Intellectual Freedom. Jones is scheduled to speak at the Milwaukee Public Library\u2019s Centennial Hall, 733 N. Eighth St., on Sunday, Sept. 22, at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n

Jones\u2019 talk, \u201cCanaries in the Coal Mine: How Libraries Fight for Free Speech, Freedom from Surveillance and Democratic Values,\u201d kicks off Banned Book Week, Sept. 22-28. The talk is presented by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee\u2019s School of Information Studies<\/a> and Center for Information Policy Research<\/a> in partnership with the Milwaukee Public Library.<\/p>\n

Barriers multiplied<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI think the biggest challenge we face is that there are so many barriers,\u201d says Jones, \u201cand the barriers are so complex now. It\u2019s one thing to remove a book from the shelves; it\u2019s another to filter the Internet. People don\u2019t know what information they\u2019re not getting.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the biggest challenges is the subtle invasion of privacy posed not only by government agencies like NSA (the National Security Agency), but the information collected by commercial interests through Facebook, Google and other online interactions, says Jones. \u201cIt\u2019s creepy, but also dangerous\u2026it\u2019s an invasion of our democratic values.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Barbara<\/a>
Barbara Jones<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As for the banned books themselves, young adult books, which are considered \u201cdark,\u201d are among those most frequently challenged, says Jones. \u201cMany young adult books that talk about themes like suicide, drugs, sex or other issues facing teens are among those frequently challenged. The books are often challenged over one scene or a few words.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, she mentions challenges to Sherman Alexie\u2019s \u201cThe Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.\u201d \u201cIt received critical acclaim, and the theme is about a young person, a Native American who makes it in life; breaks out of a dysfunctional situation. What could be better than that for a Native American high-schooler, but one community in Missouri removed it because of five words out of the entire book.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGood books are powerful, but they don\u2019t make people racists or suicidal,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Privacy and the Patriot Act<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Patriot Act has provided some particular challenges, says Jones, since it originally allowed the FBI to search library records without the knowledge of the librarian or the person whose records were being searched. Now librarians are informed, but \u201cthe Patriot Act requires libraries to give up records with very little indication of why. It\u2019s a very important, serious problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

The American Library Association (ALA) provides libraries with a continually updated manual of best practices in dealing with intellectual-freedom issues, and is now working on the ninth edition.<\/p>\n

The work of the ALA and libraries is both reactive and proactive, says Jones.<\/p>\n

In addition to protecting patrons\u2019 intellectual freedom, an increasing number of libraries are moving to encourage dialogues that contribute to a democratic society. \u201cMore and more libraries are becoming community centers and encouraging civic engagement through discussion groups about such issues as Obamacare.\u201d \u00a0And, if someone wants to check out a fact\u2013 well, they\u2019re right in the library, she adds.<\/p>\n

Jones own favorite banned book is \u201cTo Kill a Mockingbird,\u201d but she\u2019s also a fan of Huck Finn, \u201cCatcher in the Rye\u201d and \u201cThe Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.\u201d \u201cThey\u2019re great. They\u2019re powerful. They resonate with people. Why are we creating barriers to such great and powerful writing?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Public Library said in a statement about Banned Books Week:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Milwaukee Public Library is committed to upholding the principles of intellectual freedom and the right of every Milwaukee citizen to free inquiry without censure. Milwaukee Public Library collects materials representing the widest diversity of views and expressions and leaves judgments of moral, political and aesthetic value to each individual.<\/p>\n

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read, and Milwaukee Public Library is proud to join in this celebration. Our Banned Books Week programs and displays build awareness of the importance of free expression and the dangers of censorship. While we highlight the freedom to read during Banned Books Week, we are dedicated to upholding the principles of intellectual freedom year round.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not just banned books that librarians are dealing with today \u2013 it\u2019s Internet filters, invasions of privacy and Internet censorship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":835,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[],"section":[],"display_categories":[],"related-coverage":[],"uwmnews-feed":[347,165],"class_list":["post-8686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","uwmnews-feed-community-engagement-professions","uwmnews-feed-information-studies"],"yoast_head":"\nA look beyond banned books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s not just banned books that librarians are dealing with today \u2013 it\u2019s Internet filters, invasions of privacy and Internet censorship.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A look beyond banned books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s not just banned books that librarians are dealing with today \u2013 it\u2019s Internet filters, invasions of privacy and Internet censorship.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UWM REPORT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-09-20T06:54:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-10T20:42:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2013\/09\/banned_books_j-1efcv4r.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UWMNews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UWMNews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"A look beyond banned books\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-09-20T06:54:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-10T20:42:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":750,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/banned_books_j-1efcv4r.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\\\/\",\"name\":\"A look beyond banned books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/banned_books_j-1efcv4r.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-09-20T06:54:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-10T20:42:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"It\u2019s not just banned books that librarians are dealing with today \u2013 it\u2019s Internet filters, invasions of privacy and Internet censorship.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/banned_books_j-1efcv4r.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/banned_books_j-1efcv4r.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A look beyond banned books\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"UWM REPORT\",\"description\":\"News from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/uwm-seo-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/uwm-seo-logo.jpg\",\"width\":225,\"height\":224,\"caption\":\"University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/UWMNews\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/author\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A look beyond banned books","description":"It\u2019s not just banned books that librarians are dealing with today \u2013 it\u2019s Internet filters, invasions of privacy and Internet censorship.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A look beyond banned books","og_description":"It\u2019s not just banned books that librarians are dealing with today \u2013 it\u2019s Internet filters, invasions of privacy and Internet censorship.","og_url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\/","og_site_name":"UWM REPORT","article_published_time":"2013-09-20T06:54:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-05-10T20:42:56+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2013\/09\/banned_books_j-1efcv4r.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@UWMNews","twitter_site":"@UWMNews","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"A look beyond banned books","datePublished":"2013-09-20T06:54:43+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-10T20:42:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\/"},"wordCount":750,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2013\/09\/banned_books_j-1efcv4r.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\/","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\/","name":"A look beyond banned books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2013\/09\/banned_books_j-1efcv4r.jpg","datePublished":"2013-09-20T06:54:43+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-10T20:42:56+00:00","description":"It\u2019s not just banned books that librarians are dealing with today \u2013 it\u2019s Internet filters, invasions of privacy and Internet censorship.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2013\/09\/banned_books_j-1efcv4r.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2013\/09\/banned_books_j-1efcv4r.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/a-look-beyond-banned-books\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A look beyond banned books"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/","name":"UWM REPORT","description":"News from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#organization","name":"University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2017\/02\/uwm-seo-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2017\/02\/uwm-seo-logo.jpg","width":225,"height":224,"caption":"University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/UWMNews"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/author\/"}]}},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-19 02:16:39","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/835"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8686"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22310,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8686\/revisions\/22310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8686"},{"taxonomy":"section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section?post=8686"},{"taxonomy":"display_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display_categories?post=8686"},{"taxonomy":"related-coverage","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/related-coverage?post=8686"},{"taxonomy":"uwmnews-feed","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/uwmnews-feed?post=8686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}