the big book ban
October 12th, 2006 | Uncategorized
Thank you so much, everyone, for all your posts on the progress of the Marshall Public Library situation. This is getting even more complex than the Michigan Womyn’s fest trans policy posts.
It sounds like the latest development is some kind of procedural stall, temporarily removing the books (Fun Home, and Craig Thompson’s Blankets) until the library develops a collections policy. Whatever.
But look! The Marshall Democrat-News is quoting folks from this blog in their coverage of the issue. Pretty sweet. Thanks to everyone who contributed.
12 Responses to “the big book ban”
I found it curious that the article (regarding censorship of your book) mentioned your webiste, but failed to name it. Too shocking for a small-town Missouri paper?
Irony – you’re soaking in it!
I blogged about this here and joined the ALA because they seem to be the organization most closely focused on free speech as it pertains to libraries.
I was out of town for a spate and this is what happens! Ya know, I’m now very glad I’ve been a member of the CBLDF.
Sounds like the library doesn’t have it together. Why don’t they have a collections policy to start with? And removing books until a decision is made is a mistake. It’s like an admission that the book is not fit.
P.S. I know Alison Bechdel is not into self referentialism, but I do wonder what Mo would think.
I wonder what the angel-bear-lady would say. Or wait, maybe we are dealing with angel-bear-lady, since she was a librarian. 🙂
Here in Marshall, MO, the editorial in today’s Marshall Democrat-News (Friday, October 13, 2006) has the headline “Do not restrict access to the two books.” Editor Chuck Mason, who identifies himself as a member of the Friends of the Library and “a champion of books since I could breathe,” says, “The library board has essentially blinked in the harsh light of public discussion.”
As most of you know, the library’s Board of Trustrees decided to develop a materials selection policy. After the policy is in place, “Fun Home” and “Blankets” will be reconsidered according to the new policy. Until the policy is written and in place, however, the books will be removed from the shelves and will be out of circulation. Mason objects to pulling the books off the shelves while the policy is being developed.
His editorial can be found on the Marshall Democrat-News website under “Opinion”: http://www.marshallnews.com/story/1172864.html
Supporter;
Thanks for the link about the editorial-I was beginning to think that for a paper named the Marshall DEMOCRAT-News, it seemed to be a pretty conservative publication…Sorry for making some of the smart-ass remarks I made about central Mo.You, chuck Mason and others are proof that progressives are everywhere…
Interesting editorial. I hope a Marshallite takes Mason’s suggestion and petitions for removal of the Bible from library shelves.
What about all those naughty thrills people get when reading Genesis 38:7-9? That verse isn’t about Dorothy Parker’s canary, folks! Protect Missouri youth!
Alex K: don’t forget the passage in Exodus where Yahweh moons Moses (I think it’s around chapter 32), or the one in Ezekiel where he complains that Israel has been whoring around with Assyria and Egypt, who have members like horses and issue like donkeys (or the other way around; I think that is Ezek 15 or 16, but I don’t have Power Tool 3: the Holy Scriptures to hand). It was not for nothing that the 19th century saw bowdlerized “Family” Bibles and Shakespeares.
And hey, don’t forget Shakespeare! Is that like filth, or what? “The hand of the clock is on the p***k of noon.” And those sonnets, obviously part of the gay agenda to make us think that homosexuality is normal. Let’s get this smut off our library shelves!
The Marshall Public Library has set its schedule of meetings for the materials selection policy committee. The committee will meet on Thursday nights at 5 p.m. beginning October 26 and ending November 29.
As everyone knows, when the policy is in place, the two books, “Blankets” and “Fun Home,” will be reconsidered according to the new policy. While the policy is being developed, the books are off the shelves and out of circulation.
Here is the story in the Marshall Democrat-News: http://www.marshallnews.com/story/1173310.html
In today’s (10/23/06)issue of the Kansas City Star is a story about the book ban in Marshall, Missouri.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/15825213.htm