Minors and First Amendment rights

The focus on my discussion this week was spurred by three readings relating to minors’ access to information:

The first is a memorandum from the ALA titled Minors’ Rights to Receive Information Under the First Amendment, which was shared by our professor for this course, Mary Ann Harlan. Since I work in a law office, I really enjoyed reading about the case law behind censorship in schools and libraries. From what I can discern, the case law leaves a lot of room for interpretation as to what material is constitutionally protected when it comes to minors. While the task is slightly easier for school librarians, who must determine if something is “educationally unsuitable,” public librarians are constantly in the precarious position of making judgment calls without such clear guidelines. If a minor asks for a website to be unblocked, how does the librarian determine whether or not to do so? Does a picture book about a child with homosexual parents belong among the general population of children’s books or does it belong elsewhere? Unfortunately, I don’t believe the job of librarians when it comes to minors and questionable material will ever get any easier, since definitions of obscenity will always be subject to individual interpretation.

Second, in response to the professor’s post, a classmate posted this article from the Contra Costa Times reporting that Bastard Out of Carolina was pulled from an AP English class in Fremont, California.

Bastard Out of Carolina was not assigned reading for me until college and it was still very challenging for me to read. (The lead character, Bone, is a young girl who faces physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of her mother’s husband.) Unfortunately, the hardships which Bone endures are a reality for too many people. But reading is an avenue for learning about lives outside of our own sphere, even if it is difficult for us to swallow. Whenever a person reads a book about experiences different from their own, they are increasing their awareness, empathy, and understanding towards others. I can understand the AP teacher’s motivation behind assigning this challenging yet powerful book and do not think it should have been removed from the curriculum. Interestingly, the Fremont Unified school board has adopted a policy of not reconsidering banned books for two years…

Finally, over at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy, blogger Liz B recently posted a discussion on the removal of a LGBT children’s book from library shelves in Burlington County, New Jersey.

First, I should preface by stating that I have not personally read Revolutionary Voices, the controversial book in question. However, I find it highly doubtful that any middle or high schooler (or even young child, really) who might come across this book would be shocked or traumatized by its contents. The reality is that many queer youth need to hear that they are normal and can be empowered and inspired by hearing from teens like themselves. Frankly, I am quite appalled that a public library in 2010 would deem such a book so outrageous that it needs to be removed from even the adult non-fiction section.

Whew, I certainly have an increased respect for young adult librarians this week! My professional experience in a public library has mainly focused on the children’s department, where the issue of appropriate versus inappropriate is much more straightforward. With the developmental stages of tweens and teens being so varied, it is difficult for librarians to know what is appropriate to recommend. I think the role of school and public libraries is summed up nicely in the 1969 Court decision in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (which is quoted in the ALA article discussed above): “In our system, students may not be regarded as closed-circuit recipients of only that which the State chooses to communicate.”

Indeed!