Lessons from my First Intellectual Freedom Challenge

If you work in a public library long enough, at some point you are bound to be faced with an intellectual freedom challenge. I faced my first challenge within my first month of working in public libraries. I was fortunate to have joined a library system shortly after the community had passed a major bond, and I spent my first few weeks on the job unpacking boxes of shiny new books, CDs and magazines, and placing them in their designated order on new bare shelves. Those of us who worked in that library to prepare for opening day were like kids in a candy store, and it was difficult to resist taking armloads home with us at the end of each day.

On the day we opened our new library, crowds came streaming in all day, mostly all smiles. It was a great feeling. I think it was the second day after we opened that I received a phone call from a patron who asked me in a pointed way, "Is it true that you have Playboy within reach of children?" Prior to this job, I had worked mostly in private libraries--medical, newspaper and law firm libraries--and so I had never faced a challenge. I was used to dealing with all questions as reference or research related, and I ignored the tone in her voice and treated her question as if it were informational in nature. After verifying the location of Playboy Magazine, I returned to the phone and reported that "yes, depending on the height of the child, it was, for the most part, within reach of children." What a mistake! Instead of listening to the tone of her voice, instead of querying her to ask for her real concern, instead of inviting her in for a conversation or referring her to my manager who might have liked to have such a conversation, I answered her question and after hanging up the phone, went on to help the next patron in line.

A couple of weeks after we opened our doors, our library had planned an official Grand Opening celebration. Unfortunately, during that time, this woman had taken this issue to friends, acquaintances, and the media. In order to attend the Grand Opening celebration, library patrons had to pass through a picket line, with television cameras rolling. The group of picketers, and the woman who led this group, maintained that Playboy should be kept behind the counter where only adults could gain access. Such a practice would fly in the face of the ALA Library Bill of Rights, which the library had adopted as policy.

Our branch manager and library director talked with the staff to ensure that we understood the issue and the reasons that the library did not keep materials behind desks because of content viewpoint. The Library Board considered the issue and after much debate, decided that the library could not go down that road. This was a very difficult period--for library staff, for the Board and library administration, and for members of the community who had so looked forward to the opening of their new library. I remember making some comment to my branch manager about the woman who had stirred up this local controversy. I didn't understand her perspective, and while I don't remember exactly what I said, I made some disdainful remark about her and what she was doing. The branch manager took issue with me, and explained that she was a strong supporter of the library, and that he respected that she was taking a stand for what she believed in.

I learned a couple of things from this experience. First--I learned that while we in libraries are expected to defend access without judgment or censorship, our patrons have no reason to understand this issue. And that the great, beautiful irony of intellectual freedom is that when patrons challenge the right to access, they are exercising the very freedom that we are defending.

I also learned that ignoring the issue will not make it go away--and that patrons who bring challenges to us need to be heard. We need not only to show that we're listening, but to show that we care, and that while we in public libraries will not (or should not) restrict access based on viewpoint or content, there are many things we can do to try and turn their experiences around and ensure that they are getting what they need from their library experience. I have often wondered what would have happened if I had really listened to this patron's concern on the phone. What if, instead of treating her concern as if it were an informational question only, I had offered to show her the many resources we were offering for children. What if I had thanked her for expressing her concern, praised her for including the library in her children's lives, and reassured her that the library had a children's section filled with materials selected specifically for children of various ages? I'll never know whether or not that would have prevented her from taking the issue to the level that she took it. But I am absolutely certain that a different reply would have made for a more pleasant and welcoming experience for this woman in her library.

If we are going to assign it...

...then we ought to blog too. This is where Catherine and I will post our own thoughts, feelings, and observations about Intellectual Freedom in the library world. This is not where we want you to look for important information about the course or its content. For that, check the course website.

The purpose of this blog/journal assignment is to think about Intellectual Freedom issues in a more informal way throughout the course. Feel like reading a Banned Book for fun? Want to comment on the latest school challenge? Did something on NPR get you thinking?

There is also one week where we will ask you to post your response to a case scenario in your blog. It won't be graded.