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sarahmcnicol — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 04:08:33 CST

The Forbidden Fruit conference focussed on the censorship of print, electronic and other literary and information resources for young people.

Following on from this conference, there will a conference focussing on health information for young people in Chester on 23rd and 24th June 2009. Click here for further details.

It was an opportunity for practitioners from libraries, information services and education, researchers from a range of disciples, publishers, authors and policymakers from all sectors interested in to meet, network and share experiences.

Topics included:

Graphic novels
Gay & lesbian fiction
Students' perspectives on book banning
Attitudes towards censorship in different cultures
The history of censorship
Internet and mobile censorship
The availability of controversial titles
Pre-censorship
Translations and adaptations
Professional attitudes towards censorship.

The conference proceedings are now available in print or as an e-book from BrownWalker Press

Lucy Pearson

sarahmcnicol — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:56:06 CDT

From Young Mother to Forever: changing critical attitudes to censorship in the 1960s and 1970s

Lucy Pearson, AHRC Collaborative PhD Student: Newcastle University and Seven Stories, the Centre for Children's Books, UK

The 1960s and 1970s were an extremely active and influential period in the history of British children’s literature, often regarded as a ‘golden age’. This period of growth took place in the context of radical social and political change, which both fuelled the expansion of children's literature and was reflected in the literature itself. One of the most significant changes was the shift in attitudes towards the type of material considered 'suitable' for children's literature. The publication of John Rowe Townsend's Gumble's Yard in 1961 marked a move towards more realism in fiction for children, which was accompanied by a decrease in censorship of 'real life' elements. Sex, colloquial and explicit language, and 'darker' subjects like poverty and family breakdown - all previously considered unsuitable - were increasingly accepted and even encouraged in children's books. However, the reduction of censorship in these areas was accompanied by increased censorship in others, notably in the drive to eliminate racist and sexist elements.

This paper will examine critical responses to censorship during the 1960s and the 1970s, questioning how far the shift in emphasis was promoted or resisted by critics. This work constitutes the first part of a broader enquiry into censorship and ideology during this period, and discussion of how these issues were reflected in the literature itself will be welcomed.

View the presentation

Where and when

sarahmcnicol — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 03:59:40 CDT

Forbidden Fruit: The censorship of literature and information for young people was held on Thursday 19th and Friday 20th June 2008 at the Floral Hall in Southport, UK.

What's going on?

sarahmcnicol — Sat, 17 May 2008 12:44:42 CDT

You can download an outline of the conference at the bottom of the page.

Visit the speakers' wiki pages for their abstracts and other information.

Thursday 19th June

David Belbin, author

Perchance to Dream: The Availability of Lambda Award Children’s and Young Adult titles in US public libraries Dr. Jennifer Weil Arns, School of Library and Information Science, University of South Carolina, USA

Defending Gay and Lesbian Young Adult Literature. Dr John B. Harer, Department of Library Science and Instructional Technology, East Carolina University, USA

“Who are We Protecting Them From?” Revisiting ‘Graphic Account’. Dr. Mel Gibson, Northumbria University, UK

The Regulation of Mobile Internet in South Africa Paul Laughton, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Friday 20th June

Barry Lyga, author

Not All Good or All Bad”: Listening to Student Perspectives on Book Banning Wendy Stephens, Buckhorn High School, US

Goodbye Sambo, hello Forever: changing critical attitudes to censorship in the 1960s and 1970s, Lucy Pearson, AHRC Collaborative PhD Student: Newcastle University and Seven Stories, the Centre for Children's Books, UK

Pre-censorship of authors and illustrators of children’s and young adult materials: The stifling of creative thought in anticipation of the marketplace
Cherie Givens, School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, University of British Columbia, Canada

Censorship in the Greek Tragedies’ adaptations for children. Dr Moula Evangelia, Public Education of Greece, Greece.
Young Adult Fiction in Malta ... Do We Dare? Dr Christopher Gruppetta, Merlin Library Ltd, Malta

The silences of desire: Prohibitions and tolerance in young adult Greek novels, Kaliakatsou Ioanna

Looking in the ‘problem’ basket: The translation of Australian cultural referents in children’s books, Helen T Frank, School of Languages and Linguistics, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Helen T Frank

sarahmcnicol — Sat, 17 May 2008 12:43:18 CDT

Looking in the ‘problem’ basket: The translation of Australian cultural referents in children’s books

Helen T Frank, School of Languages and Linguistics, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Both tourism literature and translation endeavour to create an experience for the reader by establishing a balance between content that is ‘real’ and content that is oversanitized. The existence of varying degrees of ‘Australianness’ in children’s fiction selected for French translation leads to the general supposition that to translate means to be interested in the ‘otherness’ of the source culture. This sets up the expectation that something of the source culture will be carried over in the translation due to the specificity of the Australian text. The degree of interest in Australian features can be measured in translations by the type and extent of cultural adaptation. Heavy deletion and adaptation of Australian content reflects either a low interest level in ‘Australianness’ in general or a form of censorship of material regarded as negative. This paper examines cultural referents that do not reflect a positive exoticism and are therefore assumed to be less appealing to a foreign culture, leading to modification or deletion in translation. Assuming that one of the aims of translating books for children is to provide knowledge of a foreign culture, modifying or omitting passages containing Australian content is clearly going against the desire to promote international understanding.

Links

sarahmcnicol — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 08:48:21 CDT

YALSA Intellectual Freedom Resources

AS IF! Authors Support Intellectual Freedom

The Free Expression Policy Project (FEPP): "Harm to Minors" and Censorship of Youth

Media Education Association (UK)

Association for Research in Popular Fiction (UK) - see in particular Twentieth Century Teenager Conference, Leeds, 10th-12th July

KQ Web Edition 101: Intellectual Freedom (AASL)

Other conferences/training

Barry Lyga

barrylyga — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:01:57 CDT

After graduating from Yale with a degree in English, Barry Lyga worked in the comic book industry for ten years. He wrote comics for part of that time, but also was responsible for spearheading and developing Free Comic Book Day, the comics’ only industry-wide promotion. During those years, he was a spokesperson for the industry in general, quoted in countless newspaper and magazine articles, as well as appearing on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.” He co-wrote a book on incorporating comic books and graphic novels into school libraries and has spoken on the topic at regional and national conferences.

In 2006, his first young adult novel, The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, was published to rave reviews, including starred reviews from Booklist and School Library Journal. USA Today called it “an entertaining read no matter what age you are.” VOYA commented, “A triumphant finale leaves readers wanting to read the novel again and again.” SLJ listed the book as one of the best of 2006. His second young adult novel, Boy Toy, received starred reviews in SLJ, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus. VOYA gave it its highest critical rating, and the Chicago Tribune called it "...an astounding portrayal of what it is like to be the young male victim."

Publisher’s Weekly named Lyga a “Flying Start” in December 2006 on the strength of his debut.

His books are published in the U.S. and Canada by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and in Australia by Pan Macmillan.

Lyga lives and writes in the desert. He has a comic book collection that is way too big. His third novel, Hero-Type, will hit stores in the U.S. and Canada in Fall 2008.

Visit him at http://barrylyga.com/.

Liz Chapman

sarahmcnicol — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:26:20 CDT

Provision of LGBT materials for children and young people in UK public and secondary school libraries

Liz Chapman, Enfield Libraries

This paper reports the findings of research carried out for two MA dissertations at the University of Sheffield. The studies addressed, respectively, provision of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans) resources in secondary school libraries; and provision of LGBT fiction to children and young people in public libraries. Both studies used mixed-method approaches to investigate levels of provision, as well as staff attitudes to this provision. The study on public libraries additionally contrasted library employees’ opinions with those of LGBT parents and young LGBT individuals.

The data from both projects showed that, while respondents generally held positive attitudes to LGBT materials, actual stock provision could be improved. It is suggested that librarians may be guilty of 'censorship by omission' due to lack of awareness and over-reliance on mainstream suppliers.

The research highlighted certain topics which continue to provoke debate and anxiety among library staff. These include material with sexual content; age restrictions; location of materials; active promotion of materials; Internet filtering; the possibility of complaint and the impact of the ethos of the school. The paper will discuss these areas in detail and review them in the light of legislation and professional guidelines.

Finally, the paper offers some recommendations for both school and public librarians, as well as for the wider professional and research communities.

Censorship in the news

sarahmcnicol — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:36:20 CDT

The Independent has reported that a Roman Catholic bishop had likened books which criticised the teachings of the Church to works that denied the Holocaust had taken place. The Rt Rev Patrick O’Donoghue, Bishop of Lancaster, told the Commons Children, Schools and Families Committee that books that were critical of the Catholic faith should be banned from school libraries. ______________________________________________________________________________________
Does film ``Compass'' steer kids in wrong direction?; Catholic group urges ban in fear kids will read the book, which is by an atheist author

The Houston Chronicle, December 7, 2007 Friday

A US group of Catholics is urging parents to steer clear of the new film ``The Golden Compass'' - not because of the movie's content, but because their children might like it and read the book. In early October the Catholic League sent out its pamphlet, complete with 95 footnotes, to hundreds of groups, including Protestant and Muslim organizations and Roman Catholic bishops. In response, some groups have issued warnings to parishioners or moved to ban the book from church schools. Kiera McCaffrey, spokeswoman for the Catholic League, says the anti-Christian themes are watered down in the film, but she and others worry the movie might entice youngsters into reading Pullmans' novels. "If parents see (the movie) they might think, `What a great Christmas gift idea? Why don't I get little Johnny or Sally the trilogy?' But if that happens, then little Johnny or Sally will wake up Christmas morning to a candy-coated message of atheism," she said.

This week the Montrose-area Annunciation Orthodox School library removed its copies of ``The Golden Compass,'' which has been on the school's recommended reading list for 10 years. Mark Kelly, head of Annunciation Orthodox School, sent an e-mail to parents this week saying he was getting rid of ``The Golden Compass'' in part because of Pullman's anti-Christian views. Kelly acknowledged the book had been recommended reading for eighth-graders and had won the Carnegie Medal for children's literature: "Because we are a Christian school, and because the foundation of our faith is in direct opposition to the beliefs of the author, I have decided to discontinue use of the book," Kelly wrote. "This is not an attempt at censorship, but rather it is a reflection of our mission statement where we pledge to provide, `a secure, Christian environment.' "

Sally Hilliard, head librarian at River Oaks Baptist School, said several parents have called concerned about ``The Golden Compass.'' A school committee considered the complaints but decided not to remove the book, although the school removed ``The Amber Spyglass'' a few years back, she said: "The God in that (book) turns out to be a weak, flawed character and kind of falls to the Earth and dies, and we just decided that, for a Christian school, that wasn't an appropriate book," she said. "(But as for) the first and second books, we just think they represent fun fantasy literature."

”King & King” outrages parents From Morning Call, Allentown, Pennsylvania, November 30, 2007

Storytime ceased abruptly when the picture book Eileen Issa was reading her 21/2-year-old son surprisingly ended with two men marrying and smooching: "I saw them at the altar and I said, "This can't be what I'm thinking,"' Eileen Issa said, recalling illustrations of the prince holding hands with and kissing his new husband. "I was sick." Since that day, Issa and her husband, Jeff, have demanded that the library take it out of circulation: "I just want kids to enjoy their innocence and their time of growing up," Jeff Issa said, explaining his persistence. "Let them be kids … and not worry about homosexuality, race, religion. Just let them live freely as kids."

The book will remain on the shelf despite the Issas' complaints and about 40 signatures they've gathered from residents who agree. The library's board of directors on Thursday denied the couple's request for the second time and the township supervisors, who appoint the library directors, have chosen not to overrule the decision.

Kathee Rhode, the library's director, said censoring books based on subject matter is the duty of parents, not the library. She said the library strives to provide material representing a spectrum of views and ways of life. "That's what a public library does, and you make the choice," Rhode said. "We certainly want parents to make that decision for their children -- not one parent making that decision for all children."

The book, originally written in Dutch by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland and copyrighted in 2000, spawned a federal lawsuit in Massachusetts last year after it was read to second-graders in a public school. Two couples claimed it violated their civil rights, but a federal judge dismissed the case, saying the couples have the right to send their children to private schools or home-school them.

Pullman books under review by 2 more Catholic boards

CBC News, November 23, 2007

Two other Toronto-area Catholic boards of education are studying copies of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy after the Halton District Catholic School Board removed the children's books from its library shelves. Both the Durham and Dufferin-Peel Catholic boards have said they will also review the popular children's fantasy series.

The Dufferin-Peel board has received no complaints over the book, but was alerted that there might be concerns about Pullman's series because of actions by the Halton board. The Halton board asked school principals to pull all three books in Pullman's His Dark Materials series from library shelves. The books have not been banned - but they are being reviewed after a single complaint.

The Golden Compass, voted best children's book in the last 70 years in a poll earlier this year, is still available to children in Halton's 39 grade schools and seven high schools, but only by request. The board declined to give details of the complaint, but a memo to principals said there were concerns the books were "anti-God, anti-Catholic and anti-religion." "What we're reviewing is the material of the actual book," Rick MacDonald, superintendent of the Halton board, told CBC News. "So whether the author's an atheist is immaterial." Educators reviewing the books will make a decision within a month, he said. The board could ban the book, restrict it to certain grades or put it back on library shelves.

Westhampton Beach residents take sides as school district mulls whether to take two novels off reading list

Newsday (New York), November 23, 2007

Terry Lucas, owner of The Open Book in Westhampton Beach, Long Island, has fortified her shop with handmade signs made by local students, are in response to an effort by several parents to remove two books from Westhampton Beach High School's ninth-grade reading list over what the parents say is inappropriate sexual content.

"The Tenth Circle," by Jodi Picoult, and "Cradle and All," by James Patterson, currently sit on the list of more than 300 books from which ninth-graders must choose to read for course credit. Several weeks ago, a group of parents, led by Georgia Joyce, of Remsenburg, filed a complaint with the district over the two books. Last Saturday night, Lucas held a three-hour "read-in" protest at her store. Nearly 100 people wrote letters, read aloud from books that had been banned by other districts in the past, and ate pizza.

The controversy comes on the heels of similar complaints from parents at Commack High School in June about a book on that school's summer-reading list, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky. Commack school officials planned to review the list. Author Picoult, whose novel focuses on date rape, said there have been attempts elsewhere to ban her book. "It's tragic to inhibit the expression of ideas and people's right to hear them," said Picoult, whose latest novel, "Nineteen Minutes," was stricken from a reading list at her son's high school in Hanover, N.H. "I think that's what this country was founded on. That's why banning a book continues to be a very powerful issue."

James Hulme, president of the Westhampton Beach School Board, said he expects the board will reach a decision sometime next month. But, Hulme said, if the board did decide to remove the books from the list, it wouldn't qualify as censorship.

Book restored to school library shelf

Times Colonist, 14th Nov 2007

A truce has been declared in the Battle of the Bazoongas. Last summer, Victoria (Canada) children's author Nikki Tate cried censorship when a Saskatchewan elementary school teacher-librarian banned her novel, Trouble on Tarragon Island. At issue was the book's reference to "bazoongas" as a slang word for breasts. The librarian also expressed concern over the issue of bullying in the story, and speculated that children might read the bullying scene and use it as a template to harass fellow students. Now Chris Oscar, the new principal of Elizabeth School in Kindersley, Sask., has reversed an earlier decision to ban the book.

Parents say book unfit for students; educators defend 'The Giver' as a gateway to class discussion

Nov. 6 2007, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, California

Appalled by descriptions of adolescent pill-popping, suicide and lethal injections given to babies and the elderly, two parents are demanding that the Mt. Diablo school board eliminate a controversial but award-winning book from school reading lists and libraries. "Infanticide and killing old people off are really touchy issues, even for adults," said Mary Ellen Woods, parent of a student at Sequoia Middle School in Pleasant Hill. "I think parents would take issue with their kids being sold on these ideas without their supervision."

Educators say teaching the novel in middle school offers a compelling way to talk about democracy and ethics with adolescents just finding their way in the world: "There's a lot of strength and power in discussing what is my role in society, questioning what makes a good society," said Johanna Rauhala, a seventh-grade teacher at Valley View Middle School in Pleasant Hill. Mt. Diablo added "The Giver" to its optional sixth-grade reading list in 2004.

The book is widely available in elementary school libraries and taught in middle school classrooms. But Woods and parent Alany Helmantoler say the book is too dark and advanced for preteens. The two complained at a board meeting last month and said they plan to file forms to remove the novel from the approved list.

One mother said the descriptions were too graphic for her daughter, now reading the book for class in sixth grade at Sequoia: "My issue is that particular part where they kill a baby," she said. "They are constantly talking about killing people…If they are going to teach about suicide and pills, they need to have some type of education to say why it's wrong to do it".

But the book's open-endedness is what makes it so compelling, particularly as a jumping off point for discussion, said Diana Conner, Valley View Middle School librarian: "It doesn't have a tidy little moral ending," she said. "It should be a teachable moment for these parents." The novel, which won a Newbery Medal for best children's literature, ranks 14th on the American Library Association's list of 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books from 1990 to 2000.

Nitro students to protest suspension of Conroy book

Students in a Nitro High School literature class plan to protest the suspension of the novel "The Prince of Tides". Justin Fletcher, a senior in Steve Shamblin's advanced placement literature class, expects about 40 students to participate in the silent student protest. Fletcher said the students plan to wear white T-shirts with black marker reading, "The board tries, but God decides, when to kill the Prince of Tides." The phrase is a play on words from the novel. Last month, Nitro parent Karen Frazier complained that "Beach Music," another book by Southern author Pat Conroy, was too violent for high school students. She spoke at a school board meeting Sept. 20. Both books have been suspended at Nitro, according to Judith Gillian, the language arts curriculum specialist for Kanawha County schools. Leona Tyree pulled her son from Shamblin's advanced placement literature class. "We complained about 'The Prince of Tides,' " she said. "I could not read the whole book. I found it very offensive." Tyree disliked a graphic rape scene at the book's outset, among other excerpts. Fletcher said he and his classmates want to protest "the censorship of any kind of book for educational purposes."…"We are not allowed to discuss the book in any way," Fletcher said. That committee of about nine or 10 people should receive "Beach Music" by today, Gillian said. She said the committee - a cross-section of professionals and those in the Nitro community - will read the book.

From the Charleston Gazette (West Virginia), October 5, 2007

Military parents want book banned

A military parent with children in York County schools is fighting to have a book banned from Magruder Elementary School's library. Cyndi Treiber said the book of short stories contains inappropriate and offensive material for children connected to the military. The book, "Tripping Over the Lunch Lady And Other Short Stories," was sent home as part of an optional reading program at Magruder last March. School officials said the book encouraged parents and their children to discuss shared elementary school experiences. The book, however, caused outrage and bewilderment among some York County parents because of its graphic references to war, bombs and soldier casualties. Treiber and other parents said the book as a whole is not bad, but the school district should have been sensitive to its students, of which approximately 42 percent are military dependents. Some currently have parents deployed in Iraq. "We could hardly believe this content was in a children's book. ... and had been passed out in a county with the largest military child percentage in Hampton Roads," Treiber wrote in a letter to Superintendent Steven Staples. School officials, including Magruder's Principal Mary Ahearn and district Chief Academic Officer Jennifer Parish, said the book is appropriate for students in kindergarten through fifth grade at Magruder. But the book's publisher, Dial Books, recommends the book for readers in fifth through seventh grade. Parents also said the book concerned them because elementary-age students -- particularly military dependents -- aren't mature enough to handle graphic war passages. When asked if she believed the book could be viewed as offensive to military families, Ahearn said, "It did not strike me that way as I read it." However, the CEO of the National Military Family Association, Joyce Raezer, said the school's decision was negligent. "I think military families -- now more than ever -- look to the schools as a safe place, as a protective place, as an extension of their family and community and support system," Raezer said. "That may be a high expectation to be placed on schools ... but nevertheless families need their schools to protect the military child." Raezer, who has worked with military families for years, said military children tend to personalize the news and stories about war. War-related images, like the ones described in the book, could wreak havoc on a child's mind or emotions.

From the Daily Press (Newport, Virginia). October 5, 2007

Washington County to begin formal review of book Fair and Tender Ladies

The school system in Washington County will now begin a formal review of the book "Fair and Tender Ladies," Superintendent Alan Lee said Tuesday. "The team of review will include parents, teachers, students and a minister," Lee said. "I'm trying to structure the review team so there's not bias either way." Questions about the appropriateness of the book's content were raised at a Sept. 17 School Board meeting with the approval of the high school reading list, and when board members also discussed a review. School Board member Dayton Owens made a motion to remove the book from the curriculum, and he also filled out the complaint form that has formally begun the review process."I find the language very crude and the sexual comments offensive," Owens begins his complaint. "I believe this book deals with too many adult themes and images that will leave a negative impact on the mind and life of the young teens who are overwhelmed with hormonal changes that are taking place in their own bodies," the complaint continues. "Material like this will only serve to increase the desire to act on their hormonal pressures." He cites a list of references to sexual relations that appear in the book. Buckey Boone, a School Board member who has been outspoken in opposition to Owens' stance, said "I think it's a book about a woman growing up and living in Southwest Virginia, who uses earthy language sometimes and has life experiences that are real," Boone said. "If that's dirty, then I guess it's, but ... the surprising part is what's found offensive rather than what's in the book." He also said the regulations that enable one person who is not a parent or student to submit a complaint form to challenge a book are "a slap in the face to teachers, and a poor way to develop curriculum."

From Bristol Herald Courier (Virginia), October 3, 2007

On a more light-hearted note: http://thehappyendingsfoundation.org/ makes use of censorship issues to market books. Although worryingly it does seem to have been taken at face value by many.

From The Tuscaloosa News Alabama, 12th September 2007 Fifteen-year-old Lysa Harding picked a book at random from Brookwood High’s library for a book report last week. Now, she doesn’t want to return it. Harding and her grandmother, Pam Pennington, say the book is too sexually explicit and shouldn’t be on school library bookshelves.

“This book is sick,” said Pennington. “I’m 50 years old, and I’ve raised 11 sets of kids and been through many a library, and I’ve never seen a book like this in a school library before.”

The novel, “Sandpiper” by Ellen Wittlinger tells the story of a 15-year-old girl named Sandpiper Hollow Ragsdale, who is on a “sexual power trip and engages in random hookups” for oral sex, according to a review by the School Library Journal. Ragsdale befriends one boy, but then is abused by another.

A review from the American Library Association’s Booklist, describes the main character as a promiscuous teen with an unstable home life who has oral sex with multiple partners. The review goes on to say that the book takes on difficult teen issues “with candor, humanity, humor and grace.” Harding, however, said she believes the book goes into too much graphic detail for a high school crowd. “I honestly believe that it should not be at school, because at my school they teach abstinence and no sex before marriage, but then all the book is teaching is how to do those things,” she said.

Book on male penguins tops list of 'challenged' library works

"And Tango Makes Three," an award-winning children's book based on a true story about two male penguins who raised a baby penguin, topped the Chicago-based American Library Association's annual list of works attracting the most complaints from parents, library patrons and others. Overall, the number of "challenged" books in 2006 jumped to 546, more than 30 percent higher than the previous year's total of 405, although still low compared to the mid-1990s, when challenges topped 750. "And Tango Makes Three," by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, was published in 2005 and named by the ALA as one of the year's best children's books. But parents and educators have complained that "Tango Makes Three" advocates homosexuality, with challenges reported in Shiloh, Ill., Southwick, Mass., and elsewhere.

Two controversial books survive panel's scrutiny.
From Spokesman Review (Spokane, WA), August 21, 2007

Parents, students and other community members packed the Coeur d'Alene school board meeting Monday to speak about possible restrictions on book titles in school libraries.

Most of the approximately 50 people supported parents Mary Jo Finney and Debbie Morris in their effort to restrict material they deem inappropriate for students. Some spoke of the need for uplifting reading material in the schools and the audacity of supplying books filled with sexuality and profanity to students when school policy prohibits vulgar language.

A committee of parents, teachers, school administrators, a board member, a librarian and a student is reviewing five titles Finney filed complaints about this spring. The school board heard at its meeting Monday evening a recommendation from the committee to place no restrictions on "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou and "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers. No decision was made and is not expected at the next meeting, Sept. 4. Three other titles - "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier, "Snow Falling on Cedars" by David Guterson and "Beloved" by Toni Morrison - will be considered later this school year.

The school board placed a parental permission requirement on "The Chocolate War" for middle school students in 2003. Last summer, the school board added such requirements to "Fallen Angels" in the middle schools and "Dancing at the Rascal Fair" by Ivan Doig at the high schools, despite the review committee's recommendation that no restrictions be placed.

In the last 10 years, Spokane Public Schools has received 17 challenges and withdrawn one publication from school libraries. Dirt Bike Magazine was taken off the shelves in 2002 after a complaint was filed.

David Belbin

sarahmcnicol — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 03:53:47 CST

David Belbin is the author of more than thirty novels for Young Adults, including Denial, Festival, The Last Virgin and The Beat series. His work has been translated into twenty languages. He has also scripted stories about social issues for UNICEF's mass circulation Children's Rights comics. David works part time as course leader of the MA in Creative Writing at Nottingham Trent University.
http://www.davidbelbin.com/

Paul Laughton

sarahmcnicol — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:10:01 CST

The Regulation of Mobile Internet in South Africa

Paul Laughton, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Africa has for a long time been plagued with poor infrastructure development, encouraging the digital divide. According to Kelly (2005) in Africa, in 2004 there were only 3.1 fixed line communication subscribers per 100 inhabitants, in comparison to 8.8 mobile communication subscribers per 100 inhabitants. Africa has experienced a sharp incline in mobile subscribers over the last decade. South Africa compared to the rest of Africa has an active mobile community with an average of 43.1 mobile subscribers per 100 inhabitants and 10.6 fixed line communication subscribers per 100 inhabitants. This gives way to a large mobile Internet community in South Africa, as most users of the Internet have access through mobile handsets. With a growing mobile Internet community South Africa has a prosperous m-commerce industry. Until recent South Africa’s mobile operators (MTN, Vodacom & Cell C), have not been under fire to regulate potentially harmful mobile content. This case study is set out to reveal the views of university students on the stance mobile operators should take to regulate or police potentially harmful Internet content accessed through mobile handsets. References Kelly, T. 2005. South Africa’s Position in Global Telecoms. Conference Paper. Proceedings of 2nd Colloquium on Telecom Prices, Johannesburg, 2005.

Moula Evangelina

sarahmcnicol — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:07:18 CST

Censorship in the Greek Tragedies’ adaptations for children.

Moula Evangelia, PHD in Children’s Literature, Greece.

The formation of the Literary Canon is supposed to have been based on the criteria of quality and supremacy of certain texts towards others. Today Canon is considered to have always underpinned the authoritative systems and to have supported the given social hierarchies. Classical texts have been canonized through their interpretive approaches in Education and their use as cornerstones of the western civilization. Their adaptations for children have always been popular worldwide. By giving emphasis to the “humanistic- romantic- ecumenical” principles of the Western society and by naturalizing them, they manage to mask the biases they are imbued with, and even to manipulate children’s thought in a latent way. Classical greek tragedies, part of the literary canon, have always been taught in education and performed by students’, but their adaptations reach broader children’s audience. Written “ad usum delphini” they have been censored - not to say bowdlerized- so as to conform with their implied innocent audience. By resorting to several techniques they expurgate the classical texts from their morally ambiguous points and turn them into pedagogically correct and didactic instruments.

Cherie Givens

sarahmcnicol — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:04:53 CST

Pre-censorship of authors and illustrators of children’s and young adult materials: The stifling of creative thought in anticipation of the marketplace

Cherie Givens, School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, University of British Columbia

This paper focuses on the lived experiences of Canadian authors and illustrators of children’s and young adult materials whose works have been censored prior to publication. The types of pre-censorship they have experienced are examined, including changes made for the U.S. market. The effect pre-censorship has had on the creative process including self-censorship and lack of desire to create is also examined.

Experiences of Canadian children’s authors and illustrators are compared to those of pre-censored children’s authors in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Kaliakatsou Ioanna

sarahmcnicol — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:02:41 CST

The silences of desire: Prohibitions and tolerance in young adult Greek novels

Kaliakatsou Ioanna, Greece

Erotic love constitutes a basic structural element of the right of passage to adulthood in young adult novels as well as being a linguistic construct. The manner in which the narrator deals with erotic desire in young adult novels is the object of the present study. A comparative analysis of novels written in the first decades of the twentieth century as well as contemporary novels will highlight the self-censorship undertaken by authors whose aim is to preserve the power/knowledge system. The study concludes that the narrator in young adult novels creates contradictory discourses; presents a secretive version of the erotic relationship or desire, in accordance with social conventions, while at the same time insinuating the Promethean force of desire.

Christopher Gruppetta

sarahmcnicol — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:00:36 CST

Young Adult Fiction in Malta ... Do We Dare?

Chris Gruppetta, Merlin Library Ltd, Malta

Young adult fiction in Malta – young adult being understood as contemporary, theme-driven fiction rather than merely age-specific – is an extremely new phenomenon in Malta. Hence the social mores around it are still quite conventional. The case study will work around recent (2006, 2007) young adult publications in the Maltese language that either skirted around difficult themes or used more or less explicit language. Interestingly, reaction to the books was generally positive, indicating a gap in the market. However, there was also a much higher crossover appeal than would normally be the case, possibly indicating that more twenty-somethings and adults were reading them, rather than teenagers. Furthermore, the case study will contrast Malta’s reaction to young adult fiction in the Maltese language with its reaction to YA fiction in the English language. Malta is a bilingual country where English fiction is widely read. There is generally a wider acceptance of a risquee teenage novel in English than there is in Maltese. Why is this? Ideally the case study and ensuing discussion would also focus on the Maltese publisher’s responsibility: does the publisher have a responsibility to publish risquee YA fiction in the face of general conservatism, thus being proactive, or stall until the social acceptance of such texts increases?

Wendy Stephens

sarahmcnicol — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 10:59:19 CST

Not All Good or All Bad”: Listening to Student Perspectives on Book Banning

Wendy Stephens, Buckhorn High School, US

A local challenge to an acclaimed young adult novel inspired an American high school English teacher to collaborate with the school’s librarian to create a constructivist research project for a group of seventeen-and-eighteen-year-old students of mixed ability. Each student approached one title from the American Library Association’s list of One Hundred Most Frequently Challenged Titles as a case study in censorship. The students read and responded to the book in question before researching the history and the resolution of one particular controversy using book reviews and current events databases. A summative assignment revealed many cognitive and affective shifts had occurred in the sample students over the course of the unit of study.

The evidence from this exercise was analyzed using open coding to develop an understanding of what American teens think about censorship, book banning and labeling materials, with implications for both free speech and library collections. Findings include widespread initial ignorance to the practice of censorship with regard to their own age group, metacognitive change reflecting a new, heightened awareness of how community standards shape library collections and access to information, and an underlying acceptance of the idea that reading materials are fundamentally age-appropriate.

John B Harer

sarahmcnicol — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 10:58:00 CST

Defending Gay and Lesbian Young Adult Literature.

Dr John B. Harer, Department of Library Science and Instructional Technology, East Carolina University, USA

Thomas (2007) says, “If we read to discover new worlds, we also read to find ourselves. For gays and lesbians, this act of discovery can be problematic: literature has so often excluded them.” This presentation proposal is based on this author’s research of censorship in the United States which found that 50% of all titles that had experienced censorship pressure in 2004 and 2005 and reported to the American Library Association had a gay positive theme, gay character, or were sex education works with objective/neutral coverage of sexual orientation, and 92% of those were books for children and young adults. This presentation will discuss the milieu libraries face in collecting and defending the ownership of this genre of, including: (1) the theoretical divide between opposing views on homosexuality, (2) societal trends that support or detract from tolerance of sexual orientation, and (3) literary trends in gay/lesbian themed young adult novels that influence collection development decisions. The paper will conclude with strategies for defending this genre against censorship with an emphasis on (1) the role of literature collections in providing a safe and supportive environment for all children, (2) appealing to tolerance through personal experiences, and (3) collection development and selection.

(Citation: Thomas, D. (2007) A place on the shelf. Library Journal, 132(8), 40-43.)

Dr. John B. Harer is a former member of the American Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Committee and current chair of the North Carolina Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Committee. He is the author of Intellectual Freedom: A Reference Handbook, published by ABC-Clio, Denver, CO, in 1992 and co-author of Censorship of Expression in the 1980s: A Statistical Survey, published by Greenwood Press, Westport, CT, in 1994. Dr. Harer is currently Assistant Professor of Library Science at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.

Jennifer Weil Arns

sarahmcnicol — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 10:55:09 CST

Perchance to Dream: The Availability of Lambda Award Children’s and Young Adult titles in US public libraries

Dr. Jennifer Weil Arns, School of Library and Information Science, University of South Carolina, USA

In recent years, increasing attention has been focused on establishing the value of public libraries. These efforts have typically paralleled current interest in the returns to be expected from public investments, and they have generally been characterized using the currency value of services and purchases made on behalf of others. Less attention has been paid to de-aggregating these measures, exploring their distribution within complex social systems, or measuring them using more subtle and nuanced metrics. This research approaches its subject from this perspective, focusing on a group with needs and preferences that might be considered distinct within some communities: children with an interest in LGBT materials. It approaches this subject using Chatman and Zerubavel’s reflections on the role of boundaries in the construction of social identities. Within these contexts, it poses two research questions: What are the characteristics of US public libraries that appear to be most and least likely to collect these materials? Is collection more likely to be correlated with library characteristics or characteristics of the communities in which the children and libraries are located?

Mel Gibson

sarahmcnicol — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 10:54:04 CST

“Who are We Protecting Them From?” Revisiting ‘Graphic Account’.

Dr. Mel Gibson, Northumbria University, UK

In 1993 the Youth Libraries publication ‘Graphic Account’ sought to encourage the development and promotion of graphic novels collections in libraries. The key arguments were that this medium included works of genuine value and that collections might also encourage new library users, especially young people. Alongside this lay an awareness of the need to counter the negative perceptions of the medium. Today, the same arguments and need continue to exist. Despite some growth in collections, comic-strip materials remain a flashpoint for many library services when thinking through perceptions of both medium and the young adult (thus linking with cultural constructions of childhood). This paper will, therefore, explore the reasons for the continuing perception of the medium as problematic. In particular, it will focus on what is seen as the challenge of manga for library staff. In addition, putting collections and the selection of comic-strip materials into a wider cultural context, this paper will look several key examples. It will consider the way that manga have been seen as potentially ‘corrupting’ influences on young people in Britain, thus showing the continued importance of media effects discourses. It will also focus on media reports on the use of comics in the classroom. Barker, K (ed) (1993) Graphic Account. Youth Libraries Group James, A. and Prout, A (1990) Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood: Contemporary Issues in the Sociological Study of Childhood. Falmer Press.