On Censorship: A Public Librarian Examines Cancel Culture in the US

by James LaRue

Overview

"An insightful and humorous look into the complex issues of censorship, Jamie LaRue’s book is at times intellectually and emotionally challenging—like all of the best books should be.”  —R. Alan Brooks, Comics Creator and Professor, Professor of Graphic Narrative, Regis University
 
In America today, more books are being banned than ever before. This censorship is part of a larger assault on such American institutions as schools, public libraries, and universities. In On Censorship: A Public Librarian Examines Cancel Culture in the US, respected long-time public librarian James LaRue issues a balanced and reasonable call to action for all citizens. 
 
LaRue, who served as director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom and executive director of the Freedom to Read Foundation, highlights the dangers of book banning and censorship in our public and educational spaces. Synthesizing his more than twenty-five years of experience on the front lines of these issues, he takes the reader through attempts he encountered to remove or restrict access to ideas, while placing the debate in the greater context about the role of libraries and free expression in a democratic society. LaRue covers topics such as: 
 

• The role of the library in American culture and community 
• The consequences of cancel culture 
• Seven things citizens can do to quell book banning and censorship attempts 

 
By examining past efforts at censorship and their dangerous impacts, LaRue asks the reader to reflect on how those times are not so different from today. This book is essential reading for all those who believe in free expression, who support libraries, and who cherish the central freedoms that American democracy represents. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781682753477
Publisher:	Fulcrum Publishing
Publication date:	09/19/2023
Series:	Speaker's Corner
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	205,352
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

James LaRue has been a public library director for many years, as well as a weekly newspaper columnist and cable TV host. From January 2016 to November 2018, he was director of the Freedom to Read Foundation, and ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. He has written, spoken, and consulted extensively on intellectual freedom issues, leadership and organizational development, community engagement, and the future of libraries. He lives in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

Read an Excerpt

I. The Role of the Library
My Censored Life
 
I wish I didn’t have so much experience with censorship issues. On the one hand, it’s been a handy skill set throughout my library career. On the other, developing that skill meant hanging out with some very angry people.
From 1990 to 2014, I served as director of the Douglas County (Colorado) Public Library District. During that time I personally responded to about 250 challenges. By “challenges” I mean public attempts to remove or restrict access to various library resources. By “responding” I mean reviewing the entire resource, consulting library policies (adopted by the citizen Board of Trustees), deciding about the disposition of the challenged item or resource, and communicating that to the complainant. This response is called a Request for Reconsideration process, and it usually ends with an optional appeal to the board.

Mostly, the targets of challenges were books. But I also fielded attempts to remove or restrict access to magazines, movies, music, programs, displays, artwork, and digital databases—virtually anything a library provides. The good news: my library district checked out more than eight million items in 2014 alone, and had more than four million visits to our buildings and website. So “challenges” represented only a tiny fraction of public use—which is still true today. The not-so-good news: those challenges often came from extremely vocal and influential people in the community. At the beginning, the complaints originated almost exclusively from the political and religious right. Over time, I saw challenges from parents across the political and religious spectrum, for reasons I’ll get to later in this book (see “Why People Challenge Library Resources”).

From 2016 to 2018, I worked for the American Library Association (ALA) as the executive director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), which was founded in 1964. Many countries have library associations; however, ALA is the only one to have a dedicated office for resisting censorship. During my tenure at ALA, our office tracked and responded to around a challenge a day. In my almost three years there, this meant exposure to almost nine hundred attempts to block access to information. I also wrote OIF’s Field Report summary for all publicly reported challenges the following year. This national dataset differed from my Douglas County experience in several ways, unearthing a more generic panic over national demographic and cultural shifts.

In 2022, I took another public library director position, this time on Colorado’s Western Slope, which serves six rural communities. In my first eight months, I faced five challenges. Three of them reflected the huge shift in public challenges that the OIF has highlighted since 2020. Rather than being individual complaints, these were coordinated campaigns—often with an overtly partisan, Republican bias—likely designed to rouse the conservative base in time for the 2022 midterm elections.

All told, throughout my career as a defender of free speech and public access to knowledge in all its varied forms, I have dealt with more than a thousand attempts by the public to censor the library. It has always been interesting. It hasn’t always been fun.
 

Table of Contents

I. The Role of the Library
My Censored Life
Why People Challenge Library Resources
What Do Libraries Buy and Why?
Does Anything Go? The “Harmful to Minors” Argument  
The Surge: 2021–2022
Surge Tactics
The Importance of Public Engagement
A Theory of Librarianship
The Institutionalization of Values
The Importance of Policies and Institutional Purpose
Does Appeasement Work?
How to Respond to Library Challenges    
 
 
II. Cancel Culture
The True Believer—Everything Returns
On Religion
On the Academy and Safety
On the Media
Fake News and the Big Lie
Free Speech to What Purpose?
Will the Censors Win?
 
 
III. The Role of the Citizen
Seven Things You Can Do
 

Editorial Reviews

07/31/2023

LaRue (The New Inquisition), a librarian and former president of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, serves up an uneven exploration of the motivations, methods, and results of censorship in regional libraries. Most censorship attempts, he argues, stem from parents’ quixotic wish to protect children from “the darker or more complicated sides of adult life” and from “current demographic majorities seeking to suppress writings based on the experiences” of LGBTQ individuals and people of color. Illuminating the challenges librarians face, LaRue notes that public libraries’ obligation “to serve the whole community” can lead to conflict, as when he purchased for his Colorado library a children’s book “about a man who leaves his wife and child to live with another man” for a mother in a similar situation, who wished to read it with her young son, only for another patron to take offense and rip the book apart. Such stories offer revealing on-the-ground insights into how censorship plays out in individual libraries, but the book’s second half loses steam as it offers conventional takes on the importance of public libraries refusing to privilege particular faiths in its selections and the perils of trying to bar problematic books from shelves (“The constitution does not guarantee the right not to be offended”). The results are hit or miss. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"On Censorship is a tribute to the quiet courage of librarians and the essential role of the library in the public square. Jamie [LaRue] is a heroic leader in defending and supporting librarians and libraries everywhere.” —Pam Sandlian Smith, Information Entrepreneur

"Jamie LaRue’s writing on book banning and censorship is a clean, sharp compass needle pointing to the truth." —Sarah Brannen, author of Uncle Bobby's Wedding.

"On Censorship relates a masterful story that illuminates a bold and vivid tapestry of hypocrisy and greed, which drives today’s cancel culture." —Nancy Kranich, Former President of the American Library Association

"Offering invaluable insight into the issue, this work is not only for librarians, but for anyone trying to make sense of our conflicted, over-heated, and often-exasperating modern world." —BlueInk Review.

"An insightful and humorous look into the complex issues of censorship, Jamie LaRue's book is at times intellectually and emotionally challenging - like all of the best books should be.” —R. Alan Brooks, Comics Creator & Professor and Professor of Graphic Narrative at Regis University.

"Generous gifts of wisdom, encouragement, and practical guidance are packed into this brief exploration of a perennially challenging issue." —Rick Ashton, former City Librarian of the Denver Public Library.

“LaRue's practical advice will be welcomed by information practitioners who work face-to-face with the public, and his thoughtful observations make this an excellent choice for professional-reading groups. This is a worthy addition to the intellectual-freedom canon.” —Kathleen McBroom

"“LaRue's practical advice will be welcomed by information practitioners who work face-to-face with the public, and his thoughtful observations make this an excellent choice for professional-reading groups. This is a worthy addition to the intellectual-freedom canon.” — Booklist

From the Publisher