Ban the Banned

This week is Banned Books Week, and like many other libraries across the United States, our library has a display of books that have been challenged by schools and individuals for various reasons.  Sometimes these books trigger raw reactions in patrons, as it did in one of our patrons who is also the mother of a 9-year old.

This mother took offense that these books were on display in the teen section where her daughter was able to see them.  I could empathize with her and understand her concern.  Every parent has the right to protect his or her child and monitor the materials the child is reading.   

And speaking of rights, just as everyone has the right not to read something, everyone has the right to read something.  That is the whole purpose of Banned Books Week--to emphasize everyone's freedom to information and to read items of his or her choosing.  Unlike other nations, such as North Korea and China, that censor materials their citizens can read, we live in a country in which we can freely access all kinds of information.

Naturally, everyone is different and has different levels of sensitivity to various subjects.  Every library will most likely have materials that may be unsettling to some individuals.  However, it is not the duty of a library to act as a censoring board.  An American library's first and foremost responsibility is to provide information to everyone who seeks it regardless of who is doing the seeking or the library staff member's personal feelings about the information.  An American library is obligated to follow the Library Bill of Rights as developed by the American Library Association.

So when you visit your library this week and see those displays of challenged books, please don't take offense.  Be reminded that we live in a nation in which we're fortunate to read whatever we want without anyone stopping us from doing so.  And remember--you have the freedom not to read whatever you want as well.

Just my take from the perch.

Bookless Libraries

Very recently, a "bookless" library opened in San Antonio.  In its 4,000 square-foot area there are no print books, magazines, or newspapers.  Instead, it has e-books, e-readers, computers, laptops, and iPads.  It's completely paperless, the wave of the future.

I had a chat with one of my co-workers the other day about the idea of a library without print books and materials.  The electronic age is undoubtedly here whether or not we like it.  We're becoming more dependent on the Internet and electronic devices for information, job searching, and communication.  Over two years ago in another post, I stated that I wasn't completely sold on e-readers and e-books, and I have to say that I'm still of the same opinion today.  I haven't been fully swayed to the electronic side.  Yet.

Call me old school, but I enjoy the visceral experience of a print book.  I like the weight of a book in my hand, the feel of the pages, the smell of the paper and the ink.  I like flipping the pages between my fingers.  When I go to a library or bookstore, I'm like a kid in the candy store looking at the colorful book cover designs, perusing the arrangement of the displays, and picking up those smooth rectangular gems of knowledge and storytelling.  Somehow, scrolling through a list of titles with small accompanying icons on a computer screen just doesn't do the same thing for me as walking through the stacks.

I imagine the growing emergence of e-books is akin to the debut of print books.  I wonder whether people (the few who were literate way back when) had a difficult time adapting to print books after scrolls were used for so long.  Did print books and scrolls exist side by side until print books became less expensive and more practical for use?  I wonder whether print books and e-books will exist side by side now for a time until e-readers become more universally compatible?

What do you think?  Do you want to have a choice between reading a print book or an e-book?  Or do you want to move forward and read e-books exclusively?

Very yours truly, having one hand on a book and another on the computer at the perch.