Dirty Little Library Secrets: We forgot to tell the staff not to ban the books

 

 

Whether an official complaint is filed or not, report the incident to ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom.  The OIF keeps a database of challenged material, with entries collected from newspaper articles and from individual reports.  Since an internal challenge will likely not make it to the papers in the same way a challenge initiated by a community member would, it is up to you to report it.

Just like you would for an external challenge, if you intend to defend your material, you need to collect every review, article, circulation statistic and testimonial that you can.  The difference is that you’ll likely be doing this on your own.

In library school, I was taught, emphatically, that all challenges, all challenges, should go through formal channels: the request for reconsideration form, the meetings, the hearings, whatever path your institution has in place.  But as a new librarian just starting out, putting most of my paycheck into food, gas, and car repairs, I felt I had neither the institutional support nor the personal financial freedom to challenge my superiors in such a way.  When I brought up the issue of a formal complaint the first time, it was clear to me that it should probably also be the last time.  The stigma associated with going against the institutional flow is significant.  You’ll see I haven’t named the material or discussed the resolution here, many years later.  It’s not a very big profession, and we are loath to burn bridges.  I have much admiration for those librarians who do force the issue despite the perceived risks.

No matter how the situation resolves, know that you are not alone.  In general, librarians like things to go smoothly.  We’d rather not deal with an awkward silence and simmering glares at staff luncheons.  So these things may not be issues that are shared between in-house mentors and up-and-coming librarians. 

But from my experience, I learned a lot, and I gained a lot.  I had my first communication directly with an author about her work, I got some lovely words of wisdom from a librarian across the country, whom I subsequently had the privilege of working with through my involvement with YALSA, and ultimately I made the decision that my interests and focus were better suited to a different organization, where I flourished and grew into my own as a librarian.

 The ideals we leave library school with are laudable.  But they are also ideals, not practicalities.  Sometimes, even when we do our best, things will go sideways.  Sometimes flexibility, diplomacy, and hard choices will need to carry you through. It’s no walk in the park, but it’s not the end of the world when you find material in your care challenged internally, and both your career and your material can survive.  Take solace in knowing that you’re fighting the good fight, and that your intention to serve your community can become even stronger after such an experience.

 

 

It’s easy to think that everyone who works in a library clearly understands the role of the library, but that is clearly not the case.  Remember our circulation clerks, pages, etc. don’t go to the library schools that we go to and learn about the importance of – which is why staff training and communication are so very important.  We need to tell our co-workers, often, about the importance of libraries and intellectual freedom.  Don’t assume because you live and breath it that your co-workers do also; you do know what happens when you assume, right?  And this is a good time to remember how to make champions of co-workers and the “Be-Attitudes” of communicating with staff.

 

Have you ever had to deal with an internal challenge?  Tell us about it in the comments.