THE FIRST AMENDMENT, OR…. THE LIBRARY, AND YOU! HOW I STOPPED WORRYING AND LEARNED TO LOVE A CHALLENGED BOOK!

Congress Shall Make No Law Respecting an Establishment of Religion, or Prohibiting the Free Exercise Thereof; or Abridging the Freedom of Speech.... THE FIRST AMENDMENT SAYS:

The American Library Association Bill Of Rights I.Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation. SO, WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN TO THE LIBRARY?

“Without Freedom of Thought, there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such Thing as publick Liberty, without Freedom of Speech.” — Benjamin Franklin

NOTABLE FIRST AMENDMENT COURT CASES Schenk v. United States, 249 U.S. 47,39 s. Ct., L. ed. 2d. (1919) Where Chief Justice Holmes and the court set the “clear and present danger test” to judge whether words used “will bring about the substantive evils Congress has the right to prevent”. During wartime, the defendants mailed leaflets to draftees that compared drafted military service to involuntary servitude, or slavery Evans v. Selma Union High School District of Fresno County, 222 P. 801 (Ca. 1924) The California Supreme Court held that the King James version of the Bible was not specific to a “certain” religion, but is “a work of literature fit to be included in a reference library”. Sund v. City of Wichita Falls, Texas, 121 F. Supp. 2d 530 (N.D. Texas, 2000) A city residents group from a church sought to remove two books; Heather Has Two Mommies and Daddy’s Roommate, both dealing with homosexuality, from library shelves. The court found that this removal represented “content-based and viewpoint based discrimination”. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, 89 S Ct. 733, 21 L.Ed (1969) Three students wee expelled after wearing black arm bands to school to protest the war in Vietnam. The Supreme held that students do not “Shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate”.

LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS: ARTICLE II 1.Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

“Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.” — Benjamin Franklin

Pornography and Obscenity The Miller Test The U.S. Supreme Court set up a test for obscenity in the 1973 decision Miller V. California, providing three basic guidelines: is it 1.Patently Offensive 2.Taken as a whole, does it lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value 3.Would the average person, applying today's standards, find that the work appeals to a prurient interest

How does the First Amendment apply to what happens in the library? COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT BOOK CHALLENGES CENSORSHIP

Censorship occurs at all levels… The author does it, The publisher does it, The librarian does it, EVEN STUDENTS SELF -CENSOR

Why are books challenged? Usually with the best intentions…. To protect others (mostly children) from “unsafe” ideas To guard against “dangerous” behaviors and thoughts

Banned and Challenged Books Through History 1873: Comstock Law- Designed to stop the mailing of obscene materials to soldiers, and the mailing of these materials through the U.S. postal system 1881: Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass; His publisher refused to publish the 7 th edition due to it being too “provocative”. 1980: Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice Banned in Midland, Michigan because it was thought to be anti- Semitic. 1993: West Shores Schools in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania challenged the Bible, claiming it contained over 300 examples of obscenity, violence, and murder

“It's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.” — Judy BlumeJudy Blume Some of the 100 most challenged books of all time Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling The Giver by Lois Lowry A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle Where's Waldo? by Martin Hanford The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain CHARLOTTES WEB by E.B. WHITE

Who would challenge a book? Religious organizations Political parties and governments Parents Even….

YOUR Librarian

Bibliography “US Constitution-Amendments” pdf/con001.pdf pdf/con001.pdf “Library Bill of Rights” American Library Association ls/statementsif/librarybillrights.htm ls/statementsif/librarybillrights.htm “Ben Franklin Quotations” Notable First Amendment cases ent/courtcases/courtcases.htm ent/courtcases/courtcases.htm “Banned Books Through History” and “Some of the 100 books”