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North Carolina Libraries

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THEME ARTICLES
115 Intellectual Freedom " That Neglected Topic, Gene
D. Lanier

118 Intellectual Freedom in the 1980s, Judith F. Krug
121 Humanism vs. Its Detractors, F. David Sanders

129 Intellectual Freedom and Technology: Deja Vu? C. James
Schmidt

133 An Author Looks at Censorship, Lee Bennett Hopkins

137 Intellectual Freedom Policies and Current School
Practices, Frances M. McDonald

144 Interpreting the Library Bill of Rights for Elementary and
Secondary Schools, Gerald S. Hodges

ARTICLES
148 New Network Connects Businesses with State Library,
Paul Gilster
150 The Effect of Face-Front Book Display in a Public Library,
Sarah P. Long
FEATURES

112 From the President

154 New North Carolina Books

161 NCLA Minutes

114 Library Bill of Rights

128 Confidentiality of Library User Records

128 Suggested Procedures for Implementing oPolicy on
Confidentiality of Library Records�

142 Confidentiality of Library Records in School Library
Media Centers

143 Access to Resources and Services in the School Library

Media Program
Cover: Gene D. Lanier, oIntellectural Freedom " That Neglected Advertisers: Book Fare, 123; Hunter Publishing, cover; H.W.
Topic�, North Carolina Libraries 45 (Fall 1987): 115. Wilson, 131.

Volume 45, Number 3 Fall 1987

Exalting Learning
and Libraries

NORTH CAROLINA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

From the President

The 106th American Library Association
Conference has been history for more than a
month, but the accolades NCLAers received
remain a source of very much interest and pride
for NCLA. The many who were involved, leading
and being recognized, share this spotlight also.
Space will not allow each one to be featured in
this message; however two of our own that
received awards must be included.

Gayle Keresey received the AASL/SIRS Intel-
lectual Freedom Award. She was honored as oa
shining example of strong proponents of intellec-
tual freedom.� In addition to a contribution of one
thousand dollars to a library of her choice, she
received her travel to ALA and two thousand dol-
lars. The Lippincott Award for distinguished ser-
vice to the profession of librarianship was
received by Dr. Edward Holley. The citation pro-
claimed Dr. Holley to be a othorough, insightful
and dedicated researcher and scholar.� His article
published in the November 1985 College and
Research Libraries, oDefining the Academic Li-
brarian,� has been selected for inclusion in the
Best of the Library Literature.

Perusing the 318 pages of the ALA Confer-
ence Program was time consuming and almost
overwhelming, yet extremely interesting. Our
AASL President Marilyn Miller was especially
involved as she appeared on twelve programs
ranking right up there with ALA President Regi-
nia U. Minudri. Marilyn was introduced during the
Newbery and Caldecott Awards Dinner as one of
the honored guests. Congratulations are due
Marilyn and the AASL group who worked so hard
and successfully in getting the motion to join
NCATE passed. The NCLA Executive Board had
given the idea its support at the April 24-25 meet-
ing at Greensboro College. Dr. Kieth Wright is to
be commended for his dedicated efforts to cover
the many council meetings and his loyalty in
reporting major highlights to the NCLA Executive
Board. We are proud of all who were able to
attend and especially those with program respon-
sibilities.

112 " Fall 1987

Congratulations to the newly elected NCLA
officers for 1987-1989. They are Barbara Baker,
Durham Technical College, First Vice-President/-
President Elect; Ray A. Frankle, J. Murry Atkins
Library, Second Vice-President; Gloria Miller,
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Secretary; and
Directors Janet Freeman, Carlyle Campbell Li-
brary and Howard McGinn, Division of State
Library. They were invited to attend the NCLA
Executive Board Meeting in Pinehurst on July 24
to observe your Board in action. Your 1987-1989
NCLA biennium with these excellent leaders and
Patsy Hansel as President will be in good hands.
Expect an outstanding two years of professional
growth.

Long before you read this issue of North
Carolina Libraries, you will have had on hand
the full news of the 47th NCLA Biennial Confer-
ence, oLibraries: Spread the News,� and hopefully
will have completed your plans for attending. The
conference committee has gone all out to make
this conference one for professional growth.

Seven NCLA committees and sections have
been funded a total of $7200 from LSCA Title III
grant funds to help support their programs at the
October 27-30, 1987 conference. They are Child-
renTs Services, Media, Reference and Adult, Round-
table for Ethnic Minority Concerns, Roundtable
on the Status of Women in Librarianship, Serials
Interest Group and Young Adult. These provi-
sional grant awards are very much appreciated as
each gives the section and committee opportuni-
ties to provide outstanding conference programs
that otherwise would be financially impossible.
Our thanks go to John Welch and Jane Williams,
Division of State Library, North Carolina Depart-
ment of Cultural Resources, for their assistance.

There is always that risk of important hap-
penings being left out unintentionally in a mes-
sage to the membership of such an outstanding
organization as The North Carolina Library Asso-
ciation. I believe, however, that the prestigious
publication, North Carolina Libraries must be
mentioned. Through its editorial staff of eighteen
members and Frances Bradburn, Editor, NCL has
provided the membership the best in professional

information throughout the biennium. It is espe-
cially gratifying that NCLAers can feel free to
speak up on issues and not be intimidated. To use
one of Dr. Madeline HunterTs thought-provoking
expressions, it orattles our cages� sometimes and
causes critical thinking that most likely will turn
negative thoughts into positive action.

Forsyth County Media Association President
Janet Plummer is to be congratulated for her
stand in her letter to the editor in the May-June
1987 issue of North Carolina Education. Read
this letter and join her in correcting the NCAE
Number 10 recommendation.

We must continue oExalting Learning and
Libraries� and follow through on the T87 theme,
oLibraries: Spread the News.� To emphasize the
NCASL theme of T86, oOur Image is Showing,� we
need to continue a collaboration with other pro-
fessional organizations to facilitate this visibility

ay

Afts VOT

in local areas and nationally. It is comforting to
know that the North Carolina Department of Pub-
lic Instruction is at work for the school librarians.
This is obvious in the Basic Education Plan. We
must also do our part.

It is a bit sad to be writing my last presidentTs
message, but the many memories of the past two
years overcome any sadness with genuine plea-
sure. Please accept my thanks for allowing me to
serve as your president, to meet so many wonder-
ful members of NCLA across the state, to work
with such dedicated board and committee mem-
bers, and to represent this fine association on
many occasions.

I commend to you Patsy Hansel, your new
president. The gavel will transfer into her capable
hands on October 30, 1987.

M
\

Pauline F. Myrick, President -

U@MON

CHANGE YOUR MIND



;

BOOK WEEK: NOVEMBER 16-22,

OOF
OE

Full-color, 17 x 22�, Change Your Mind poster by Wendell
Minor for the 1987 National ChildrenTs Book Week sponsored
by the ChildrenTs Book Council. For an illustrated Book Week
brochure that includes prices and ordering information, send
a 22¢-stamped, self-addressed, #10 envelope to CBC, 67
Irving Place, New York, NY 10003. Attn: Materials Brochure.

Subscription Order

Please place mailing label
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North Carolina Libraries is published four
times a year by the North Carolina Library
Association. Subscription: $32 per year; $50
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vard, Raleigh, N.C. 27604 or call (919) 733-
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address label on journal)

Fall 1987"113

Hibrary Bill of Rights

The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for
information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide
their services.

1. 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.

2. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all
points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be pro-
scribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

3. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their re-
sponsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

4. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned
with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.

5. A personTs right to use a library should not be denied or abridged
because of origin, age, background, or views.

6. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to
the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable
basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups request-
ing their use.

Adopted June 18, 1948.
Amended February 2, 1961, June 27, 1967, and January 23, 1980,
by the ALA Council.

114 " Fall 1987

Intellectual Freedom"
That Neglected Topic
An Introduction

Gene D. Lanier, Guest Editor

Librarianship, as a profession, according to
Eli M. Oboler! who was one of our strongest prop-
onents of intellectual freedom, is as much based
on the freedom of the mind as the profession of
medicine is based on its responsibility for the care
of the body or the profession of law for equitable
determination of the relative rights of individuals
and society. He felt that if universal health is the
proper goal of the doctor and universal justice the
appropriate aim of the lawyer, then, equally, uni-
versal intellectual freedom is unquestionably the
right target for the librarian.

Librarians have had to deal with censorship
and related issues for as long as there has been a
recognized profession. Censorship is defined in
the International Encyclopedia of the Social
Sciences as

... the policy of restricting the public expression of ideas,
opinions, conceptions and impulses which have or are
believed to have the capacity to undermine the govern-
ing authority of the social or moral order which that
authority considers itself bound to protect.
It is conscious policy and may be enforced with-
out the assent of the majority; indeed, it may be
instituted by a small group or even by an individ-
ual who feels strongly concerning a certain issue.
Though such issues may fall in any sphere of
human interest, the practice of censorship has
been most frequently invoked in three areas,
namely, politics, religion, and morals. Therefore, it
is in these areas that the problems of censorship
as they impinge on library administration are
most often encountered.

There are currently several trends that have
caused concern if not problems for librarians,
authors, and publishers alike. The threat of
regional and national movements to oChristian-
ize� American education is ominous. As a nation
we tend to be confronted with crises; we tend to

Gene D. Lanier is Professor and Director of Graduate Studies,
Department of Library & Information Studies, East Carolina
University, Greenville, N.C. and has chaired the NCLA Intel-
lectual Freedom Committee since 1980.

be disoriented, feeling unrepresented and help-
less. While in this frame of mind, there are indi-
viduals and groups in our midst who have arisen
with what they say are all the answers to our
problems. They are doing this in the name of God,
the family unit, the flag, and patriotism. A number
are using the ill-defined term secular humanism
as the reason for their actions.

Although a large percentage of reported cen-
sorship incidents appears to have been initiated
by an isolated parent or school official, the rea-
sons cited for these censorship attempts consist-
ently follow the philosophy of nationally organized
pressure groups such as the Liberty Federation,
the Eagle Forum, Citizens for Decency, the
National Coalition Against Pornography, the
National Council for Better Education, and the
John Birch Society. The educational philosophy of
such groups is succinct in that they feel children
should be exposed to a slanted set of ofacts� that
in no way conflicts with either the censorTs point
of view of history or their visions of the future. A

book is easier to burn than to explain.
Current state and federal legislation has also

played a role in limiting access to information.
There has been a growing restriction of govern-
mental information according to documents
librarians due to the crucifixion of the Freedom of
Information Act. The ochilling effect� of the Attor-
ney GeneralTs Commission Report on Porno-
graphyT has been voiced by librarians, university
professors, and classroom teachers. This unscien-
tific treatise has resulted in librarians practicing
osilent� censorship by not choosing titles which
meet the criteria for selection or by removing
titles before the censor comes because they might
be considered controversial. In the classroom,
professors and teachers have changed their
instruction or avoided certain sensitive topics due
to the same reasons. In North Carolina, anti-obs-
cenity legislation (N.C. General Statutes, Article
26, 14-190.1 - 14-190.20) and a proposed bill called
the oParent and Pupil Rights Act� patterned after

Fall 1987"115

the Hatch Amendment, have had the same effect,
along with debates on the Basic Education Plan.
The Tennessee and Alabama court decisions also
added to the intimidation. All of these have given
librarians pause in the selection process, and
have encouraged moral vigilantes resulting in
attempted censorship.

Technology has brought on its share of prob-
lems in this area involving access and copyright.
The 1986 report from the Commission on Free-
dom and Equality of Access to Information~,
chaired by Dan M. Lacy, indicates that some tech-
nologies of communication tend to lock informa-
tion in computer systems and data banks which
cost thousands of dollars to access. This along
with the information explosion and copyright in-
fringements has resulted in an onslaught which is
going to make it difficult for intellectual freedom
and access to survive. It can become very easy to
fall into the trap of assuming the servant role and
to lose the storage and retrieval battle. Many have
forgotten that our whole constitutional system is
based on the theory that we regulate action, not
ideas or attitudes.

Excesses must be tolerated
even though we may person-
ally disagree with certain
issues and topics in todayTs
world.

Having served as Chairman of the Intellectual

Freedom Committee of the North Carolina Library
Association since 1980, and having dealt with
over two hundred requests for help, as well as
being on the same committee in the Southeastern
Library Association and American Library Asso-
ciation, this writer has witnessed and been
involved in a number of censorship attempts
around the country. There have been numerous
occasions when knowledge and understanding of
intellectual freedom principles by librarians could
have changed the whole sequence of events.

Cases have failed in protecting the freedom
to read, view, and listen first of all when the librar-
ian and/or advisory committee have not had a
solid philosophy of intellectual freedom. They
casually agree they subscribe to the First Amend-
ment, the Constitution, the Freedom to Read
Statement, and the Library Bill of Rights, but
when censorship attempts and problems come
home, they begin to back down, hedge, and their

116 " Fall 1987

stand falls apart. There is no in-between when it
comes to the freedom to read, view, and listen.
Excesses must be tolerated even though we may
personally disagree with certain issues and topics
in todayTs world. There seems to be a growing mis-
conception that a librarian taking a purist stand
on intellectual freedom must go out on a limb
when any materials are being attacked. If a title
meets the criteria for selection identified in the
written, approved selection policy and helps the
library work toward its identified goals and objec-
tives, a defense is not necessary.

Intellectual freedom expert Lester Asheim as
far back as 1953 made a clear distinction between
censorship and selection.® Too often, librarians in
this writerTs experience feel they are censoring
simply by not selecting a title or by not defending
every single title that has been added to the col-
lection through the years. This is a fallacy. Other
cases have failed because (1) there was no writ-
ten, approved selection policy; (2) the advisory-
/reconsideration committee was inactive; (3) the
selection policy had received little publicity and
administrators and governing authorities had not
been reminded from time to time that the policy
existed; (4) the complainant had not been
informed of the selection policy and procedures
for handling complaints or the policy and recon-
sideration form were not readily available; or (5)
the hearings for reconsideration had not been
well organized and publicized.

It is critical that librarians plan ahead to
ensure due process and the protection of intellec-
tual freedom. Emphasis should be placed on the
positive elements of intellectual fredom rather
than the negative connotations associated with
censorship. This issue of North Carolina Librar-
des examines these problems from different pers-
pectives. It is hoped it will stimulate North
Carolina librarians to examine their personal
philosophies concerning intellectual freedom and
help them prepare before the censor comes.

References

1. Eli M. Oboler, Defending Intellectual Freedom: The Library
and the Censor (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1980).

2. International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (New York:
The Macmillian Company, 1968), 356.

3. U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney GeneralTs Commission
on Pornography: Final Report (Washington, D.C.: Government
Printing Office, 1986).

4. Freedom and Equality of Access to Information: A Report to
the American Library Association (Chicago: American Library
Association, 1986), 5.

5. Lester E. Asheim, oNot Censorship but Selection,� Wilson
Library Bulletin 28 (September 1953): 63-67.

When there are anticipated problems or you are faced with a censorship attempt, you should contact one of the following IFC
members for aid and suggestions:

Gene D. Lanier, IFC Chairman
Department of Library & Information Studies
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC 27858-4353
(919) 757-6627 or 6621

Amanda R. Bible

Columbus County Public Library
407 N. Powell Boulevard
Whiteville, NC 28472

(919) 642-3116 or 5700

David M. Bowles

Sherman College of Straight
Chiropractic

PO Box 1452

Spartanburg, SC 29304

(803) 578-8770 x18

Wesley S. Brewer
2921 Welcome Drive
Durham, NC 27705
(919) 493-2161

Mary Ann Brown
Mangum Primary School
Box 424

Bahama, NC 27503
(919) 477-2167

Nelda G. Caddell

S. Central Regional Education
Center

PO Box 786

Carthage, NC 28327

(919) 947-5971

Katherine R. Cagle

Reynolds High School Library
300 N. Hawthorne Road
Winston-Salem, NC 27104
(919) 727-2260

Betty S. Clark

Durham County Library
PO Box 3809

Durham, NC 27702
(919) 688-0505

Margaret Grigg
Route 5, Box 765
Albemarle, NC 28001
(704) 982-8623

David Harrington
Rowan County Schools
PO Box 1348
Salisbury, NC 28144
(704) 636-6750

Doris Hulbert

Jackson Library, UNC-G
Greensboro, NC 27412
(919) 379-5880

Gwen Jackson

SE Regional Education Center
612 College Street
Jacksonville, NC 28540

(919) 455-8100

Shirley T. Jones

Wayne Community College
PO Box 8002

Goldsboro, NC 27530
(919) 735-5151

Gayle Keresey

East Arcadia School
Route 1, Box 100
Riegelwood, NC 28456
(919) 669-2934

Charles F. Montouri

New Hanover Public Library
201 Chestnut Street
Wilmington, NC 28401

(919) 763-3303

Beth M. Rountree
Cotswold School
300 Greenwich Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28211
(704) 366-3282

Merrill F. Smith

1608 Plantation Circle
Asheboro, NC 27203
(919) 629-0987

Kathy M. Thompson
Hackney Library

Atlantic Christian College
Wilson, NC 27893

(919) 237-3161 x268

Jerry M. Weaver

Surry Community College
PO Box 304

Dobson, NC 27017

(919) 386-8121

Fall 1987"117

Intellectual Freedom in the 1980s

Judith F. Krug

With the final decade of the twentieth century
rapidly approaching, it is perhaps time to begin
an initial assessment of intellectual freedom in
the 1980s. In truth, the legacy of the eighties
could extend not only through that final decade,
but well beyond the year 2000. Intellectual free-
dom in the 1980s is synonymous with the infor-
mation policy of the Reagan administration, and
it is to that source that one must look both to
identify the factors that may comprise that
legacy, and to assess the benefits or damages.

As far back as 1983, First Amendment attor-
ney Floyd Abrams characterized this administra-
tionTs information policy as ounique in history"
clear, coherent and, unlike that of some recent
administrations, not a bit schizophrenic .... This is
an administration that seems obsessed with the
risks of information, fearful of its potential for
leading the public to the ~wrongT conclusions.... It
... treats information as if it were a potentially
disabling contagious disease that must be con-
trolled, quarantined, and ultimately cured.�!

The President himself contributed to that
characterization when, at a press conference in
June 1983 he said that oAmericans have a right to
speak out about their concerns. But let us always
remember,� he went on, othat with that privilege
goes a responsibility to be right.�2

At another press conference in October 1983
the President remarked that oYou donTt let your
people know� what the government is doing
owithout letting the wrong people know"those
who are in opposition to what you're doing.�T As
far as can be determined, not one press report of
that conference questioned why the peopleTs right
to know chiefly benefits othe wrong people.�

With comments such as these, the President
lent his imprimatur to attempts by a wide variety
of government officials to limit the ideas and
information available to the American people.
The comments were also hints of how he himself
planned to proceed and, in fact, has proceeded.

Judith F. Krug is Director of the Office for Intellectual Free-
dom, American Library Association, and Director of the Free-
dom to Read Foundation, Chicago.

118 " Fall 1987

Since taking office in January 1981, the Rea-
gan administration has engaged in numerous
attempts to restrict or keep secret from the public
a wide range and vast amount of information. To
do so, it has attempted to broaden the definition
of what can be classified as secret, limit the use of
the Freedom of Information Act, censor former
government employees, license foreign publica-
tions, bar travel by Americans to some countries,
refuse entry visas to foreign scholars, and control
scientific research publications. Each of these
actions, whether or not totally successful, has
seriously affected librariansT ability to acquire
information for their collections. And if the
information is not available in libraries, librarians
cannot make it available to their publics.

Toward the end of 1986, a new and direct
threat to libraries arose. At that time, the Execu-
tive Branch undertook a two-pronged effort
against commercial on-line data bases. The first
effort stemmed from the growing conviction of
the Department of Defense that the export of
high technology data should be as strictly con-
trolled as the export of high technology goods.
The Department sought to limit access to unclas-
sified material in private data banks, an effort
which appeared to be part of a systematic cam-
paign, based on a two-year-old directive from
President Reagan, to censor scientific papers, re-
srict telecommunications satellite operations, and
ban the use of U.S. super-computers by Soviet
scientists.

In December 1986, information industry
exectutives of private data banks such as Mead
Data Central and Dialog said they had been
informed that rules governing the protection of
commercial data would be forthcoming. It is
believed that one likely recommendation will
require foreign nationals to have an export
license to access commercial data bases. In addi-
tion, the data base proprietors might be required
to install software to monitor who is using what
information. Such efforts, of course, would make
it difficult for the Soviet bloc to gather the infor-
mation contained in the data banks.

The second prong of the effort can be traced
to an order signed in November 1986 by then
National Security Advisor John Poindexter. Using
the mantle of national security, PoindexterTs
order created a new security designation for
government information called osensitive.� The
order instructed all federal departments oto
review the information they generate"including
human, financial, industrial, agricultural, techno-
logical and law enforcement informationT"to
determine its sensitivity to national security. Data
termed sensitive could not be released publicly,
although such osensitive� information was not"
and is not"technically, classified information.

In response to the threat to commercial data
bases, as well as the actual limitations imposed by
the Poindexter memorandum, the ALA Council at
its January (1986) Midwinter Meeting determined
to work toward the repeal or recision of the doc-
ument and to challenge both its implementation
and its legality.

In a surprise move on March 17, Frank Car-
lucci, the new National Security Advisor, with-
drew the Poindexter memorandum. It would seem
that ALA was not the only organization that was
concerned; the entire information industry felt
the same way, as did several congressmen, specif-
ically Glen English, plus one (or more) Congres-
sional committees. The only problem with the
withdrawal is that NSDD 145, the Security Direc-
tive which established osensitive, but unclassified�
is still on the books. In fact, NSDD 145 has been
around since September 1984. Unfortunately, no
one knew about NSDD 145 for almost a year"be-
cause it was secret!

Another aspect of the Reagan administra-
tionTs would-be intellectual freedom legacy is con-
tained in the Report issued on July 9, 1986, by the
Attorney-GeneralTs Commission on Pornography.
Prior to publication, in a thirty page document
entitled Rushing to Censorship, ACLU Legislative
Counsel Barry W. Lynn charged that the proce-
dures used by the Commission to gather and
evaluate evidence had been oso intellectually inde-
fensible that they tainted the integrity and credi-
bility of any final recommendations.�

The Report turned out to be exactly what
had been feared, and in an oAdvisory Statement
on the Report of the Attorney General's Commis-
sion on Pornography,� the ALA Intellectual Free-
dom Committee (IFC) pointed out its deficien-
cies.®

Built on ALATs testimony before the Commis-
sion, the Advisory pointed out the potential chill-
ing effect that the CommissionTs work could have
on the free flow of information and ideas. ALA

urged that no new restrictions be recommended
on access to materials of any kind and even that
some of the existing restrictions be eliminated.
These recommendations were based on the belief
that citizens in a constitutional republic need a
great deal of information and ideas on all possible
topics of interest in order to govern themselves
effectively.

In its advisory, the IFC called the research
and findings of the Commission cavalier and spe-
cious. The Advisory noted that the Commission
authorized no original scientific research, ap-
peared to have misrepresented some of the social
science data considered in the preparation of the
Report, capriciously accepted some testimony,
and rejected countervailing testimony.

The most pernicious aspect of the Report, in
the opinion of the ALA Intellectual Freedom
Committee, is its potential for heightening an
already threatening pro-censorship climate in the
United States. The general tenor of the Report is
that associated with a ocall to arms.� The Attorney
GeneralTs Commission encourages people oto
object to the objectionable� and oto tolerate the
tolerable,� but the inherent message of the First
Amendment is tolerance for the objectionable.
Since library collections can be expected to
include materials which some persons will find
objectionable, the Advisory warned that an
understanding of the meaning and purpose of the
First Amendment is crucial to the defense of
those collections.

The problem with all these
would-be censorship actions,
whether or not successful, is
that they create or contribute
to a climate in which informa-
tion becomes less important.

The Advisory closed with recommendations
for measures that librarians, libraries, and state
library associations can undertake to prepare
themselves for further attacks on library mate-
rials.

Such attacks, which have been steadily in-
creasing in number, have been focused on mate-
rials purported to promote the oreligion� of
secular humanism, an imaginary oreligion� distin-
guished by its ofaith in man instead of faith in
God.� oSecular humanism� was given added cre-
dence as a religion on March 4, 1987, when Judge
W. Brevard Hand of the United States District

Fall 1987"119

Court for the Southern District of Alabama issued
his decision in Smith v. Board of Commissioners.
The decision required the removal of forty-four
textbooks from the Mobile County public schools
because they allegedly oestablished� osecular hu-
manism� as a religion, thereby violating the First
Amendment. This decision is on appeal to the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Evolution is another focal point of current
attacks, as are adolescent novels by authors such
as Judy Blume, Gertrude Samuels, and Norma
Klein; best sellers by writers such as Evan Hunter,
Judith Guest, Harold Robbins, and Sidney Shel-
don; sex education books; modern classics by
John Steinbeck, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, John
Knowles, and Kurt Vonnegut; elementary school
social studies and reading textbooks; frank des-
criptions of ghetto life by authors such as Richard
Wright, Gordon Parks, and Claude Brown; and
materials dealing with witchcraft or the occult.

The problem with all these would-be censor-
ship actions, whether or not successful, is that
they create or contribute to a climate in which
information becomes less important. But ours is a
constitutional republic"a government of the
people, by the people, and for the people. And in
order for this form of government to function
effectively, its electorate must be enlightened.

For an enlightened electorate to exist, there
must be a diversity of sources of view-points and
beliefs. Such variety must be not only tolerated
but fostered, because, without its careful tending,
there will be no support for the pluralism on
which our republic is founded.

The actions which this administration has
undertaken to allay its fear of information and
oinformationTs potential for leading the public to
the ~wrongT conclusions� have created the real
possibility that this attitude will become institu-
tionalized through the bureaucracy. Indeed, it
seems to be happening already. And with each
new government initiative to limit the informa-
tion available to the American public, we are
reminded anew that

A popular government, without popular information, or
the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to,a farce or a
tragedy; or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern
ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own gov-
ernors must arm themselves with the power which
knowledge gives.�

References
1. Abrams, Floyd. oThe New Effort to Control Information.� New
York Times Magazine 133 (September 25, 1983):22.
2. Karp, Walter. oLiberty Under Siege: The Reagan Administra-
tionTs Taste for Autocracy,� HarperTs 271 (November 1985):63.
3. Ibid.

120 " Fall 1987

4. Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom 35 (May 1986):73.

5. oALATs Intellectual Freedom Committee Responds to Porno-
graphy Commission Report,� American Libraries 17 (Sep-
tember 1986):580-581.

6. U.S. Department of Justice. Attorney GeneralTs Commission
on Pornography: Final Report. Volume 1. (Washington, D.C.:
Author, 1986):425.

7. Madison, James, letter to W. T. Barry, August 4, 1882, in The
Complete Madison. (New York: Harper, 1953):337. ai

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Humanism vs. Its Detractors
F. David Sanders

A person in the academic world would have
to have been stranded on a desert island, buried
without newspapers, popular periodicals, televi-
sion, or radio in the basement of some forgotten
library, or ensconced in an ultra-liberal, private
small school in the Northeast (a reference to a
specific acquaintance of mine) not to be aware
that during the past eight or nine years humanist-
bashing by groups from the Religious Right has
become quite fashionable and that these groups
have effectively used the courts and the media to
try to rid their/our world of what they call ogod-
less humansim.�

(I do not mean to imply that the Religious
Right is the only group attacking humanism, even
though my argument here is with that group.
Some scientists and environmentalists attack the
excesses of environment management as a hu-
manist venture [See David Ehrenfeld. The Arro-
gance of Humanism. New York: Oxford UP, 1978].
(Post-Modernist literary criticism contends that
the humanist view of the writer as oracular is
outdated and confining; [also see Catherine Bel-
sey. Critical Practice. London: Metheun, 1980].)

Meanwhile, the thousands of people who
through reading, training, and inclination have
always considered themselves to be lay-human-
ists (of a vaguely humanistic bent but without
formal commitment, rigorous study, or research)
feel they have been put on the defensive, without
really knowing why. Have those televangelists
(whom we have always suspected of being anti-in-
tellectual and self-serving anyway) been using
their millions of other peopleTs hard-earned dol-
lars to broadcast their ignorance of humanism?
Or has the good old ogolden thread� of the human-
ities really been twisted so violently since we read
the classics of our Western tradition in college? In
reality, the answer to both these questions is a
Partial oYes.� And yet a third, perhaps more telling
reason needs to be factored into the equation to
explain the current situation.

The Attack

oHumanism is a religion with mankind as
God,� writes Dr. David Webber, pastor of the

F. David Sanders is Professor of English and Director of the
Honors Program, East Carolina University, Greenville, N.C.

Southwest Radio Church (D. Webber 4). It has
become othe Most Dangerous Religion in Amer-
ica,� according to a subtitle by Homer Duncan.
oHumanism denies and rejects God, theism,
deism, faith, all divine purpose or Providence, all
religions which ~place God above human needs,T
the existence of life after death, a supernatural,
heaven and hell, ~traditional religious morality,T
religious attitudes about sex, ~national sover-
eignty,T and a ~profit-motivated society� (Schlafly
6). oHumanism, with its emphasis on moral relati-
vism and amorality, challenges every principle on
which America was founded� (Falwell 6). oToday's
wave of crime and violence in our streets, promis-
cuity, divorce, shattered dreams, and broken
hearts can be laid right at the door of secular
humanism.... It will lead to anarchy, and our cul-
ture will be destroyed� (LaHaye 26). oHumanism
always leads to chaos� (Schaeffer 29). oNo human-
ist is qualified to hold any governmental office,�
according to Tim LaHave (Quoted in Jerry Fal-
wellTs Crusade, 527).

The inflated and flammatory rhetoric of
these quotations reflects, if not the actual beliefs
of the leaders of the Religous Right, what these
leaders want the lay people among their followers
to believe is true of humanism: that it is unquali-
fiedly atheistic, replacing God with man as an
object of worship; it is diametrically opposed not
only to Christianity but also to the traditions of
American liberty; it has insidiously infiltrated
American education, the media, the government,
and religion and is all by itself responsible for all
the ills of current society; it is the basis of oa well-
coordinated, orderly movement� (D. Webber 8) to
take over America, destroy all we hold dear in our
cultural heritage, and ultimately make what we
now call America into an anonymous part of a
great humanist world utopian scheme.

The leaders of the Religious Right have not
only spoken and written; they have mobilized
their followers to fight what they see as a clear
and present danger. They have waged campaigns
against numerous politicians they accuse of being
humanists (including former North Carolina Gov-
ernor Jim Hunt, Walter Mondale, and Jimmy Car-
ter). Through such self-appointed censors as Mel
and Norma Gabler of Texas, they have kept text-
books they consider offensive from being adopted

Fall 1987"121

for use in the schools of several states; fought and
sometimes won lawsuits against dozens of texts in
other states; and generally intimidated authors,
publishers, and school boards responsible for
generating the texts to be used. Either by ignor-
ance of intellectual and cultural history or by
deliberate and purposeful distortion, they have
succeeded in coloring the attitude of a whole
American generation on the topic of humanism.

To begin an honors seminar on humanism
last year, I asked students to interview ten people
at random for answers to these questions: 1) Do
you believe humanism is a threat to the American
way of life? 2) Who is one person you would iden-
tify as a humanist? 3) How would you define
humanism? The responses were revealing. Al-
though eighty-eight percent of the two hundred
people interviewed had a definite idea on whether
humanism was or was not a threat (twenty-eight
percent believing it was), only about twenty per-
cent (none of those answering yes to question 1)
could identify a person who could reasonably be
called a humanist, and only nine percent (most of
them faculty) gave even one characteristic of
humanism as a definition.

Humanism in a Historical Perspective

It must be admitted that humanism is diffi-
cult to isolate and define. Particularly in our time,
the term has been appropriated by many groups
with vastly different aims. To be most strictly
honest, we have to use the term in the plural
rather than the singular. There are dozens of
kinds of humanisms depending on the time, the
place, the emphasis, the aims. It is necessary to
differentiate between classical, Eastern, Renais-
sance (Italian, Neo-Platonic, Northern, German,
English, rhetorical, French, and others), Western,
Enlightenment, Christian, theistic, non-theistic,
secular, ethical, cultural, educational, Marxist,
and other humanisms.

The contemporary marketplace and acade-
mia have fostered the concepts of humanist psy-
chology, scientific humanism, and humanist liter-
ary criticism. Indeed, there are probably as many
varieties of humanism as there are of Christianity,
and for the Religious Right to speak of humanism
in monolithic terms, assuming that everyone who
uses the term means the same thing by it, is as
unfair as assuming that a medieval monk believed
in the efficacy of snake handling or that the Chris-
tian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan perform the
unselfish acts of Saint Teresa.

There has also always been a great difference
between humanism in terms of ohard core�
movements and humanism as a general attitude

122 " Fall 1987

towards humankind and priorities in human life
and society. In the total picture, the movements
have traditionally been small, rather academic,
and ineffectual, but the influence of the ideas has
been broad and long lasting though soft in focus.

On the other hand, it is the nature of propa-
gandistic preaching and writing to sharpen the
soft focus by isolating certain characteristics in
neglect of others and to create one great mono-
lithic enemy against which the troops are to do
battle. Having a single cause for all ills forces a
war-time coalition of groups whose doctrinal dif-
ferences would ordinarily keep them at war with
each other. For the purposes of mobilization, sub-
tleties and shades of difference dilute the intended
effect, so propaganda pushes grey areas into
either black or white, othem� or ous.� As a result,
humanism is reputed to be not the adversary just
of Fundamentalism but of all Christianity, and, in
contrast, the United States is portrayed as one big
happy Christian (ie, Fundamentalist) nation.
One hears of the Founding FathersT intentions of
setting up a theocracy (the Declaration, the Con-
stitution, the prevalence of Deism, and the com-
ments of Jefferson, Paine, and Washington to the
contrary notwithstanding); the inscription oIn
God we trust� is offered as evidence (despite the
fact that the inscription first appeared on the
two-cent piece in 1864, not in 1789); and the
phrase oone nation under God� in the Pledge of
Allegiance is repeated as proof (when in reality
the pledge itself, sponsored by a boysT magazine,
was not adopted until 1924 and the phrase
ounder God� was added by President Eisenhower
in 1954). Conversely, the leaders of the Religious
Right would have us believe that Fundamentalism
played a major role in structuring our country. In
fact, Christian Fundamentalism was a nineteenth
century creation and it had little impact on the
United States until the 1920s when it seemed to
offer some escape from the frustration, depres-
sion, and social turmoil in the wake of World War
II (Sandeen xii).

... there are probably as many
varieties of humanism as
there are of Christianity ...

The seeds of humanism were sown by classi-
cal Greek and Roman philosophers like Socrates,
Protagoras, Democritus, Plato, Cicero, and Aristo-
tle who, in their remarkable discourses on all
things human, asked the questions that helped
establish the constructs of much of Western
thought on reason, ethics, self-consciousness,

morality and responsibility, the good life, politics,
and literature. Important thought was also devel-
oped in India and Confucian China, but this
thought had little direct impact on the early
Western tradition. Likewise, the ideas of the clas-
sics received scant attention during the Middle
Ages because this period was largely devoted to
the concepts of Christianity. Works by the Greeks,
particularly, were little read except for those of
Aristotle, whose methods of disputation provided
the logical underpinning of Christian scholasti-
cism. Libraries were the property of the church
and works written for the use of monks and
theologians were largely theological, stressing the
sinful nature of humankind and minimizing the
importance of individual accomplishment.

The European Renaissance rediscovered the
classics and, particularly with the invention of the
printing press, disseminated the thoughts and
rhetoric of the Greek and Roman thinkers. In
fourteenth century Italy, fifteenth century Ger-
many and France, and sixteenth century Eng-
land, the availabilty and study of the classics
reinforced what the Europeans needed to hear
about the possibilities of humankind and inspired
them in their own thinking, writing, and art. Many
of the great monuments of Western civilization, of
course, were created during the Renaissance
including those by Petrarch, Boccaccio, Raphael,
Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Holbein, Rabe-
lais, Cornielle, Montaigne, Moliere, Sidney, Spenser,
Marlow, Shakespeare, Donne, Milton, Bacon, Cer-
vantes, and thousands of others. The Renaissance
was the age of literature and art, of exploration,
discovery, and trade (with the known land mass
of the earth doubling and America being discov-
ered), of the foundations of science (including
early scientific method, CopernicusT discovery of
the heliocentricity of our universe, Harvey's dis-
covery of the circulation of blood), of the begin-
nings of the age of mass production and capi-
talism, of the Reformation and Protestantism.

At the quiet heart of this age of accomplish-
ments were the people we have come to call hu-
manists. Indeed sometimes (perhaps too gradiosely)
the Renaissance is referred to as the Age of Hu-
manism. Beginning with Petrarch and Boccaccio,
the Italian humanists developed the sense of a
culture outside their own, to admire the value
placed on the individual and human life, and to
recognize their own place in the scheme of things.
It is difficult to avoid sharing the exhilaration of
the student of theology Pico della Mirandola
(1463-1494) in his oOration: On the Dignity of
Man� when it dawns on him that, rather than
consigning human beings forever to the status of

a worm, God created human beings in his own
image and gave them free will to become what-
ever they could be:

...After we have been born into this condition we become
what we will ourselves to be. And so we should take the
greatest care that it should not ever be said against us
that, being in an honorable position, we did not acknowl-
edge it and turned instead into the images of brutes ....
(69)

It is PicoTs vision that, with this God-given free
will, oa certain sacred striving should seize the
soul so that, not content with the indifferent and
middling, we may pant after the highest ...� (69).
PicoTs oOration� is rightly called the essence of Ital-
ian humanism; its legacy was a change in the
image of man to a moral agent with personal and
civic responsibilities. Many Churchmen attacked
PicoTs ideas as heretical, but many students of
intellectual history today see humanism as the
natural elaboration of the basic Christian concept
of redemption. Redemption meant a rebirth of
manTs true humanity, a transformation of unre-
generate people into onew creatures� who could
live on a higher level and take advantage of all the
excellences God and the world allowed them
(Ullman 7). The humanists conceived of them-
selves as alerting the regenerate human beings to
the wondrously rich and fruitful opportunities

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Fall 1987"123

they faced"new Adams and Eves, becoming
aware that othe World was all before them.�

German humanists like Johannes Reuchlin
and Philipp Melanchthon picked up on the ideas
of Italian humanists, stressed the sense of indi-
vidualism and the importance of Christian educa-
tion as an antidote to barbarism, and broadened
the university curricula to include not only theol-
ogy but also studia humanitas"the secular sub-
jects, particularly classicial literature and lan-
guage study"as a balance to the sacred. The
humanities became the center of a liberal educa-
tion, and university curricula began to employ
new critical methods for studying and translating
the Bible: they returned to the original Greek and
Hebrew texts in their study of the New Testament
instead of relying on the Latin of the Medieval
Vulgate, and they attempted to rid their transla-
tions of the assumptions of scholasticism. The
importance of Erasmus of Rotterdam in this
effort can hardly be overstated. Erasmus preached
that the ophilosophy of Christ� alive in the hearts
of Christians was of more consequence than the
laws and disputes of theological deductions, that
truth does not come from a single source, that
Christianity and the moral lessons of the classics
were not incompatible, that better reasoning and
better understanding of the Bible and other liter-
ature produced greater Christians, and that all
individuals were capable of dealing with these
ideas"the Catholic clergy was not a special class.
ErasmusT Latin translation of the New Testament
employed the methods of new textual criticism,
and his ideas, together with those of the German
humanists, were immensely influential on a young
professor at Wittenberg, Martin Luther, who,
though not himself a humanist, used all his hum-
anist training and tools to effect the Protestant
Reformation. To say that oErasmus laid
the egg that Luther hatched� is certainly to exag-
gerate, but the relevance of humanism to Protest-
antism must not be overlooked.

The English humanists Sir Thomas Elyot,
Roger Ascham, John Colet, and Sir Thomas More
saw the relevance of classical humanism to cul-
ture, education, ethics, and rhetoric. Although
less important to literature themselves than they
hoped to be, their influence filtered through the
education system to affect a whole generation of
writers from Shakespeare to Milton. Their shadow
was longer yet: multitudes of lay-humanists,
though never consciously classifying themselves
as humanists, built a literary tradition that still
survives in 1987. Indeed, it is as difficult to
imagine a teacher of literature who can be rid of
humanistic thinking in teaching English or Amer-

124 " Fall 1987

ican literature as it is to imagine a teacher ignor-
ing the impact of Christianity on literature. The
two traditions go hand in hand, balancing each
other in a necessary tension that reflects the
human experience.

The wedge the Religious Right tries to drive
between Christianity and humanism is particu-
larly ironic in view of the influence humanism had
on the Protestant Reformation in Germany and
the translation of the Bible in Europe and Eng-
land. Renaissance humanists were far from being
antagonistic to Christianity. In fact, they were
inspired almost exclusively by religious motives
(Ullman 3). It is only natural that their aims,
methods, and ideas reflect Christianity. The liter-
ary achievement of the Renaissance which was to
have the longest lasting and most universal
impact was the King James (Authorized) Version
of the Bible. It was authorized by King James I of
England as a result of the Hampton Court confer-
ence (1604) in an attempt to provide a text
acceptable to all Protestant Churches (an ecu-
menical, humanistic aim). The committee of some
fifty-four translators included no Catholics or
Jews, but it did gather scholars from various
shades of Protestantism, many of whom were
either prelates or professors of Greek, Hebrew,
and theology at British universities, and most of
whom were profoundly influenced by humanism
through training, inclination, and attitude (Daiches
136, 166). Like all modern translations of the
Bible, the Authorized Version relies on the
methods, principles, and insights that were devel-
oped by humanists (Bentley 3) and is evidence of
the humanistic aim of free inquiry. With all its
humanistic associations, the version has been
almost as much of a rock for Fundamentalism as
St. Peter has been to Catholicism.

The conflict Fundamentalists see between
humanism and the American tradition is equally
ironic. Much of the thinking and many of the writ-
ings of our founding fathers were based on the
humanistic thought of eighteenth century English
Enlightenment writers John Locke, David Hartley,
and Joseph Priestley, who stressed the impor-
tance of reason and indivdiualism. The Declara-
tion of Independence reflects Thomas JeffersonTs
optimistic and humanistic concepts (shared by
James Madison, Ben Franklin, and many others)
that human beings can govern themselves as
reasonable moral agents, that inherent in human
nature as an inalienable right is the desire for olife,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,� which will
lead to freedom and progress.

As secularization has come gradually to every
institution, particularly in the twentieth century,

secularization has become dominant among hu-
manists. In 1933, a group of thirty-four humanists
Cincluding Paul Kurtz, John Dewey, and R. Lester
Mondale) drafted Humanist Manifesto I, which is
to my mind a rather unfortunate and strident
document dispensing with traditional religion,
positing their own brand of osecular� humanism
in its place, and proposing a humanistic world
community. In 1973 a larger group of 114 individ-
uals (including Kurtz, Mondale, Isaac Asimov,
Albert Ellis, and Sidney Hook), admitting that
intervening events like Nazism, Communism,
racism, and developments in science had made
Humanist Manifesto I outdated, sketched their
agenda for the twenty-first century in Humanist
Manifesto II. Their advocacy of situation ethics, a
world community, environmental management,
and oa recognition of an individualTs right to die
with dignity, euthanasia, and the right to suicide�
(Kurtz 19) is today well known. In 1980 Kurtz
drafted oA Secular Humanist Declaration� (SHS
3-6), a less strident and more reasonable (though
still radical) response to the Fundamentalisms of
Christianity, Moslemism, and Judaism"a state-
ment to which the Religious Right has paid less
attention than either Humanist Manifesto I or
Humanist Manifesto II.

The attempts by the Religious Right to cate-
gorize all humanists as atheistic secular humanists
is an unfair tactic of mobilization. Far from being
the Old and New Testaments of a bible for hu-
manists (LaHaye 85), the Humanist Manifesto I,
Humanist Manifesto I, and oA Secular Humanist
Declaration� are merely position papers of the

To many Christians, Christian
humanism, indeed, seems
preferable to the Christian
barbarism that has character-
ized too many periods of his-
tory and that is still possible
today.

constituents who drafted and/or signed them at
that time. The thought that all humanists would
subscribe to them (or live their lives by them) is at
least as remote as thinking that Jim Bakker would
subscribe to vows of chastity. By treating the doc-
uments as dogma, the Religious Right reveals its
ignorance of the most basic values of humanism:
free inquiry and independent thought. Certain
humanists have indeed talked in terms of oreli-
gious humanism� because they believe that man
oalone is responsible for the realization of the

world of his dreams� (Kurtz HMI 10). They do not
speak of man as god, as charged, but humans
instead of God (Kurtz HMII 16). The infamous
footnote to the 1965 Supreme Court decision in
Torasco vs. Watkins was intended merely to
broaden the basis for conscientious objection,
admitting that people could be opposed to war
who were not members of a formal, recognized
theistic religion like Christianity"for example,
Buddhists, Taoists, Ethical Culturalists, Secular
Humanists, and others.

In reaction to what they consider an unfair
blanket appropriation of the term humanism by
the secularists, groups of various Christian view-
points have tried to retrieve the term and restore
a Christian balance to humanism. The more
literal Christian groups have never seen a conflict
between Christianity and what they consider
otrue� humanism. Nor have most contemporary
Roman Catholics. Pope John Paul II has urged a
reincarnation of the values of Christian human-
ism (oAnyone for Humanism?� 260). Pope Paul VI
write in Populorum Progressio that oby reason of
his union with Christ, the source of life, man
attains to a new fulfillment of himself, to a trans-
cendent humanism which gives him the greatest
possible perfection. This is the highest goal of per-
sonal development� (260). Even conservative and
evangelical Christians have tried to stress the
harmony between the two concepts. Robert E.
Webber has defined oan authentic Christian hu-
manism� (79); Eternity magazine has drafted oA
Christian Humanist Manifesto� (oA Christian�
23ff); and Martin E. Marty, of Christian Century
has written numerous articles defending the right
of Christian humanism to exist. To many Chris-
tians, Christian humanism, indeed, seems perfer-
able to the Christian barbarism that has character-
ized too many periods of history and that is still
possible today.

Characteristic Humanistic Thoughts

Humanism has changed and adapted accord-
ing to the times and the people who have pro-
fessed it. It is an attitude toward humankind and
human life, not a systematic philosophy. It holds
to no dogmas or sets of absolutes. Most humanists
believe there is room in the world for a variety of
perspectives and that the world is better for the
variety. Without trying to set up my own defini-
tion of humanism, let me say that I think most
humanists, of whatever stripe, would see the fol-
lowing as oself-evident truths�:

© that both humankind in general and the human indi-
vidual in particular have worth and dignity and
should be so respected;

Fall 1987"125

© that the human beingTs capacity to reason and the
attempts of groups to oreason together� are the best
means of solving humankindTs problems and making
experience meaningful;

© that human beings are more important than things or
ideas and should not be sacrifced for creeds, doc-
trines, or prejudices of society;

© that human beings are moral agents responsible for
their own behavior, obligated to pay the consequen-
ces for their acts, and responsible for their own des-
tiny;

© that truth comes from a multitude of sources, not any
single one; each personTs experience is unique and
experience is what human beings depend on as a test
of what is valid;

® that the methods of science"experiment, observa-
tion, testing"are among mankindTs surest means of
discovering truths;

© that no subject is closed to examination; that free
inquiry is necessary;

© that education"including the liberal arts and human-
ities"is the surest means of disciplining the mind
and sharpening the moral sense;

© that (particularly in this country) no one religious
group ought to be able to force its opinions on other
people whose experience and values have led them in
a different direction;

© that the end of human development on earth is a fully
realized human being who has a sense of worth, dig-
nity, and meaning, and with freedom to pursue life,
liberty, and happiness;

© that we need to put behind us our narrow perspec-
tives and divisions of family, race, sexuality, national-
ity, and religion in order to work together to keep
from obliterating each other;

© that we must believe that some progress towards our
human goals is possible on a larger scale as well as on
a personal one; otherwise, everything in which we
engage is meaningless.

A Larger Threat than Humanism

I alluded in my introduction to a third factor
that might need to be taken into account in an
explanation of the conflict between the human-
ists and the Religious Right. Jerry Falwell has en-
dorsed a series of books called the Biblical
Blueprint Series, edited by Gary North, who is
one of the theoreticians behind a group called
Christian Reconstructionists. If an article in the
February 20, 1987, issue of Christianity Today"
hardly a liberal humanist journal"has any cre-
dence (and in the succeeding months none of the

principals has called into question anything of sub-
stance in the article), the Christian Reconstruc-
tionists are called the othink tank of the Relgious
Right� (Clapp 17). Through organs such as their
Chalcedon Foundation, Journal of Christian
Reconstruction, Christianity and Culture, and
dozens of books, writers like North, R.J. Rush-
doony, Greg Bahnsen, and Geroge Grant oantici-
pate a day when Christians will govern, using the
Old Testament as their lawbook� (19). They
believe that oapart from the Bible, there is ~no
knowledge at all"only chance and universal
deathT.� (18) Consequently, they favor the aboli-
tion of democracy and the institution of Chris-
tianity in America before the coming of Christ.

eS aie rie Bey Seton slorl® ik Osaseectot
(Humanism) is an attitude

toward humankind and human
life, not a systematic philos-

ophy.
seb men hace tr mad te et la

Basing their political agenda solely on Old Testa-
ment law, they propose a dissolution of the fed-
eral government; the return to the patriarchal
family without equality; the reinstitution of a obib-
lical� form of slavery; the end of the thirty-year
mortgage and the tax system; and capital pun-
ishment for homosexuality, sodomy, Sabbath
breaking, apostasy, witchcraft, blasphemy, and
incorrigibility in children (passim). Although
the leaders of the movement expect that the plan
will be effected without violent revolution as
oChristians ... take over gradually, sphere by
sphere: education, the arts, communications, law,
and so on� (20), at least one adherent expects the
democratic system to begin crumbling before
1992 (23). The Christian Reconstructionists ap-
parently have had widest acceptance among cha-
rismatics and some independent Baptist churches
(21). Evangelists D. James Kennedy and Presiden-
tial aspirant Pat Robertson have expressed admi-
ration for some of the teachings (21). Christian
Reconstructionism may indeed provide the plat-

Full-color, 36 x 7�, Change Your Mind frieze by Paul O. Zelinsky for the 1987 National ChildrenTs Book Week sponsored by the
ChildrenTs Book Council. For an illustrated Book Week brochure send a 22¢-stamped, self-addressed, #10 envelope to CBC, 67

Irving Place, New York, NY 10003. Attn: Book Week Brochure.

126 " Fall 1987

form for mobilizing the Religous Right to do battle
with humanism and with all the traditions of
Western civilization.

References

oA Christian Humanist Manifesto.� Eternity (March 1982): 23-25,

oAnyone for Humanism?� America 143 (Nov. 1, 1980): 260.

Bentley, Jerry H. Humanists and Holy Writ: New Testament
Scholarship in the Renaissance. Princeton: Princeton UP,
1983.

Bernstein, Ekhard. German Humanism. Boston: Twayne, 1983.

Boorstin, Daniel J. The Lost World of Thomas Jefferson. New
York: Henry Holt, 1948.

Clapp, Rodney, oDemocracy as Heresy.� Christianity Today (Feb.
20, 1987): 17-23.

Daiches, David. The King James Verson of the English Bible.
Chicago: U Chicago P, 1941.

Duncan, Homer. Secular Humanism: The Most Dangerous Re-
ligion in America. Lubbock, TX: Missionary Crusader, 1979.

Falwell, Jerry. Interview in Los Angeles Times September 7,
1980. Quoted in The Humanist (Mar/Apr 1981): 6.

Grossman, Maria. Humanism in Wittenberg 1485-1517. Nieuw-
koop: B. DeGraaf, 1975.

Kristeller, Paul Oscar. Renaissance Concepts of Man. New York:
Harper Torchbooks, 1972.

Kurtz, Paul. oA Secular Humanist Declaration.� Free Inquiry
(Winter 1980/81): 3-6.

SAUTION!

Kurtz, Paul, ed. Humanist Manifestos I & II. Buffalo: Prome-
theus Books, 1973.

LaHaye, Tim. The Battle for the Mind. Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming
H. Revell Co., 1980.

Martindale, Joanna. English Humanism Wyatt to Cowley. Lon-
don: Croom Helm, 1985.

Marty, Martin E. oChristian Humanism Among the Humanisms.�
Humanities Report 4. 2 (Feb. 1982): 15-16.

Pico della Mirandola, Giovanni. oOration: On the Dignity of Man�
(1572 edition). Trans. by Douglas Brooks-Davies and Stevie
Davies. In Renaissance Views of Man. Ed. Stevie Davies.
Manchester: Manchester UP, 1978.

Sandeen, Ernest R. The Roots of Fundamentalism: British and
American Millenarianism 1800-1930. Chicago: U Chicago
P, 1970.

Schaeffer, Francis A. A Christian Manifesto. Westchester, II:
Crossway Books, 1982.

Schlafly, Phyllis. oWhat is Humanism.� Quoted in The Humanist.
(Mar/Apr 1981): 6

Ullman, Walter. Medieval Foundations of Renaissance Human-
ism. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1977.

Webber, David. Global 2000: An interview with Mr. and Mrs.
William Bowen. Oklahoma City: The Southwest Radio
Church, 1984.

Webber, Robert E. Secular Humanism: Threat or Challenge.
Grand Rapids, Mich. Zondervan, 1982. gy

c

aes Se ee ee
SOME PEOPLE CONSIDER THESE BOOKS DANGEROUS

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY ¢ THE BIBLE ® ARE YOU THERE,
GOD? ITTS ME, MARGARET ¢ OUR BODIES, OURSELVES e TARZAN
ALICETS ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND ¢ THE EXORCIST ¢ THE
CHOCOLATE WAR ¢ CATCH-22 ¢ LORD OF THE FLIES * ORDINARY
PEOPLE # SOUL ON ICE e RAISIN IN THE SUN ¢ OLIVER TWIST ¢ A
FAREWELL TO ARMS ¢ THE BEST SHORT STORIES OF NEGRO

te

WRITERS e FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON e ULYSSES e TOKILLA

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MOCKINGBIRD e ROSEMARYTS BABY ¢ THE FIXER e DEATH OF A

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Fall 1987"127

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 1985

RATIFIED BILL

CHAPTER 486
HOUSE BILL 724
An act relating to confidentiality of library user records.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1. This act may be cited as the Library Privacy Act.

Section 2. Chapter 125 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article to read:
oArticle 3.
: oLibrary Records.

o§ 125-18. Definitions. " As used in this Article, unless the context requires otherwise:

(1) ~LibraryT means a library established by the State; a county, city, township, village, school district, or
other local unit of government or authority or combination of local units of governments and authorities; a
community college or university; or any private library open to the public.

(2) ~Library recordT means a document, record, or other method of storing information retained by a library
that identifies a person as having requested or obtained specific information or materials from a library. ~Library
recordT does not include nonidentifying material that may be retained for the purpose of studying or evaluating
the circulation of library materials in general.

o§ 125-19. Confidentiality of library user records. " (a) Disclosure. A library shall not disclose any
library record that identifies a person as having requested or obtained specific materials, information, or
services, or as otherwise having used the library, except as provided for in subsection (b).

(b) Exceptions. Library records may be disclosed in the following instances:

(1) When necessary for the reasonable operation of the library;
(2) Upon written consent of the user; or
(3) Pursuant to subpoena, court order, or where otherwise required by law.�

Section 3. This act shall become effective October 1, 1985.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 27th day of June, 1985.

Robert B. Jordan Ill
President of the Senate

Liston B. Ramsey
Speaker of the House of Representatives

SUGGESTED PROCEDURES FOR IMPLEMENTING
POLICY ON CONFIDENTIALITY OF LIBRARY RECORDS

1. The library staff member receiving the request to examine or obtain information relating to circulation or registra-
tion records will immediately refer the person making the request to the responsible officer of the institution, who shall
explain the confidentiality policy.

2. The director, upon receipt of such process, order, or subpoena, shall consult with the appropriate legal officer
assigned to the institution to determine if such process, order, or subpoena is in good form and if thereis a showing of
good cause for its issuance.

3. If the process, order, or subpoena is not in proper form or if good cause has not been shown, insistence shall be
made that such defects be cured before any records are released. (The legal process requiring the production of
circulation records shall ordinarily be in the form of subpoena oduces tecum� [bring your records] requiring the
responsible officer to attend court or the taking of his/her deposition and may require him/her to bring along certain
designated circulation records.)

4. Any threats or unauthorized demands (i.e., those not supported by a process, order, or subpoena) concerning
circulation or registration records shall be reported to the appropriate legal officer of the institution.

5. Any problems relating to the privacy of circulation and registration records which are not provided for above shall
be referred to the responsible officer.

Adopted by the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee, January 9, 1983.

128 " Fall 1987

Intellectual Freedom and Technology:
Deja Vu?

C. James Schmidt

The French have a cliche which, roughly
translated, says othe more things change, the
more they remain the same.� The impact of tech-
nology on intellectual freedom presents the
appearance of new issues, but the underlying real-
ity is susceptible to the application of enduring
and established principles. Among the challenges
to intellectual freedom presented by technology,
four will be discussed in this essay: privacy; trans-
border dataflow; value-added, e.g., osensitive but
unclassified� information; and document destruc-
tion/alteration.

Privacy

The technological capability to store and to
access information has long been recognized as
having a potential for violating individual privacy
rights.! Library policies for example, even before
widespread automation, have acknowledged the
importance of protecting the patronTs identity
and have been designed so as to resist disclosure
except upon presentation of subpoena from a
court of competent jurisdiction.

Privacy as a right is not explicitly protected
either in the U.S. Constitution or in the first ten
amendments to it. Nor was the federal government
the leader in acknowledging and protecting the
right to privacy.� It was not until 1965 in Griswold
vs. Connecticut (381 U.S. 479) that the Supreme
Court found a constitutional basis for privacy as a
right.

The potential of technology to encroach upon
individual intellectual freedom by violating pri-
vacy stems from intrusion rather than exclusion,
that is, from inappropriate interdiction into a
personTs private affairs or through disclosure of
embarrassing facts.T Intrusion is thus in contrast
to many other forms of encroachment on intellec-
tual freedom stemming from exclusions or limits
on access to or contents of information.

C. James Schmidt is Vice President and Director of The
Research Libraries Group, Inc., Stanford, California, and
Chairman of ALA/IFC.

Transborder Data Flow

If the technological threats to intellectual
freedom on the privacy front are ointrusive�, a dif-
ferent kind of intrusion is being resisted by the
barriers imposed on the flow of data across
national borders. Such barriers are motivated by
protectionism"of national security, of domestic
resources, of economic development, and, to a
lesser degree, of personal privacy.~ Restrictions on
transborder data flow have been imposed by the
United States as well as by other nations. In the
domestic cases, restrictions have been imposed by
prohibiting the importation of materials"exclu-
sion; for example, the denial of a permit to certain
foreign films as educational materials and the
insistence that these films be labelled opropa-
ganda�.® Exclusion of ideas from outside the Uni-
ted States has also taken the form of refusing
visas to foreign scholars and other visitors.6 The
United States has also prohibited the exportation
of ideas, using licensing as a process whereby
otherwise unclassified information and technol-
ogy based thereon were denied export permits.T

Information altered or deleted
is information denied.

In other nations barriers to transborder data
flow have been erected not only out of fear for
national security but also out of concern for eco-
nomic development. Signals donTt recognize na-
tional borders. Hence, some nations may feel
some threat of subversion from foreign informa-
tion"broadcasts or data. Additionally, many of the
less economically developed nations impede the
international flow of data in order to protect the
development of their indigenous information
economies. When motivated by nationalistic con-
cerns for economic development, barriers to
transborder data flow are as likely to be mani-
fested by tariffs as by prohibitions.

Restrictions Based on Value-Added
A third technological threat to intellectual

Fall 1987"129

freedom is seen in attempts to monitor the users
of and restrict access to osensitive but unclassi-
fied� information.T Motivating these attempts is a
belief that the ability of technology to bring
together (i.e, retrieve) disparate information
sources on the same subject makes for a owhole
greater than the sum of its parts�. An earlier
instance of this concern involved attempts to
enjoin the publication by Progressive of instruc-
tions for building an atomic bomb which were
taken from unclassified documents available in
any depository library. It follows therefore that
computerized literature searches, like readers of
Progressive, should be monitored! Although Na-
tional Security Decision Directive 145 has been
rescinded, efforts by its supporters continue, fo-
cusing on amendments to House Bill 145, a bill
which would place federal responsibility for com-
puter security in the National Bureau of Stand-
ards rather than with a defense or military
agency e.g. the National Security Agency. House
Bill 145 would also establish an advisory board on
computer security and privacy consisting of
government and private industry representatives.

Document Destruction/Alteration

The ease with which text can be created
using technology is the same ease with which
text"written or spoken"can be erased or modi-
fied. The threat to intellectual freedom from this
technology is one of exclusion, that is of denial of
existence (e.g., the famous missing 18 minutes
from a Presidential tape) or the unavailability of a
variant version. We have learned through the
recent Iran-Contra hearings of the ease with
which technology (more than shredders) can
alter or delete messages. Information altered or
deleted is information denied.

In this context, one can speculate, unhappily,
about the future of textual scholarship. Would it
have been possible, were it desirable, to produce
an unexpurgated version of a Twain (Mysterious
Stranger) or Hawthorne (Scarlet Letter) or Dreiser
(Sister Carrie) novel had any of these been writ-
ten using word processing? How will future study
past through literature of any written or recorded
word?

Information Policy

A frequent response to concerns about the
impacts of technology on information and hence
intellectual freedom is to bemoan the absence of
oinformation policy� and to advocate that such
policy be developed. Unfortunately it is frequently
the case that existing policies of governments,

130 " Fall 1987

companies, and other organizations already are
adequate but ignored rather than missing. Even
in instances where existing policies have not con-
templated current or prospective technologies,
the principles upon which the policies were based
have continuing value and application.

Conclusion

We therefore honor principles which are cen-
turies old in our development and maintenance of
library collections and services, principles which
assure individual access to information, which
protect privacy, which resist governmental moni-
toring, and which assure the availability of a
recorded tradition from one generation to suc-
ceeding ones. Through all, we recognize that eter-
nal vigilance is indeed the price of intellectual
freedom.

... eternal vigilance is indeed
the price of intellectual free-
dom.

References

1. See for example: Alan F. Westin, Privacy and Freedom. (New
York: Atheneum, 1967): Personal Privacy in an Information
Society (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1977).

2. See David J. Seipp, The Right to Privacy in American History
(Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Program on Information
Resource Policy, 1978).

3. William L. Prosser, oPrivacy,� California Law Review 48
(August, 1960): 389.

4. See M. E. L. Jacob and D. L. Rings, oNational and International
Information Policies,� Library Trends 35 (Summer, 1986): 144-
147; Transborder Data Flow Policies (New York; Unipub, n.d.).
5. Bullfrog Films vs Wick, 646 Fed. Supp. 492 (x 1986).

6. Steve Kemper, oDo Not Enter,� Boston Globe Magazine (Feb-
ruary 7, 1985): 10; see also Kleindienst v. Mandel, 408 U.S. 753
(1972).

7. 50 App. U.S.C.A. Section 204(s) 1,2,3,5.

8. National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) 145 (September
18, 1984) and National Telecommunications and Information
Systems Security Policy (NTISSP) #2 (October 29, 1986 a.k.a.
Poindexter memorandum). a

(ae

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SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY CATALOG, 31x Edition
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Fall 1987"131

NOMINATION FOR THE 1988 ROTHROCK AWARD
SOUTHEASTERN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

Award: Interest on the $10,000 endowment of Mary U. Rothrock
and Honorary Membership in the Southeastern Library
Association.

Purpose: To recognize outstanding contributions to librarianship in
the Southeast. This is the highest honor bestowed by
SELA on leaders in the library field.

Guidelines:

1. Age and years of service are not a deciding factor in the selection. Those
librarians early in their careers or of many years service who have made an
exceptional contribution to the field may be considered.

The award will be made to no more than one person in a biennium, and an
award may be omitted if no suitable nomination is received.

Service in one or more states of those served by the Southeastern Library
Association will qualify a person for nomination.

Please send your nomineeTs name, along with a narrative of his or her
professional and association activities, civic organizations, writings, editorial
contributions, single events or other honors received. Additional documentation
may be requested in the case of finalists.

Those making nomination must be members of SELA, but the
nominee need not be.

Send all Nominations accompanied by a copy of this form
to:

Dean Burgess: Chair

Rothrock Awards Committee of the Southeastern Library
Association

Portsmouth Public Library

601 Court Street

Portsmouth, VA 23704

NOMINATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY JANUARY 2, 1988 (Please type of print carefully)

Person nominated

States in w

(First Name) (Middle Name or Initial) (Last Name)

hich the nominee has served

SELA ~member making the nomination ss Signature)
Address of the member making the

nomination
Name

Address of the nominee (if known)
Name

Street_. se ee ins Sittnames Streets Ses See ee

City, State,

and ZipCode 200s sa+.208 & fis ss City, State and Zip Code

_Please print or type the reason for this nomination on an attached sheet. Copies of
biographical data, articles about the nominee or other documents in support of a nomination
are welcomed.

132 " Fall 1987

An Author Looks at Censorship

Lee Bennett Hopkins

Shut not your doors to me proud libaries,
For that which was lacking on all your
well-fillTd shelves, yet needed most
I bring,
Forth from the emerging war, a book
I have made,
The words of my book nothing,
the drift of it every thing,
A book separate, not linkTd with
the rest nor felt by the intellect,
But you ye untold latencies will
thrill to every page.
Walt Whitman
Leaves of Grass/1865

It is incredible that this sentiment was
expressed over 122 years ago, yet some libraries
still are shutting their door on Walt Whitman.
They are also closing out a multitude of writers
being censored by non-writers.

In the world of childrenTs literature, countless
titles are being scrutinized, then banned, in every
genre"fiction, non-fiction, even poetry!

I find it hard to believe what I find in journals
and newspapers. Imagine, for example, that a
Superintendent of Schools in Panama City, Flor-
ida, announces oa three-tier book classification
system,� banning such acclaimed novels as Robert
CormierTs I Am The Cheese about a teenager who
becomes involved in a spy-like web, and Susan
Beth PffeferTs novel, About David, dealing with
teenage suicide"one of the major problems
children in our country face today.

Other headlines recently have blared: oAla-
bama Textbooks Banning Threatens School Li-
brarians;� oNEA Files Brief in Tennessee Textbook
Case;� oCensorTs New Aim: Limiting Study of Ideas
in Schools.�

Where are we going? What are we headed for?

Indeed, censorship is a rampant disease that
makes it difficult to reach readers.

James J. Jacobs states: o... most of us realize if
every book which makes someone unhappy were
torched, we could operate the city library from
the trunk of a Japanese import.�!

Lee Bennett Hopkins is an author and educational consultant,
Scarborough, New York.

Each and every book is under scrutiny. Shel
SilversteinTs popular volumes of light verse, Where
the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic are
constantly under attack due to lack of omoralism.�
Yet, if one carefully observes his body of work, one
will find human messages contained within his
verses, more so than any current writer of verse
today. The renowned poet, Myra Cohn Livingston,
stated: oMr. SilversteinTs genius lies in finding a
way to present moralism, beguiling his child read-
ers with a technique that establishes him an
errant, mischievous and inventive child as well as
an understanding, trusted, and wise adult.�

Censors hit the minds and hearts of everyone
involved in teaching"those who instill the love of
reading"causing concern, doubt, and anxieties.

In a recent speech on censorship held at the
International Reading Association Annual Con-
vention in May 1987, Myra Cohn Livingston
reported: o... several years ago I received word
from an editor of a major textbook publisher that
a limerick of mine scheduled for use in a textbook
had to be dropped.� The five-line verse, titled
oFourth of July� deals with lighting fireworks with
a match.?

The editor told Mrs. Livingston: oWe canTt
have anything about children playing with
matches.�

oBut how do you light fireworks?� Mrs. Living-
ston posed, stopping due to her realization that
she had become familiar with the restrictions
about ojunk food, about witches, about proper
English, Black dialect, brandnames, violence,
Negative and Positive images.�

Judy Blume, one of the most beloved, yet
most banned authors in the country, talked about
her view of censorship:

Several years ago, while writing Tiger Eyes, my edi-
tor asked me to delete a few lines because, as he said,
that passage would surely make the book a target for
censors. I deleted the passage and I've regretted the
decision ever since. I think my editor does too. I have
vowed not to be intimidated again. But what about all
the other writers? What about writers who are just start-
ing out? If I were that young writer today, I might not
write for and about children at all. I might find it impos-
sible to write honestly about them in this climate of fear.
Because J donTt know how to get into the mind and body
of a character without allowing his or her sexuality to

Fall 1987"133

come through. Sexuality is an important part of life. ItTs
healthy, not sick.4

Richard Peck, another well-acclaimed author
of young adult books, has been criticized for being
otoo realistic.� On the basis of ocommunity stand-
ards� his young adult novel Are You in the House
Alone? has been removed from the shelves of
classrooms and libraries in many towns.

Mr. Peck relates that he wrote the book
obecause the typical victim of the crime of rape is
a teenage girl in our country. ThatTs a very hard
truth. Yet, I wanted my readers to know some
things about this crime, that our laws are stacked
against the victim and in favor of the criminal. I
wanted them to know what itTs like to be a victim
... [had to deal only in the truth. I couldn't put a
happy ending on this story because we donTt have
any happy endings to this problem in our
society.�®

Censors hit the hearts and minds of educa-
tors, too.

Misha Arenstein, a veteran teacher in West-
chester County, New York, a true advocate of
childrenTs books, relates:

Almost twenty years have elapsed since I entered
the teaching profession"one I still adore. The echo of a
myriad of changes fills my head.

I remember early on as an elementary teacher, for-
mally requesting my Board of EducationTs approval for
the use of Judy BlumeTs pioneer novel, Are You There
God? ItTs Me, Margaret. The President and the Board
laughed at my timidity, thinking I was too intimidated by
so-called controversial books!

In later years, I recall a parent complaining about
my use of M.E. KerrTs, Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack. Was I
advocating the use of heroin? The criticism vanished as I
asked the parent whether she had read the book. The
parent judged the entire content of KerrTs work by the
title alone.

Today, a seasoned and literate reader of childrenTs
literature, past and present, I fear most the reactionary
atmosphere surrounding all of us. I indulge in self-cen-
sorship"a practice widely prevalent in many schools.

Coming across a mild expletive, an off-color word, or
a situation involving realistic sexual interest. I often set a
book aside.

Will my administrators welcome the chance to
defend my academic freedom, I silently ponder? Will
parents influenced by years of negative comments about
teachers and teaching understand my fervent attempt
to get children to read? Censorship and its silent effect
on us all must present the answers.®

Unheard of decades ago, college professors of
childrenTs literature devote chapters in textbooks
to censorship. Their concerns are voiced too.

The distinguished educator, Charlotte S.
Huck, includes a discussion of censorship in her
volume, ChildrenTs Literature in the Elementary
School, reiterating what Misha Arenstein feels in

134 " Fall 1987

these troubled days. oA more subtle and frighten-
ing kind of censorship,� Dr. Huck states, ois that
which is practiced voluntarily by librarians and
teachers. If a book has come under negative scrut-
iny in a nearby town, it is carefully placed under
the librarianTs desk until the controversy dies
down.�"

Arthea J.S. Reed, an associate professor of
education at the University of North Carolina at
Asheville echoes this phenomenon in her text,
Reaching Adolescents: The Young Adult and the
School. She begins the chapter, oCensorship and
the Young Adult Book� with: oCensorship sends
terror up and down the teacherTs and the librar-
ianTs and the administratorTs spine. No educator
has failed to reexamine the materials used in the
classroom or library when well-publicized cases of
censorship, book-banning, and book-burning have
occurred. No creative teacher feels safe from the
censorTs wrath when he or she reads about
teachers who were fired for using particular
books in their classrooms.�8

A more subtle and frighten-
ing kind of censorship ... is
that which is practiced volun-
tarily by librarians and
teachers.

In Zena SutherlandTs, Children and Books,
Alice B. Naylor, Professor at Appalachian State
University, Boone, North Carolina, devotes twelve
pages to the issue of censorship, including excel-
lent listings of oAnti-Intellectual Freedom Organi-
zations� and oPro-Intellectual Freedom Organiza-
tions.�®

All of the above texts are worth reading, each
providing sound guidelines to educators as to
what to do when the censors do come.

Distinguished editors of childrenTs books,
such as Jean Karl, feel the effects also. In her arti-
cle, oCalm down, Squirrels,� Ms. Karl relates:
oThese days, I look at damns and hells and gods
and pisses and all the other four letter words that
spell realism to many. And in many cases they are
realism. They are exactly the way the characters
that use them would talk, and so they must talk
that way, no matter what the censor might
believe. To create books that lie about speech or
about any aspect of life is to create distrust in
readers, to say that we cannot depend upon
books. It is to doom the book as a part of common
life... Every aspect of language, and of incident, in
books being edited is considered with an eye to

what must be there and what might simply be
fodder for the censor.�!°

So many writers have felt the impact of the
censorTs arbitrary bite in America: Maurice Sen-
dak, Ezra Jack Keats, Norma Klein, Carl Sand-
burg, Langston Hughes, E.B. White. The list could
fill a volume!

But one thing is certain. In fifty years or less,
those people banning books will be long gone. But
the books such as SendakTs In the Night Kitchen,
KeatsT The Snowy Day, KleinTs Mom, the Wolf Man,
and Me, the poetry of Sandburg and Hughes, and
the classic tales spun by White will live on and on
and continue to be loved long after the censorsT
knives are dutifully blunted.

It is time to stop shutting those doors and
open new ones"open young minds to the feasts
that only books can bring"to life and language
that can be found nowhere else except on printed
pages.

... censorship is a rampant
disease that makes it difficult
to reach readers.

oWe need those books that reflect every
aspect of our cultural divresity,� Jean Karl states.
oAnd if we can no longer picture teen-age sexual
explorations, the trauma of abortion, their ter-
rors of drug addiction after its initial pleasures,
the things that are really wrong with our society,
and lives that are not lived in a perfect suburb,
then we are lying to our children and forcing
them into cultural blindness that could eventually
shatter the fabric of the nation. For democracy is
based on trust and understanding, on accep-
tance, and when these are missing, the diversities
that will continue to exist will fragment rather
than enrich the commonwealth.�!!

We do need these books. We need to light
more bulbs in more attics, not turn them off. We
need to start opening more library doors. And we
need to do it now!

References

1. James J. Jacobs. oMaking Kids Safe for Books.� The People,
(October, 1985).

2. Myra Cohn Livingston. oThe Light in His Attic.� New York
Times Book Review, (March 9, 1986):36-37.

3. oFourth of July� in Celebrations (New York: Holiday House,
1985.)

4. Judy Blume. Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom, (Sep-
tember, 1986):144, 176.

5. Richard Peck in From Writers to Students: The Pleasures
and Pains of Writing, edited by M. Jerry Weiss. (Newark, Dela-
ware: International Reading Association, 1979):65.

6. Conversation with author. April, 1987.
7. Charlotte S. Huck. ChildrenTs Literature in the Elementary
School. Third, Updated Edition: (New York: Holt, 1979):42.

8. Arthea J.S. Reed, Reaching Adolescents: The Young Adult
and the School. (New York: Holt, 1985):422.

9. Zena Sutherland and May Hill Arbuthnot. Children and
Books. Seventh Edition. (Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman,
1986.)

10. Jean Karl. oCalm Down, Squirrels.� The Advocate (Winter,
1982):77. a
11. Ibid. =

Church and Synagogue Library Association

The North Carolina Chapter of the Church
and Synagogue Library Association exists to
promote church and synagogue librarian-
ship and to provide educational guidance
on an ecumenical basis. Membership pro-
vides an opportunity to participate in two
workshops annually and to receive the
chapter newsletter. For further informa-
tion, call or write Janet L. Flowers (3702
Tremont Drive, Durham, NC 27705 919-
383-3430).

BOOK WEEK : November 16-22, 1987

Full-color, 17 x 22�, Change Your Mind poster by Marc Simont
for the 1987 National ChildrenTs Book Week sponsored by the
ChildrenTs Book Council. For an illustrated Book Week bro-
chure send a 22¢-stamped, self-addressed, #10 envelope to
CBC, 67 Irving Place, New York, NY 10003. Attn: Book Week
Brochure.

Fall 1987"135

e are pleased to announce
publication of the 1988 Library
of Congress Engagement Calendar.
This is the fourth edition in what
promises to be a long and
wonderful tradition.

The Library of Congress
is a treasure house of American
and world culture. Its collections
include rare books, early motion
pictures, political cartoons, illu-
minated manuscripts, scientific
drawings, old cookbooks, maps,
graphics and other fine art.

This yearTs 70 images include
a portrait of George Gershwin; a
17th century Buddhist manuscript;
Mae GordonTs oinsane Moving
Vehicle�; a Chagall hand-colored
illustration; a murder mystery jig-
saw puzzle; an elephant on a bike;
English fashion sketches from
1829; a Landsat map of Salt Lake
City; illustrations of childrenTs
books by William Blake and
much more!

The Calendar is 7"x9"

128 pages, printed on fine paper,
and oWire-O� bound to lie flat.
(oWire-O� is the best of the
mechanical bindings.) Each cal-
endar page covers one week, and
there is lots of room for making
notes and appointments.

The Calendar also contains
a valuable 10-page supplement
which outlines how to access and
order material from the Library,
including new books, braille,
recordings, photographs, and
posters.

We are pleased to make the
Calendar available at special dis-
counts to library people and friends
of libraries for fund raising.

ISBN 0-939456-48-6 + Suggested retail price, $10.00 - GALISON BOOKS,
25 West 43rd Street, NewYork, NY 10036 + (212) 354-8840

136 " Fall 1987

Intellectual Freedom Policies

and Current School Practices
Frances M. McDonald

School library media specialists attempting
to practice the intellectual freedom principles of
their profession in an institutional milieu anti-
thetical to intellectual freedom face a profes-
sional dilemma. Unlike public and academic
librarians who work in institutions where the
principles of intellectual freedom are generally
accepted, and who work with other individuals
who profess a similar professional ethic, a school
library media specialist usually works alone, in an
educational setting where protection of children
is the norm and ocausing trouble� elicits censure
from administrators and colleagues. Faced with
this dilemma, only the most courageous are able
to apply the concepts of freedom of access to
information in the schools, while others feel
forced to compromise their professional princi-
ples to keep the peace, to pacify administrators,
to avoid parental and community wrath, and
apparently (unfortunately) in some cases to keep
their jobs.

Most media specialists face some pressures to
restrict access to information in schools. Some
media specialists are able to resist these pres-
sures and foster an atmosphere of intellectual
freedom in the media center and in the school.
Others, contrary to their professional beliefs, res-
trict access through regulations, closed collec-
tions, and self-censorship. This discussion focuses
on the variety of ways, consciously or uncon-
sciously, that school library media specialists vio-
late their professional ethics and provides some
guidance to those who, while compromising, feel
some measure of guilt for their actions, and would
prefer to promote free and open access to infor-
mation.

The courts have told us that students and
teachers do not shed their constitutional rights at
the schoolhouse gate (Tinker 1969), and that the
school library media center is the marketplace of
ideas where students oexplore the unknown, and

Frances M. McDonald is Associate Professor of Library Media
Education, Mankato State University, Mankato, Minnesota,
and Chairman of the American Association of School Librar-
iansT IFC.

discover areas of interest and thought not
covered by the prescribed curriculum� (Right to
Read Defense Committee 1978). While children
are a captive audience in the classroom, children
are not captive in the media centers. There, child-
ren have unrestricted, voluntary access to infor-
mation. There, children may select from a variety
of points of view and a diversity of ideas. However,
in some media centers ideas are restricted, diver-
sity does not exist, and unpopular points of view
are not available.

Educators, including school library media
specialists, suffer from a doctrine called in loco
parentis. While the application of the doctrine in
the classroom in terms of health and safety makes
sense, the application of the doctrine in the
school library media center in terms of access to
ideas does not. In loco parentis has been used to
limit resources, to restrict the curriculum, and to
impose personal beliefs and values on the educa-
tional process. The problem is defining what act-
ing as a parent means when the actions relate to
providing information, unlike the clarity which
seems to exist when the actions relate to health
and safety. One assumes, rightly, that parents
want their children to be safe from physical harm
in school. But, may one assume just as confidently
that parents want their children protected from
ideas or indoctrinated with an orthodox point of
view? Should media specialists assume that par-
ents want their children to have access only to
what the media specialists, the teachers, and the
administrators have prescribed as reflecting the
values of the community? Do the teachers, admin-
istrators, and media specialists know what com-
munity values are? Or do the teachers, administra-
tors, and media specialists who use community
values or in loco parentis as a rationale for re-
stricting information know what their personal
values are and assume they are the values of the
community? The principles of intellectual free-
dom adopted by the profession of librarianship
exist to protect the freedom to read and the
rights of the minority to locate the strange idea, to
hear the unpopular point of view. Is this in con-
flict with in loco parentis?

Fall 1987"137

Background and Observations

Rare is the school library media specialist
who did not in professional preparation read and
discuss the Library Bill of Rights and learn that it
applies to all types of libraries. Equally rare is the
school library media specialist who was not
taught that political views, religious beliefs, and
personal values have no place in the selection pro-
cess. Also rare is the school or district selection
policy which does not make reference to the
Library Bill of Rights and the First Amendment as
the basis for collection development and access to
information. Yet, professional practices illustrate
that the concepts of the Library Bill of Rights are
violated with restricted shelves, with selection
decisions made on the reputation of the author,
and with regulations limiting access to collections
by age group.

Conversations with school library media spe-
cialists are sprinkled with arguments of why their
professional beliefs, stated in the Library Bill of
Rights, are not applicable in the speakersT schools.
Cited are the administrators who advise the
school library media specialist to keep the com-
munity in mind when selecting books. (Why does
the media specialist always conclude that this
means avoiding purchasing certain items?) Cited
are the teachers who advise that the prudent
course of action is not to cause trouble in the
school. (Why do educators conclude that defense
of freedom to read will cause trouble?) Media
specialists tell of coloring over or removing pages
or illustrations because the parents might be dis-
pleased with the content. Media specialists also
admit that certain subjects are avoided and cer-
tain authors or titles are not purchased. Two
assumptions form these arguments: the first, an
assumption that the media specialist knows what
is best for all children and next, fear, based on an
assumption of repercussions from administra-
tors, teachers, and community. These assumptions
reflect little understanding of the concepts of
intellectual freedom and almost total avoidance
of the professional responsibility to resist efforts
to censor. There is rarely evidence from conversa-
tions that school library media specialists see that
informing and teaching others the meaning and
importance of intellectual freedom is part of their
professional ethic.

Downs (1984) wondered whether there was
something in the personality or psychological
makeup of librarians which caused them to violate
the principles of their profession. Farley (1964)
and Fiske (1959) told us that librarians do censor
while expounding the principles of intellectual
freedom. Fiske found that librarians who work for

138 " Fall 1987

restrictive administrators tend to be restrictive in
selecting resources. OTNeil (1981) and Woods and
Salvatore (1981) pointed out that protections for
employment do not appear to exist for librarians
who defend intellectual freedom principles. For
whatever reason, there is evidence that the ethics
of the profession are not followed by all librarians
who work in schools. What is not evident, however,
is the degree of discomfort these librarians feel, if
they do.

a eS ee ae
Most media specialists face

some pressures to restrict
access to information in

schools.
SSS

Violations of Professional Beliefs

Identifying typical violations provides a good
place to begin. The quiz at the end of this article
was adapted for school library media specialists
from one developed by the Young Adult Services
Division of the American Library Association in
1982. The list includes some of the violations
common in school library media centers. Some
are obvious, such as not purchasing the Judy
Blume books; while others are more subtle, such
as skipping over words when reading to children.
Sometimes, because of the climate in the school,
media specialists avoid issues considered extreme
or controversial. An administrator tells a media
specialist to remove a book or periodical, and the
librarian does it. Or, media specialists quietly
secrete books to restricted shelves at the first hint
of controversy. Some of these violations are based
simply on assumptions of the wishes of superiors
and the community. Limiting interlibrary loan to
teachers might have its roots in limited funding
for the school library media center; but that rea-
soning might also disguise the real motive, that a
teacher will then make a judgment about the
appropriateness of the item for the student. Still
other violations, such as not purchasing the sex
education book because the perspective was per-
sonally repugnant to the media specialist, are
caused by the imposition of personal values and
beliefs on the collection.

Further examination shows that these viola-
tions and others like them fall into four catego-
ries: the imposition of personal values and beliefs
on the selection process, the wish to protect
children, pressures or directives from superiors
and colleagues, and, a perception of the wishes of
the parents and an assumption of community
values, largely myth. The violations result in res-

tricted shelves or collections, self-censorship at
the point of purchase or later in expurgation, reg-
ulations which restrict access to information, and
not following school selection policy and review
procedures. Whatever the action and whatever
the reason, in addition to violating the principles
of the profession, the result is limited access to
information and ideas for the users of the media
center.

The exact intellectual freedom violations in
this simplistic quiz will be obvious to most school
library media specialists. For them, picking up an
Intellectual Freedom Manual (1983) and reread-
ing the Library Bill of Rights and all of the Inter-
pretations may serve as a reminder. Other media
specialists, however, might be surprised that
practices performed over the years, in reality, serve
to limit access to information. For those librar-
ians, a more careful reading of the Library Bill of
Rights and Interpretations might help to clarify
the intellectual freedom principle being violated.
School library media specialists who find them-
selves responding oyes, but ...� may need to re-
evaluate their commitment to intellectual free-
dom and analyze the personal motivations under-
lying their actions.

Fortunately, many school library media spe-
cialists do not need a quiz to remind them of vio-
lations of intellectual freedom. They seem to have
an innate sense of the freedom and right to read.
These individuals are likely to be working in an
intellectually free school library media center
and, no doubt, have played a large part in orient-
ing those around them to an understanding of the
importance of fostering this environment. Others
appear to need experience before the concepts of
intellectual freedom make sense. Freedom to read
concepts become clear when the media specialist
begins to search for an additional point of view
and becomes aware of applying educational cri-
teria to the selection of resources, rather than
applying personal opinion. Still other school
library media specialists do not begin to under-
stand intellectual freedom until a crisis forces
them to reexamine their professional beliefs.

The courts have told us that
students and teachers do not
shed their constitutional
rights at the schoolhouse
gate...

However, the crisis which strengthens them will
cause other media specialists to pull back in fear

and further compromise intellectual freedom
principles. What happens as a result of a crisis
probably relates to the degree of risk the media
specialist experienced, how the crisis was viewed
by others in the school, and the degree of support
the media specialist felt. And, unfortunately,
some media specialists never seem to understand
the concepts of intellectual freedom. It is to be
hoped that this group is a small minority.

Basic principles which guide the profession of
librarianship have their roots in the Bill of Rights
to the United States Constitution. Access to
information finds its expression in the First
Amendment. The selection policies adopted by
school boards are based in due process and the
right to petition the government for a redress of
grievances. Applications of these basic rights are
described in the Library Bill of Rights and Inter-
pretations of the Library Bill of Rights. The Inter-
pretations, adopted as needs arise, explain,
provide detail, and guide library practice. For
example, three of the latest were developed
directly in response to needs of the profession.
One, the Circulation of Motion Pictures and Video
Productions (1984) answers librariansT questions
about using the motion picture rating code in
libraries. The second, Access to Resources and
Services in the School Library Media Program
(1986) was developed as a result of a need to
interpret the Library Bill of Rights in school
library media centers. Evolving concepts of indi-
vidual rights and rights to privacy resulted in the
confidentiality statement.

Solutions
Putting aside the idea that censorship might

have its roots in demographic characteristics of
librarians or in their developmental levels (specu-
lations about which the profession has no real
evidence), we must believe that persons who work
in libraries, who have selected librarianship as a
profession, want to practice the ethics of that
profession. Two areas of responsibility are identi-
fied. Individual librarians have a professional
responsibility to be informed, to act as intellectual
freedom advocates, to foster an intellectual free-
dom climate in the school, to resist efforts of oth-
ers to censor library resources, to be responsible
for practices in their own media centers, and to
serve as part of a support network for all other
librarians. The other responsibility rests with the
profession: to interpret the Library Bill of Rights,
to develop statements to guide the actions of
librarians, to disseminate these statements wide-
ly, to participate in the vast responsiblity of edu-
cating others, and to help to organize the support
system.

Fall 1987"139

Ignoring personal beliefs and values as
causes for self-censorship, suppose the media
specialist wants to adhere to professional princi-
ples but outside pressures force the media spe-
cialist to violate them. Contrary to popular belief,
librarians who work in hostile environments need
not accept those conditions. Rather, they should
ochallenge censorship in the fulfillment of their
responsibility ...� and ocooperate with all persons
and all groups concerned with resisting abridg-
ment of free expression and free access to ideas�
(Articles 3 and 4. Library Bill of Rights 1980) and
ofoster a climate of intellectual freedom in the
school� (Access to Resources and Services in the
School Library Media Program 1986).

School library media specialists begin the
task of creating an intellectual freedom climate in
the school by modeling intellectual freedom
behavior and by creating situations to help others
understand intellectual freedom concepts. Ob-
viously, intellectual freedom concepts will be
learned through the process of developing poli-
cies and during the yearly review of selection poli-
cies. Beyond that, and expanding on that base,
school library media specialists might organize
and lead a long term staff development program
dealing with this issue. Discussions of the mean-
ing of intellectual freedom might begin with the
Library Bill of Rights, and continue with docu-
ments from other professional organizations: Na-
tional Council of Teachers of English, National
Council for the Social Studies, International Read-
ing Association, Parent Teachers Association,
American Association of University Women, and
national teacher organizations. State intellectual
freedom documents provide another resource for
these sessions, as do films and video tapes about
the issue.

Beyond helping to raise awareness of the
issues, school library media specialists must
assume the professional role of intellectual free-
dom advocate for all who work in schools.
Teachers also benefit from an intellectual free-
dom atmosphere. Collectively, teachers and media
personnel must work together to support intellec-
tual freedom in the school and to support one
another. Perhaps the leadership of teacher organ-
izations might focus on contract language which
promotes intellectual freedom as a condition of
employment and negotiate the support for teach-
ers and media professionals that a selection pol-
icy provides.

School library media specialists teach intel-
lectual freedom concepts to students by modeling
behavior. Perhaps there is a parallel between the
atmosphere in a school library media center and

140 " Fall 1987

what we are now learning about abusive behavior.
Children who grow up in an atmosphere of caring
and loving, grow up to be caring and loving indi-
viduals. Children who grow up abused, grow up to
be abusers. So, children who attend school in an
atmosphere of restriction and orthodoxy might
become the censors and pressure groups of
tomorrow (hopefully, they will not become librar-
ians), and children who grow up with the oppor-
tunity to choose freely from ideas and allow
others the same right will be intellectual freedom
advocates. Some might even become school board
members and librarians, thus firmly establishing
an environment in which media specialists are
able to practice their profession without fear and
intimidation.

School library media special-
ists begin the task of creating
an intellectual freedom cli-
mate in the school by model-
ing intellectual freedom
behavior ...

Lest the reader conclude that readings, dis-
cussions, and contract language provide a sim-
plistic solution to the problem of self-censorship
in schools, be reminded that raising awareness is
the first step in the process of adopting a value, in
this case the professional value of intellectual
freedom. Intellectual freedom requires persons
willing to act on their values. Awareness can lead
to actions, especially in a supportive environment.
Creating that environment is the first step toward
eliminating timid and fearful censoring media
specialists.

References

Robert B. Downs and Ralph E. McCoy, eds. The First Freedom
Today: Critical Issues Relating to Censorship and Intellec-
tual Freedom. (Chicago: American Library Association,
1984): 8.

John J. Farley. Book Censorship in the Senior High School
Libraries of Nassau County, New York. Unpublished Doc-
toral Dissertation. (New York University, 1964).

Marjorie (Lowenthal) Fiske. Book Selection and Censorship: A
Study of School and Public Libraries in California. (Berke-
ley: University of California Press, 1959).

Office for Intellectual Freedom. Intellectual Freedom Manual.
Second Edition. (Chicago: American Library Association,
1983).

Robert M. O'Neil. Classrooms in the Crossfire: the Rights of Stu-
dents, Parents, Teachers, Administrators, Librarians and
the Community. (Bloomington, Indiana: University of Indi-
ana Press, 1981): 138-161.

Right to Read Defense Committee v. School Committee, Etc. 454
F. Supp. 703 (1978).

Tinker v. DesMoines 393 U.S. 503 (1969).

L.B. Woods and Lucy Salvatore. o Self-Censorship in Collection
Development by High School Library Media Specialists,�
School Media Quarterly 9 (Winter, 1981): 102-108.

Intellectual Freedom and Censorship
Do School Practices Reflect Association Policy?
Intellectual Freedom Practices Quiz

Have you ever:

Yes No 1. Not purchased a popular title such
as Forever or Blubber because it
might be unpopular with parents?

Yes No 2. Checked magazines or other mate-
rials for potentially controversial
content and then restricted access
to the item or removed the entire
item from the collection?

Yes No 3. Not purchased an item because a
review or publisherTs catalog indi-
cates the book is ofor mature read-
ers,� has explicit language or illus-
trations, or might be controversial?

Yes No 4. Not purchased sex books from a
conservative religious point of view
because a staff member found
them personally repugnant?

Yes No _ 5. Skipped over words while reading
to students?

Yes No 6. Reviewed potentially controversial
materials and decided not to pur-
chase because of poor characteri-
zation, poorly developed plot, or
other violatons of the oLaw of
Literary Merit,� even though other
non-controversial materials in the
collection also violate the oLaw of
Literary Merit�?

Yes No 7. Established restricted shelves of
materials which might offend par-
ents or administrators?

Yes No 8. Used MPAA rating codes on video-
cassettes to determine circulation
policies?

Yes No Q. Restricted interlibrary loan servi-
ces to teachers?

Yes No 10. Established separate collections
for specific age groups in a 7-12
media center or K-12 media
center?

Yes No 11. Not purchased materials concern-
ing minorities because of people
saying oWe donTt need that book
because no one in our community
is gay� (or Jewish, Black or of His-
panic origin)?

Yes No 12. Not purchased publications repre-
senting diverse points of view
because some might consider the
viewpoint oextreme�?

Yes No 18. Colored in pictures or removed
pages from books?

Yes No 14. Used a circulation system which
allows anyone to identify who has
checked out an item?

Yes No 15. Removed a book when requested to
do so by an administrator even
though your policy says a hearing
must be held before a book is re-
moved?

Answers to the Intellectual Freedom Practices
Quiz

If you answered YES to any of the questions, your
library practices violate the Library Bill of Rights
and Interpretations.
1. Library Bill of Rights. Article 2. Free Access
to Libraries for Minors.
2. Article 5. Restricted Access to Library Mate-
rials. Free Access ...
3. Articles 1, 2, and 5. Free access ... Access to
Resources and Services in the School Library
Media Program.

Full-color, 9 x 22�, Change Your Mind streamers by Nancy
Tafuri (cat and parrot) for the 1987 National ChildrenTs Book
Week sponsored by the ChildrenTs Book Council. For an illus-
trated Book Week brochure that includes prices and ordering
information, send a 22¢-stamped, self-addressed, #10 enve-
lope to CBC, 67 Irving Place, New York, NY 10003. Attn: Book
Week Brochure.

Fall 1987"141

ao

10.
Ltt,
12.
13.

14.
15.

. Article 3. Restricted Access

. Article 2. Diversity in Collection Develop-

ment.

. Article 2. Expurgation of Library Materials.
. Article 3. Free Access ... Access to Resources

. Article 5. Restricted ... Free Access ... Access

to Resources...

. Article 3. Circulation of Motion Pictures and

Video Productions.

... Access to
Resources ...

Articles 2 and 5. Labeling. Access to Resour-
ces...

Article 2. Diversity in Collection Development.
Free Access ...

Articles 1, 2, and 5. Diversity ... Access to Re-
sources...

Article 2. Expurgation of library resources.
Article 5. Confidentiality of Library Records.
Articles 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Administrative Poli-
cies and Procedures. Evaluating Library Col-
lections. Challenged Materials. Access to
Resources ...

The Library Bill of Rights and its Interpretations:

Free Access to Libraries for Minors

Administrative Policies and Procedures Affecting
Access to Library Resources and Services

Statement on Labeling

Expurgation of Library Materials

Diversity in Collection Development

Evaluating Library Collections

Challenged Materials

Restricted Access to Library Materials

Policy on Confidentiality of Library Records

Circulation of Motion Pictures and Video Produc-
tions

Access to Resources and Services in the School
Library Media Program

Intellectual Freedom Manual and recent Inter-

pretations are available from:

Office for Intellectual Freedom

American Library Association

50 East Huron Street

Chicago, Illinois 60611

Adapted from a quiz developed by YASD/IFC
(1982), by Fran McDonald for Focus 86 AASL
Minneapolis, September, 1986. Revised 1987.

Confidentiality of Library Records in School Library Media Centers:
An Explanation of Confidentiality of Library Records Statutes and
American Library Association Policy

The members of the American Library Association,* recognizing the right to
privacy of library users, believe that records held in libraries which connect names of
individuals with specific resources, programs, or services are confidential and not to
be used for purposes other than routine record keeping. Records are collected when
needed and destroyed when no longer needed for routine purposes such as: to main-
tain access to resources, to assure that resources are available to users who need
them, to arrange facilities for the comfort and safety of patrons, or to provide re-
sources for patrons to accomplish the purposes of the program or service. The library
community recognizes that children and youth have the same rights to privacy as
adults.

School library media specialists using record keeping systems which reveal the
names of users would be in violation of the confidentiality of library records statutes
adopted in many states. School library media specialists are advised to seek the advice
of counsel if in doubt about whether their record keeping systems violate statutes in
their states. Efforts must be made within the reasonable constraints of budgets and
school management procedures to eliminate such record keeping systems and records
as soon as possible.

With or without specific legislation, school library media specialists should
respect the rights of children and youth by adhering to the tenets expressed in the
Confidentiality of Library Records Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights and the
ALA Code of Ethics.

January 25, 1987
*ALA Policy 52.5, 54.15

142 " Fall 1987

Access To Resources and Services
in the
School Library Media Program
An Interpretation of the LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS

The school library/media program plays a unique role in promoting intellectual freedom. It
serves as a point of voluntary access to information and ideas and as a learning laboratory
for students as they acquire critical thinking and problem solving skills needed in a pluralistic
society. Although the educational level and program of the school necessarily shape the
resources and services of a school library/media program, the principles of the LIBRARY
BILL OF RIGHTS apply equally to all libraries, including school library/media programs.

School library/media professionals assume a leadership role in promoting the principles of
intellectual freedom within the school by providing resources and services that create and
sustain an atmosphere of free inquiry. School library/media professionals work closely with
teachers to integrate instructional activities in classroom units designed to equip students to
locate, evaluate, and use a broad range of ideas effectively. Through resources, program-
ming, and educational processes, students and teachers experience the free and robust
debate characteristic of a democratic society.

School library/media professionals cooperate with other individuals in building collections of
resources appropriate to the developmental and maturity levels of students. These collec-
tions provide resources which support the curriculum and are consistent with the philo-
sophy, goals, and objectives of the school district. Resources in school library/media
collections represent diverse points of view and current as well as historic issues.

Members of the school community involved in the collection development process employ
educational criteria to select resources unfettered by their personal, political, social, or
religious views. Students and educators served by the school library/media program have
access to resources and services free of constraints resulting from personal, partisan, or
doctrinal-disapproval. School library/media professionals resist efforts by individuals to
define what is appropriate for all students or teachers to read, view, or hear.

Major barriers between students and resources include: imposing age or grade level restric-
tions on the use of resources, limiting the use of interlibrary loan and access to electronic
information, charging fees for information in specific formats, requiring permissions from
parents or teachers, establishing restricted shelves or closed collections, and labeling. Policies,
procedures and rules related to the use of resources and services support free and open
access to information.

The school board adopts policies that guarantee student access to a broad range of ideas.
These include policies on collection development and procedures for the review of resources
about which concerns have been raised. Such policies, developed by persons in the school
community, provide for a timely and fair hearing and assure that procedures are applied
equitably to all expressions of concern. School library/media professionals implement district

policies and procedures in the school.

Adopted June 26, 1986
AASL DIRECTORS BOARD

Fall 1987"143

Interpreting the Library Bill of Rights

For Elementary and Secondary Schools
Gerald G. Hodges

Headline, Des Moines Register, May 21, 1987:
oPulitzer Prize-Winning Book Banned by Iowa
School Board.�

As we are all too well aware, censorship of
school materials has been rampant in the last few
years. The Iowa case is only one of many exam-
ples of efforts by oconcerned� citizens, both within
and outside the organized educational system, to
suppress the flow of information to todayTs young
people. The horror of the Iowa case is not so
much the title of the offending work, The Confes-
sions of Nat Turner, but two small bits of informa-
tion embedded in the news story: (1) the school
librarian said that the school board did not con-
sult him before deciding to ban the book, and
added that he hopes the school board will soon
adopt a formal policy for handling complaints
about books; and (2) a school board member told
the press that the removal of StyronTs book has
not caused any local problems: oItTs no kind of
controversy at all, but the papers think it is.� (Des
Moines Register, May 21, 1987, p. 3).

Obviously, as in this legally questionable
situation, local school systems continue to ex-
press their outrage at owhatever� by attempting to
cleanse the contents of materials available to
young people. There is no time like the present for
schools to consider seriously the interpretation of
the Library Bill of Rights adopted by the Ameri-
can Library Association in 1986 entitled oAccess
to Resources and Services in the School Library
Media Program.� One of the major uses of this
document is to educate our colleagues (and
remind ourselves) of how intellectual freedom for
children and young adults can be safeguarded in
our nationTs schools. School boards need to be
required by law or by state departments of educa-
tion rules to adopt selection policies. The endor-
sement of this interpretation as a basis for such
policies could enable educators to take a strong
stance in promoting intellectual freedom.

A major purpose of this paper is to highlight
portions of the interpretation and discuss prac-

Gerald G. Hodges is Associate Professor of Library & Infor-
mation Science, University of lowa, Iowa City, Iowa.

144 " Fall 1987

tices which adhere to concepts adopted by our pro-
fessional association. Additional comments regard-
ing the issue of confidentiality in school library
media centers are appended.

The school library media program plays a unique
role in promoting intellectual freedom. It serves as a
point of voluntary access to information and ideas and
as a learning laboratory for students as they acquire
critical thinking and problem solving skills needed in a
pluralistic society... Through resources, programming,
and educational processes, students and teachers expe-
rience the free and robust debate characteristic of a
democratic society. (oAccess to Resources and Services
in the School Library Media Program: An Interpretation
of the Library Bill of Rights,� hereafter, o~Access�T).

If school boards endorse the interpretation,
then they endorse this particular definition of the
role of the library media program and of one of
the functions of education. School librarians can
work with other educators very effectively in liv-
ing intellectual freedom through their actions and
their policies. Some junior high schools report
that units on book banning, designed coopera-
tively by the media specialist and the teacher,
have helped students come to a greater under-
standing of the insidious nature of censors and
the effects of abridgement of the rights of minors.

School boards should be made
to realize that not endorsing
concepts of intellectual free-
dom has consequences.

Students can become their own best advocates
for their rights, once they are made aware of
them. Celebrations in many schools of oBanned
Books Week� have helped students become more
sophisticated in their understanding of this phe-
nomenon and, blessedly, more scornful of what
appears to them as the silliness of adults who
strive to protect them and in so doing, really
betray them.

If media centers are to serve-as a learning
laboratory, then students will need the opportu-

nities to assess various points of view, some of
which may be truly unacceptable to the majority.
As either Dorothy Broderick or Mary Kay Chelton
said, oLibraries will have something to offend
everyone.� This is inescapable and should be
saluted as a cardinal truth. With this as a given
fact, we begin to work from a position of strength
rather than from a position of fear.

LetTs suppose, on the other hand, that a
school system does not choose to view school
libraries or education in the same ways espoused
in this Library Bill of Rights interpretation. (This
is probably not as rare as we might hope). In this
instance, the function of education may include a
steady diet of facts or of a point of view with no
encouragement for students to reflect, consider,
evaluate, or otherwise use their higher order
thinking skills. There would be no need for a
learning laboratory, since the teacher and the
ogreat� books (text and otherwise) would be the
sources of all knowledge. Intellectual freedom
could be put on the back burner for now as some-
thing students would earn when they leave
school. How truly exciting! Many of todayTs adult
censors show evidence of being unable to think
other than categorically, in blacks and whites,
and we may be educating a whole new generation
of censors"a wonderful hidden curriculum agen-
da. In this scenario, libraries would rarely need
various points of view because no one would
check out these materials. Even having a library
might be a frill except for the requirements of
accrediting agencies or of some nostalgic concep-
tion that having a library is right and proper.
Clearly, having a librarian who works at no more
than maintaining a warehouse would be appro-
priate. School boards should be made to realize
that not endorsing concepts of intellectual free-
dom has consequences.

The school board adopts policies that guarantee
student access to a broad range of ideas. These include
policies on collection development. .... Members of the
school community involved in the collection develop-
ment process employ educational criteria to select
resources unfettered by their personal, political, social,
or religious views. Students and educators served by the
school library media program have access to resources
and services free of constraints resulting from personal,
partisan, or doctrinal disapproval. School library
media professionals resist efforts by individuals to
define what is appropriate for all students or teachers to
read, view, or hear. (~~AccessTT).

1987 has been proclaimed oThe Year of the
Reader,� and 1987 is the year in which we want
every child to have a public library card. Let us
now proclaim 1988 as oThe Year of the Selection

Policy,� a year in which every school board in
America either adopts or revises a selection policy
for instructional and library materials. Let us also
make certain that these policies are dynamic and
carry as much weight in a school system as any
other school policy, e.g., smoking, drinking, dress,
behavior, etc. Having a selection policy which is
stuffed in some notebook and brought out only to
satisfy some accrediting or regulatory agency is
foolish. Materials selection is a daily practice, and
we must always keep in mind our stated objec-
tives for selection, criteria for selection, roles and
responsibilities of all involved in the process, etc.
There are a great many examples of selection pol-
icies which can be of assistance in the develop-
ment stage, but each system should adopt one
which is meaningful for the educational goals of
that particular system. Merely copying a model
policy with no thought given to the implications of
the objectives or the criteria for the local system
makes little sense and can lead to all sorts of
problems. Every effort should be made to guaran-
tee that the policy which is developed carries the
force of olaw� in the system and enables educators
to work in a climate of openness to possibilities.
Even the most oliberal� or oconservative� commu-
nities are not homogeneous, and selectors of mate-
rials need not be hampered by worry that an
illustration, a word, or an idea might offend
someone. Being able to select materials in terms
of educational objectives is the right of every edu-
cator, and school boards should acknowledge
that fact no later than December 31, 1988. Mean-
ingful selection policies also help the librarian and
the media advisory committee establish priorities
for budget expenditures and for weeding collec-
tions in terms of stated objectives and criteria.

School library media specialists also need to
help educate board members, administrators,
teachers, and parents about the complexities of
intellectual freedom. School libraries are the pri-
mary access point to recorded information for
boys and girls and we need to understand the
implications for youth of taking stands such as
oWe'll just let the public library buy books by that
authorT (e.g., Stephen King, Judy Blume)� or oThat
book (The Confessions of Nat Turner) has been
censored in the next county, so letTs not get into
that situation by buying it.� State departments
should never place themselves in the position of
encouraging such stands by having lists or shelves
in examination centers of odangerous� or oques-
tionableT� titles.

Policies include procedures for the review of resour-
ces about which concerns have been raised. Such policies

Fall 1987"145

provide for a timely and fair hearing and assure that
procedures are applied equitably to all expressions of
concern. School library media professionals implement
district policies and procedures in the school. (oAccess 3)

Even in a Broderickesque climate of no chal-
lenges to materials, but particularly in the current
Reaganesque times, we must safeguard the mate-
rials we have purchased by having a legal,
rational, and fair process for the reconsideration
of titles. No selection policy is complete without
such a section, and a process which complies with
the legal requirements of due process is recom-
mended. Informal resolution of complaints is
likely the best approach, but that has never
meant just informally removing the book from the
shelves, particularly by the principal or the media
specialist. If informal resolution cannot occur,
then the complainant should complete in writing a
reconsideration form. A.committee of educators
and lay people should be in place to hear com-
plaints so that the established procedures may be
followed expeditiously. Some school systems use
this committee to consider titles which librarians
have designated for weeding so no decision to
remove, for whatever reason, is unilateral and
private. An appeals process which protects the
material and the complainant should be included
in the procedures. However, all meetings of the
committee which hears the complaint should be
open"censors flourish much better in the dark
than in the spotlight. This also means that all pro-
ceedings be handled in a rational, even legalistic,
manner so that the potential for emotion is min-
imized.

Policies, procedures and rules related to the use of
resources and services support free and open access to
information. Major barriers between students and
resources include: imposing age or grade level restric-
tions on the use of resources, limiting the use of inter-
library loan and access to electronic information,
charging fees for information in specific formats,
requiring permission from parents or teachers, estab-
lishing restricted shelves or closed collections, and label-
ing. (o~Access�T).

The greatest irony in this whole discussion
would be that our own in-house policies turn out to
be infringements of access. We must always
answer honestly why we engage in the procedures
we have and if any of our actions could be those of
the censor. Why do we guide the second grader
who reads at the sixth grade level away from cer-
tain books written at the sixth grade level? What
message is sent when a sixth grader reading at
the second grade level has in hand a book labeled
osecond grade?� Why do we permit sixth graders
to use the videocassette recorder, but do not let

146 " Fall 1987

second graders? Why do we not engage in inter-
library loan of paperbacks? Do we contact the
public (or other) library when a studentTs infor-
mation need is not met? Why are certain maga-
zines on reserve? Why do we spend tax dollars on
certain materials and then house them in the
work room or ounder the counter?�

The answers to these and many other ques-
tions should always be viewed in the light of
access. Are our actions increasing or restricting
access? Are our actions motivated by protecting
students or by providing the best materials for
students? Are our actions motivated by protect-
ing materials and equipment? If our states have
confidentiality of library records laws, do we con-
form to them? Do we expunge records of individ-
ual circulations once the material has been
returned? Do we use a black magic marker to oblit-
erate a studentTs signature on a book card once
the material is returned, or do we leave the record
open for all to see? What, indeed, are our motiva-
tions for any library policy? All of our considera-
tions should be firmly grounded in a knowledge
of, and respect for, the developmental realities of
children and young adults.

... We must safeguard the
materials we have purchased
by having a legal, rational, and
fair process for the reconsid-
eration of titles.

Acting in loco parentis is another pitfall to
avoid at all costs. Library media specialists can-
not be in the business of determining what a child
may not read, hear, or view. Parental rights (and
some have cogently argued that this is not even a
parental right, but that is another matter) are
different from ours, and we have too many other
responsibilities to be worried about that anyway.
We must, however, make clear to parents that
there is a major distinction between oI donTt want
my child to read this book� and oI donTt want any
child to read this book.�

Perjorative labeling serves little purpose and
is too subjective a practice to expend the incredi-
ble effort needed for serious content analysis.
Having a oracist� shelf and a osexist� shelf and an
oageist� shelf and an ooutdated by Newbery
winner� shelf would be confusing and likely insult-
ing to even adult library users. Consider once
again the motivation and the effect on children
and young adults.

This new interpretation to the Library Bill of
Rights underscores the fact that school library

media specialists are integral members of the
library and information professions and pro-
motes in very clear ways the foundation of school
librarianship, ie., our clients, who are minors
under the law, have rights of access to the infor-
mation they need, when they need it, where they
need it, and in the needed format. We have the
privilege and the responsibility to help safeguard
these rights for our users. William StyronTs
response to the banning of this book in the case
noted above was oI wouldn't blame Iowa. It could
happen in Minnesota, Connecticut, or Virginia, T'm
sure. It does say something about a kind of Amer-
ican ignorance ... I think it is pretty terrifying
when people are so benighted that they are will-
ing, utterly thoughtlessly, to take it upon them-
selves to grab books off a shelf and symbolically
burn them.� (Des Moines Register, May 21, 1987, p.
3). Let us pledge that we as school professionals
will strive to see no more headlines with the
words obook� and obanned� in the same phrase.

... censors flourish much bet-
ter in the dark than in the
spotlight.

References

In the spirit of the Library of Congress, the following are
recommended to oread more about it.�

American Library Association. Office for Intellectual Freedom.
Censorship Litigation and the Schools. Chicago: ALA,
1983.

American Library Association. Office for Intellectual Freedom.
Intellectual Freedom Manual. Chicago: ALA, 1983.

D.K. Berninghhausen, oToward an Intellectual Freedom Theory
for Users of Libraries,� Drexel Library Quarterly, 18 (Win-
ter 1982): 57-81.

Robert B. Downs, and Ralph E. McCoy, eds. The First Freedom
Today: Critical Issues Relating to Censorship and Intel-
lectual Freedom. Chicago: ALA, 1984.

Charles Harmon. oMulticultural/Nonsexist Collections: A Closer
Look,� Top of the News, 43 (Spring 1987): 303-306.

Eli M. Oboler, To Free the Mind: Libraries, Technology, and
Intellectual Freedom. Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited,
1983.

Linda Schexnaydre. Censorship: A Guide for Successful Work-
shop Planning. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1984.

Jana Varlejs, ed. The Right to Information. Jefferson, NC: McFar-

land, 1984. al

Copies of articles from this
publication are now available from

the UMI Article Clearinghouse.

Mail to: University Microfilms International
300 North Zeeb Road, Box 91 Ann Arbor, MI 48106

North Carolina Librarians
Win Depository System

Legislation passed unanimously (August 11,
1987) by both Houses of the North Carolina
General Assembly will provide for a system of
statewide acquisition, storage, and dissemination
of publications issued by North Carolina state
agencies. Depository legislation, introduced by
Sen. Kenneth C. Royall Jr., will replace the current
unfunded and unenforceable law that has been in
place since 1979.

The legislation will require each state agency
to designate a publications officer responsible for
supplying the State Library with copies of its pub-
lications. Funding provided by the Legislature will
allow the State Library to establish a publications
clearinghouse and enable the State Library to
produce microfiche copies of each publication.
The new depository legislation goes into effect on
October 1, 1987. It is expected to provide state
agencies with wider and more efficient distribu-
tion of the information they produce, while
improving public access to the material, and
assuring that the future information needs of
officials, historians, and citizens can be met.

Members of the Depository System Commit-
tee of the North Carolina Library Association
Documents Section, spearheaded the efforts to
revise the current law.

-AUTION!

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HUCKLEBERRY FINN # SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE # GO ASK ALICE

CELEBRATING THE FREEDOM TO READ

Fall 1987"147

New Network Connects Businesses

with State Libraries
by Paul Gilster

Anyone who thinks of libraries as musty
places peopled only by bibliophiles and students
has missed out on a major trend in the way busi-
ness information is gathered and disseminated.
Business people now have access to a statewide
network of computerized information growing up
within the library system. Although still in its
infancy, this North Carolina Information Network
holds rich implications for the way business will
be conducted in the 1990s and beyond.

Today's service-oriented economy thrives on
timely access to the kinds of information that
libraries routinely compile. Add computerized
networking capabilities to a statewide system of
private, public and university libraries, and you
open new possibilities for research. Combine that
with a concerted effort by state government to
reach potential vendors for goods and services,
and you've created a new business medium.

The North Carolina Information Network,
which began operating in October, is a creation of
the Department of Cultural ResourcesT Division of
State Library. Howard McGinn, assistant state
librarian, said the system differs from computer
networks in other states.

oElsewhere, these systems are designed to
allow librarians to talk to other librarians,� he
said. oThatTs not the way it should work. The end-
user is really the citizen and the businesses he
runs. Our programs use the libraries as local
outlets, or nodes, to reach the people.�

Linking libraries statewide is no small chal-
lenge even with todayTs technology. McGinn said
that the Division of State Library saw no need to
re-invent the wheel. Comprehensive networking
systems already were available on a contractual
basis, including Western UnionTs EasyLink service,
which became one of the two vendors of informa-
tion used by the NCIN. Using EasyLink, the state
began sending educational, business, administra-
tive and financial information to all libraries
within the system.

Participating libraries sign on to EasyLink
and are channeled directly into the bulletin board

Reprinted with permission from the July 13 - July 20, 1987

issue of Triangle Business, P.O. Box 10917, Raleigh, N.C.
27605.

148 " Fall 1987

system maintained by the state. The bulletin
boards began as highly specialized operations.
One called NCLIBS contains a general summary
of news about libraries and librarians in North
Carolina; NCCAL lists library meetings in the
state. But the range of information available
widened almost immediately. The NCGOV board
summarizes economic and financial news along
with legislative and regulatory information;
NCNEWS provides legislative updates.

Other state agencies soon began to take
notice of the potential offered by the computer
network. Drew Harbinson, assistant to the state
purchasing officer for the Department of Admin-
istrationTs Division of Purchase and Contracts,
had spent the last year and a half looking into
computer networking for the agency. When he
heard what the Division of State Library was
doing, he realized that the NCIN could solve a
major problem for his department.

North Carolina buys more than $800 million
in goods and services each year, and itTs the job of
the Division of Purchase and Contracts to handle
these transactions. To publicize the governmentTs
needs, the division has been required by statute to
publish the North Carolina Purchasing Directory.
This publication, which appears every two weeks
and costs subscribers $40 a year, also carries
notice of highway construction jobs for the
Department of Transportation and building bids
for the Office of State Construction.

The problem with the Purchasing Directory is
that by the time it reaches the prospective
vendor, itTs often out of date. Also, it fails to reach
a wide range of potential bidders. oThere seems to
be a core base of vendors who continue to bid and
do a good job for the state,� Harbinson said. oBut
to a great extent this group is limited to bidders in
the geographical area of Raleigh. We want to
expand accessibility to all of North Carolina.�

The result, announced by Governor James G.
Martin at a June 18 news conference, is an Auto-
mated Purchasing Directory carried by the NCINTs
bulletin board facilities. The computerized direc-
tory will allow listings from the departments of
Administration and Transportation to appear
twice a week throughout the state. About 70 of

North CarolinaTs 100 counties currently have
nodes for the service. The remaining counties are
expected to come on-line within a few months.

But the Department of Administration is not
the only state agency that has found the uses of
the NCIN intriguing. Jean Overton, director for
small business at the Department of Community
Colleges, presides over 34 Small Business Centers
in the community college system throughout the
state. Overton is happy to see computers used to
spread the word about opportunities for doing
business with state government, and she is anx-
ious to develop the Small Business Centers as
nodes within the system.

oWe'd like to do more seminars in 1987-88 on
how to do business with the state,� Overton said.
oWe want to get more involved in the computer
network. Businesses in search of a contract need
a local base, and thatTs why the Small Business
Center network is so valuable. We're trying to get
the business community to realize that the library
is a very valuable resource to them.�

Leading the way among community colleges
in this regard is Carteret Technical College, which
has emerged as a model for the kind of services
both the Department of Community Colleges and
the NCIN are promoting. Ed Shearin, director of
the Learning Research Center at the college,
works closely with the Small Business Center on
campus, using computers to track information
requests from the community. Shearin plans to
promote the Automated Purchasing Directory
through articles in the chamber of commerce
newsletter and through phone calls directly to
potential bidders.

Shearin said he is particularly interested in
the research capabilities offered by computers in
generating business information. oToday, for ex-
ample, an area businessman wanted to look at a
demographic survey of Beaufort and Harkers
Island to help him plan a small business. The
search on the computer took me less than two
minutes to perform. The material"a five-page
summary of just about any demographic material
you can imagine"will be here in two days.�

Statewide access to major databases such as
DIALOG, which made ShearinTs search successful,
is now assured through the NCIN. Using Easy-
LinkTs sister service, Infomaster, the library net-
work can tie in to more than 700 databases,
including major information vendors such as
DIALOG, BRS and Questel. The materials in those
databases otherwise would be available only
through large public or corporate libraries. The
library system thus becomes not only a depository
but a broadcaster of information.

While the Infomaster database makes a
wealth of scientific, technical and economic
materials available to the NCIN, the other half of
the program opens the extensive holdings of
North CarolinaTs own libraries for search and
retrieval by computer. When the Division of State
Library first contemplated a computer network,
McGinn realized that a major problem for less-
developed areas is the concentration of informa-
tion in large libraries, usually in the major cities.
Moving books through interlibrary loan methods
is time consuming, and the search could hardly be
comprehensive.

To remedy this problem, many of the stateTs
larger libraries had begun to participate in a
computerized database offered by an Ohio firm
called OCLC Inc. Through its Online Union
Catalog, OCLC maintains bibliographic records
for all the major libraries in the country. McGinn
worked with OCLC to create a statewide compu-
ter catalog"the North Carolina Online Union
Catalog"listing some 5.8 million records, with
more being added all the time. A separate catalog
of serial publication also is available through the
network. This catalog is now available through
the NCIN.

The system is easy to use. At any of the 175
nodes throughout the state in public, private or
university libraries, the researcher uses the facili-
tyTs personal computer and modem to enter the
network. Searching by author or title, he can
locate the book he needs wherever it is in the
state and place an electronic loan request for it.
Serial publications can be searched, too, and arti-~
cles soon will be routinely sent via telefax
machine to their destination at minimal charge.
Some 22 of the machines are to be put in place

across the state this summer.
oThe implications here for rural development

are phenomenal,� McGinn said. oWe're not shy
about saying this. You could literally have the
same access at the top of Mount Mitchell that you
would have right here in Research Triangle Park.
And access to information means the ability to
compete economically.�

At the same time that the amount of infor-
mation available has increased geometrically, the
cost has actually dropped, due to the Division of
State LibraryTs decision to be a contractor of ser-
vices rather than a creator of them. Jane Wil-
liams, state librarian of North Carolina, pointed
out that any other method would have been con-
siderably more expensive. oThe important thing is
that weTre contracting with OCLC and Western
Union rather than putting millions into a main-
frame here and a big staff and programming.
We've done it with very, very little money.�

Fall 1987"149

The Effect of Face-Front Book Display
in a Public Library

Sarah P. Long

Much research has been conducted on the
effects of different variables on the circulation of
library books, especially that of displays. The
research confirms that books displayed circulate
significantly more than books not displayed. Stud-
ies conducted in the retail sales sector support
this hypothesis and provide ideas for librarians
and insight into consumer behavior.

Very little has been written, however, about
the method of display. There have been studies of
location, age, and size as well as behavioral stud-
ies on impulse buying and information processing.
But the issue of displaying books face-front (with
all or most of the book jacket showing), as op-
posed to displaying them spine-front, has not
been studied. The hypothesis of this research proj-
ect is that books displayed face-front will circu-
late more than those displayed spine-front.

... books displayed face-front
will circulate more than those
displayed spine-front.

Libraries face a never ending struggle to jus-
tify themselves to funding and governing agencies.
Circulation statistics are often used as justifica-
tion and ways to increase the numbers are always
welcome. This study, if the hypothesis is proven,
should be relevant to all types of libraries when
planning and implementing displays. It should
support the theories of impulse buying and relate
them to the world of libraries. Most importantly, it
should give library administrators insight into
their patrons, specifically that information con-
sumers are subject to the same marketing tech-
niques used on retail consumers.

A Review of the Literature

There are some basic concepts of consumer
behavior that need to be reviewed and defined as
a prelude to a review of the literature on library

Sarah P. Long is librarian for the Center for Popular Music,

Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee
37132.

150 " Fall 1987

displays. These concepts are the cornerstones of
marketing strategy, since behavior analysis should
be a means of better satisfying consumer needs
(Robertson, Zielinski and Ward 1984). This sec-
tion of the literature review will follow the pur-
chase process from perception and information
processing to the purchase itself, including im-
pulse buying.

Perception and information processing are
key points. Runyon (1977) defines perception as
the process by which owe make sense of the
world.� We select from the many that are pre-
sented the stimuli which we will process. Percep-
tual categorization is the process through which
we make all that stimuli manageable and organ-
ized by assigning perceptual classes to objects and
events (Runyon). Marketing should surround
products with aids to categorization"signs, tags,
markings, displays, etc.

Engel, Blackwell and Miniard (1986) de-
scribed the stages that information passes
through while being processed by the consumer.
They are: exposure, attention, comprehension or
perception, yielding or acceptance, and retrieval.
Consumers cannot possibly process all the stimuli
which are presented to the brain, and an under-
standing of what factors influence attention can
be very useful. Stimuli that are related to a con-
sumerTs needs and are novel attract attention
(Robertson, Zielinski, Ward 1984).

Runyon (1977) defined purchasing in terms
of problem solving and borrows John Dewey's
stages in his definition. They are: problem recog-
nition, the search for a satisfactory solution, eval-
uation of alternatives, purchase decision, and
post purchase evaluation.

Impulse purchasing represents a special case
in consumer problem solving in that such pur-
chases are unplanned and involve no search
activity. This behavior closely parallels browsing
in a library, as we will see later. It is estimated
that almost half of the buying decisions in super-
markets are impulse decisions and store manag-
ers are justified in spending a substantial part of
their marketing budgets on planning store lay-
outs, product locations, shelf positions, special

displays, etc. to aid in guiding impulse buyers
(Runyon 1977). For example, a study carried out
in Super Value Stores over a period of twelve
weeks indicated that an item given special display
will increase in sales an average of 550%, chiefly
because displays appeal to impulse buyers (Run-

yon).

... information consumers are
subject to the same marketing
techniques used on retail
consumers.

The most extensive and detailed study in the
retail sector was done in eight Publix stores in
central Florida. Merchandise scanners were in-
stalled in all eight stores in order to have an exact
record of purchases. They studied the effects of
newspaper ads, displays at the check-out counter
or point-of-purchase displays, display location
and display age on sales. They reported that point-
of-purchase displays increased sales an average
of 445%, that prime display locations increased
sales by 363%, and that sales of displayed items
decreases significantly after the first week (Dyer
1980).

Marketing News (1983) reported that sales of
Old FarmerTs Almanac increased in two thou-
sand stores anywhere from 212% to 599%. Their
displays were in prime locations, usually point of
purchase; and the books were faced front (Mar-
keting News, May 27, 1983).

The better we understand these basics of
consumer research the better we can plan mar-
keting for our libraries. Taylor and Johnson
(1973) conducted an involved study of public
library use in Great Britain in 1972. They found
that two-thirds of library users were visiting the
library for personal and recreational reasons and
that they were looking for any novel of interest.
This suggests that impulse behavior is at work in
library patrons as well as grocery shoppers. They
recommended that library managers observe
book selling practices and provide more facilities
for book displays and exhibits.

There have been several studies on the
effectiveness of displays in libraries. Goldhor
(1972, 1981) tested the hypothesis in three public
libraries that books displayed in a prime location
will circulate more, and found a significant
increase in the circulation of books in prime loca-
tion displays. Baker (1985) attempted to deter-
mine why displayed books circulate more and
found that the circulation of books in prime dis-
plays increased 405% to 590% in one library and

708% to 784% in another. However, circulation of
books in non-prime displays remained the same.
This implies that the positioning of the display is a
vital factor influencing use.

Baker (1986) identified three characteristics
of library browsers. First, they do not attempt to
identify a specific title by using the card catalog or
some other tool, but instead go straight to the
shelves to look for a book. Second, as Taylor and
Johnson noted (1972), they are looking for any
book that will meet their needs. Third, since they
do not have a specific title in mind, they are sus-
ceptible to influence in their decision making.
Baker pointed out that browsers are subject to
user frustration when a collection becomes too
large to scan easily. She suggested that librarians
should help browsers onarrow their selection by
developing strategies to focus patron attention on
a smaller number of titles.� Book lists and book
displays are simple and effective strategies which
can accomplish this when properly designed.
They tend to work because othey place little or no
burden of effort on the potential user and
because they require little time to use� (Baker
1986).

Green (1981) wrote an excellent article on
techniques libraries can use in merchandising.
Her findings supported the theories of book dis-
plays and agreed with the recommendation of
Taylor and Johnson that libraries adopt the book-
selling techniques used in the retail sector. She
mentioned the use of face-front display on the top
and bottom shelves and on the shelf ends to give
omovement and interest to what before was only a
row of spines� (Green, p. 38). She cited the mer-
chandising program at the Dallas Public Library
where she is director of selection and acquisitions
as an example. In the few months following the
implementation of a merchandising program, cir-
culation increased by ten percent.

... impulse behavior is at
work in library patrons as well
as grocery shoppers.

In summary then, it seems that libraries can
benefit from the techniques used in retail market-
ing to boost the circulation of all types of books,
perhaps in all types of libraries. Grocery shoppers,
bookstore browsers, and library browsers appear
to be displaying the same consumer behaviors
and are equally susceptible to attention-getting
devices such as displays of the varying types men-
tioned above.

Fall 1987"151

Methodology

The purpose of this study was to look at one
method of book display, that is face-front, and
test the hypothesis that books consistently dis-
played in this method circulate significantly more
than those books displayed spine-front by nar-
rowing browersT choices, thus decreasing user
frustration. However, in order to statistically test
the data in a valid manner, a null hypothesis must
be used. Therefore, the formal hypothesis of this
study is that books displayed face-front will not
circulate significantly more than those books dis-
played spine-front.

The experimental design used for this study
was the four-cell pretest-posttest pattern. (Fig. 1).
In this type of controlled experiment, two like
groups are identified and an experimental varia-
ble is assigned to one of those groups, in this case
group Y2. The groups are measured before and
after the test. Y1 should not differ significantly
from X1 and X2. If Y2 varies from the other
groups by more than just chance, then it could be
thought that the experimental variable led to or
caused the difference.

Fig 1. The Four-Cell Pattern of Controlled Experiment

Before After

Control Group

Experimental
Group

The Four-Cell Pattern of Controlled
Experiment

The research was conducted at the Park-
wood Branch of the Durham County Public
Library in North Carolina. Books at least four
months old from the Adult Current Fiction, which
is housed at the front of the library with books
customarily shelved both face-front and spine-
front, were chosen for the study group. This sec-
tion was chosen in order to eliminate two
problems"bias on the part of the patron toward
very new books and bias toward an entirely new
display method. In addition, the seven-day circu-
lation of this section would allow for more circu-
lations and a shorter test period.

Two random samples of fifty books each were
pulled from the approximately three hundred in
this section to be the control and experimental
groups.

Following the four-cell pattern, the control
group was displayed spine out only (Y1) during

152 " Fall 1987

the test period. The experimental group was dis-
played face-front only during the test period (Y2).
Both groups were randomly and haphazardly
displayed face-front during the pre-test period
(X1 and X2) according to usual library practice.
The pre-test circulation figures (X1 and X2) were
taken from the two months preceding the test
period (Y1 and Y2). The test period was then run
for two months.

At the end of the test period, all the books
and book cards were pulled from the shelves and
the circulation files for tabulation. The due dates
that fell within the pre-test and test periods were
entered into the record for each book in a data-
base created with PC-File. The data was then ana-
lyzed using the Statistical Package for Social
Sciences-X.

eo al ted Spreomrer i Sos oneelecamcn ee ohio
... positioning the display is a
vital factor influencing use.

Results

In order to determine the effect of face front
display on circulation, the control group and the
experimental group were compared using analy-
sis of variance (ANOVA). The average number of
circulations per book was 3.30 for the control
group and 3.28 for the experimental group during
the pre-test period. This difference was not statis-
tically significant. The average number of circula-
tions during the post-test period was 2.58 for the
control group and 4.70 for the experimental
group. This difference was significant at the .000
level, implying the experimental variable of face-
front display was associated with the circulation
increase.

A review of the weekly circulation figures of
both the experimental and control groups also
suggests that face-front display was the causal
factor of the circulation differences. The figures
for both groups are very close during the first nine
weeks of the study (the pre-test period), the great-
est difference between them being only six circu-
lations. From week ten (the first full week of the
test period) to the end of the study, the diver-
gence is quite large, ranging from eight to twenty-
four more circulations per week for the group
displayed face-front.

Therefore, the null hypothesis, that face-front
display will not increase circulation, can be re-
jected. This method of display does have an effect
on browsers by helping their brains wade through
all the stimuli presented by gaining their atten-
tion, narrowing their choices, and causing them
to select certain titles.

Implications for Further Research

Even though the scope of this study was
limited, it shows that the method of display, not
just the display itself, can signficantly increase the
circulation of books. Much has been written in
marketing about what attracts a shopper's atten-
tion and these theories can be applied to library
browsers with the same effect.

More research must be done however to sub-
stantiate the findings of this study. Studies in dif-
ferent types and sizes of libraries will need to be
conducted. Research on bookjackets themselves
should be done to study just what attracts the
attention of the browser. Questionnaires could be
used in conjunction with a controlled experiment
to find out if patrons are aware of how they are
choosing their reading materials. It would also be
interesting to introduce such variables as height
and location into a study of face-front display.

References

Baker, S.L. (1986). oInformation overload, browsers and selec-
tion.� Library and Information Science Research. 8:315-329.

Baker, S.L. (1985). oAn exploration into factors causing the
increased circulation of displayed books.� Doctoral Disserta-
tion. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dyer, L.W. (1980, November). oIn-store research at Publix: scan-
ning the selling power of merchandising.� Progressive Grocer.
59(12):98-103.

Engel, J.F., Blackwell, R.D. and Miniard, P.W. (1986). Consumer
Behavior (5th ed.). Chicago: Dryden Press.

Goldhor, H.H. (1981). oExperimental effects on the choice of
books borrowed by public library adult patrons.� Library
Quarterly. 51:253-268.

Goldhor, H.H. (1972). oThe effect of prime display location on
public library circulation of selected adult titles.� Library
Quarterly. 42:371-389.

Green, S.A. (1981, September). oMerchandising techniques and
libraries.� SLJ. 28(1):35-39.

Taylor, J.N. and Johnson, I.M. (1973). oPublic libraries and their
use.� Library Information Series. (4).

o20,000 P-O-P displays help sell 2.2 million copies of venerable
Old FarmerTs Almanac.� (1983, May). Marketing News. 17:8.

Robertson, T.S., Zielinski, J. and Ward, S. (1984). Consumer
Behavior. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman and Co.

Runyon, K.E. (1977). Consumer behavior and the practice of

marketing. Columbus, OH: Merrill. A



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Fall 1987"153

North Carolina Books

Alice R. Cotten, Compiler

CompilerTs Note: This is my last column as book
review editor of North Carolina Libraries. It has
been immensely satisfying to me, but after five
years itTs time to step aside. My successor will be
my colleague Robert G. Anthony, Jr., Collection
Development Librarian in the North Carolina
Collection at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. Thanks to all reviewers, readers,
and critics of this column over the years; youTve
made the work worthwhile.

Fred Chappell. The Fred Chappell Reader.
Introduction by Dabney Stuart. New York: St.
MartinTs Press, 1987. 491 pp. $22.95. ISBN 0-312-
00012-X.

Despite his assertion that he is ono figure of
literary ~importance,� Fred ChappellTs place as
one of North CarolinaTs (and the SouthTs) fore-
most writers is assured. Winner, with John
Ashbery, of the 1985 Bollingen Prize for Poetry,
Chappell teaches at the University of North Caro-
lina at Greensboro. The Fred Chappell Reader is
a carefully chosen collection of short stories,
poems, and excerpts from ChappellTs novels. Also
included are the short novel Dagon and the auto-
biographical essay oA Pact with Faustus.�

ChappellTs native western North Carolina is
the setting for much of his work. The harshness of
rural mountain life in the 1930s and T40s per-
meates the four novels excerpted for the Reader:
It Is Time, Lord; The Inkling; The Gaudy Place;
and I Am One of You Forever. The latter, Chap-
pellTs most recent novel, is a coming-of-age story,
peopled with extraordinary relatives like the nar-
ratorTs Uncle Zeno. A prodigious storyteller, Zeno,
it seemed, odid not merely describe the world,� but
oused it up.� Then thereTs Uncle Runkin, who
sleeps nightly in his fantastically carved coffin
olike a single pearl in a jewel case.� In the selection
from The Gaudy Place, readers will recognize
Asheville as the youthful Arky hustles his way
around the seedy streets of oBraceboro.�

Intense and horrific, the novel Dagon de-
scribes a Methodist ministerTs gradual surrender

154 " Fall 1987

to evil. Intricately woven with complex imagery,
Dagon exemplifies ChappellTs ability to incorpo-
rate complicated allusions into his work without
allowing them to overwhelm the _ uninitiated
reader. Thus, those unfamiliar with Dagon, pagan
deity, will nevertheless be absorbed by the fall of
pastor Peter Leland.

Of the eight short stories included in the collec-
tion, four involve historical figures, and one, the
previously uncollected oNotes Toward a Theory of
Flight,� is told from the perspective of a house cat
named Drummond. Whether Chappell chooses to
write about a cat, Mrs. Benjamin Franklin, Black-
beard, Franz Joseph Haydn, or itinerant blues-
man Stovebolt Johnson, he does it like no one else.

The third section of the Reader includes po-
etry culled from four of ChappellTs books: The
World Between the Eyes, Midquest, Castle Tzingal
and Source. The subjects of ChappellTs poems are
as varied as those of his stories. He writes of fam-
ily (oMy MotherTs Hard Row to Hoe�), of nature
(~Remembering Wind Mountain at Sunset�), the
mundane (oRecovery of Sexual Desire After a Bad
Cold�), and the supernatural (oThe Homuncu-
lus�). All are exceptional. Many of ChappellTs lines
will linger in the readerTs mind long after the book
is finished: oNot all the money in this world can
wash true-poor/true rich. Fatback just won't
change to artichokes.�

The Fred Chappell Reader is an important
acquisition for North Carolina public and aca-
demic libraries. For readers unfamiliar with
ChappellTs work, it will serve as a long-overdue
introduction. For those who've read him, it has
new pleasures to offer.

Anna Donnally, Asheville-Buncombe Library System

Randall, John D. The Hatterask Incident. Win-
ston-Salem, N.C.: John Blair, 1987. 366 pp. $16.95.
ISBN 0-89587-052-5.

This first novel is one of those stories you
canTt put down until you find out what happens.

The author uses a very possible, contempo-
rary situation. A fishing trawler trying to get

through Oregon Inlet at low tide runs aground on
a sandbar. The surrounding community becomes
involved"the Army Corps of Engineers, the Coast
Guard, park rangers, environmentalists, fisher-
men, lawyers, reporters, tourists, old families.
Trouble starts when the Corps decides that the
stranded trawler is a menace to navigation and
prepares to blow it up with dynamite. Naturally
their decision rouses anger, opposition, and sym-
pathy for the fisherman, whose boat is his live-
lihood. More trouble comes when Crystal, the
terrible hurricane some predict will level coastal
development someday, strikes North Carolina.

The author gives the novel a sense of growing
urgency by telling the story from the viewpoints of
various characters, interspersing their tales with
bulletins issued by the National Weather Service.
The novel is divided into particular dates, the
whole action taking place in one week including
the Labor Day holiday. The hurricane and how
characters survive it or not comes to dominate
the second half of the novel, straying maybe too
much from the original story, but connected.

What readers are left with is a better under-
standing of the complexity of oissues� that appear
in our news every day. First we come to sympa-
thize with one character and then with an oppo-
nent. The tables turn, and people act just like
people, making mistakes one time and performing
good deeds the next.

Valid criticisms can be made about the nov-
el"tenses are awkward sometimes, for instance,
and after a slow beginning everything happens,
from a helicopter crash to a traffic jam on the
Wright Memorial Bridge at the height of the hur-
ricane"but still the story captures the reader
and helps him, in the end, to understand the
nature of real and complicated problems.

The author is a systems analyst for IBM and
vacationed on the Outer Banks every summer for
some twenty years before writing this story.
Between vacations he kept up with coastal events
by subscribing to the Manteo newspaper. He
retains actual geographical names in the book,
but at least thinly disguises personal ones. The
novel should be appropriate for many libraries.

Nancy Lee Shires, East Carolina University Library

Bill Moore. Two on the Square. Asheville: Bright
Mountain Books, 1986. 208 pp. $14.95. ISBN 0-
914875-13-2. Illustrated by Dianne Cable. (138
Springside Road, Asheville, NC 28803).

Bill Moore first created Lonzo and the Pundit,
the characters featured in Two on the Square, in

North Carolina Books

his regular Saturday column in the Asheville Citi-
zen. The book is made up of reworked and
reprinted columns, plus new material on these
two chronic neTer-do-wells. Mr. Moore assures his
readers that his two friends are pure fiction, but
the type is certainly familiar in American cities,
and particularly in public libraries. The Pundit
and Lonzo are representatives of the species
Homo derelecticus. In other words, they're home-
less and they like it that way. Like many residents
of the North Carolina mountains, they travel to
Florida for the winter; but unlike the others, they
are just as derelict in the Everglades as they are in
the Land-of-the-Sky. Unless, of course, you count
a job wrestling an elderly, doped-up alligator
every night for a few weeks as gainful employ-
ment.

Two on the Square consists of a series of
brief episodes in the adventures of Lonzo and the
Pundit, divided into sections with titles such as
oThe Women in their Lives,� oSome Civic Lessons,�
and oWinters in the Sun.� The episodes are not
necessarily in chronological order; they appar-
ently are meant to be read one at a time rather
than as a story. Since this reviewer had to read
them all at once, that was my least favorite aspect
of the book. The overall effect is somewhat
choppy. There are some common threads running
through the book, such as the pair's efforts to
keep their disreputable vehicle (the Honkerbus)
operating; the assortment of T-shirts sported by
Lonzo (with messages ranging from oHelp Stamp
Out Preppies� to oProperty of the Harvard Debat-
ing Team�); and their relationships with the nar-
rator (Mr. Moore himself) and other notables
such as Big Time Benny Biscayne, an operator
from Florida who provides them with temporary
and sometimes hazardous employment opportun-
ities. In fact, it was these common threads that
made it hard not to expect a real story line to
emerge.

My favorite episode in the book involved a
leaking radiator on the Honkerbus, an inexpe-
rienced park ranger, and two female tourists from
Ohio. The rookie ranger thought he was being
clever when he recovered his first aid kit and fire
extinguisher from our unscrupulous heroes, but
he lost a hose and the antifreeze out of his cruiser.
The tourists decided the local color was entirely
too bright and moved on.

Two on the Square is an amusing collection,
both cynical about and sympathetic to that clas-
sic American character, the street bum. It is of
special interest to libraries near Asheville whose
patrons will appreciate the in-jokes and might
already have been following the adventures of

Fall 1987"155

North Carolina Books

these characters in the newspaper. ItTs also fun
for readers who have never seen Pack Square or
attended Belle Chere, AshevilleTs annual street
fair. Lonzo and the Pundit are sufficiently univer-
sal to be recognizable in most places, and Bill
MooreTs wit extends beyond the mountains to
mock gently many aspects of American culture.

Elizabeth White, Asheville-Buncombe Library System

Leslie Banner. A Passionate Preference. The
Story of the North Carolina School of the Arts.
Winston-Salem: North Carolina School of the Arts
Foundation, Inc., 1987. 438 pp. $22.00. (201
Waughtown Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27107.)

The North Carolina School of the Arts should,
logically, never have succeeded. North Carolina in
1962 was a rocky field indeed into which then-
Governor Terry Sanford cast the seed of his
dream: a state-supported school to train musi-
cians, singers, dancers, and actors. This very spe-
cial place was to yield not high school and college
teachers of music, dance, and drama, but artists
whose talent would be recognized, tended, and
cultivated from the age at which they first
expressed oa passionate preference� for one of the
arts. Such early nurturing appears essential if a
performing artist is to have any hope of achieving
national success.

Yet the concept did not appear self-evident to
members of either the North Carolina legislature
or the stateTs educational system in the early
1960s. Spoken of scathingly in the General
Assembly as othe toe-dancinT school� (and, when
legislators were reminded of the broader curricu-
lar goals, othe toe-dancinT and flute-tutinT school�),
the planned conservatory was also blasted by
many leaders of the state university system. Par-
ticularly adamant in its opposition were the
administrators and faculty of the WomanTs Col-
lege (now the University of North Carolina at
Greensboro), who perceived SanfordTs plan as
both an insult and a threat to their music, art,
and drama departments. They felt that, if it
existed at all, this conservatory should be part of
the WomanTs College.

The schoolTs difficulties did not end with the
passage of the bill pledging state support. Select-
ing a site, funding the necessary building renova-
tions and new construction, recruiting faculty
and students, and establishing international pro-
grams all brought formidable challenges. Had
Sanford been less idealistic he would have given
up before he started. Had he been less politically
astute, the school would never have materialized.

156 " Fall 1987

Drawing from two major archives"John
EhleTs papers from the eighteen-month period he
worked for Governor Sanford, and the North
Carolina School of the Arts Oral History compiled
by Douglas Zinn"Leslie Banner has told the
remarkable story of the NCSATs founding and
development largely through the words of those
who were responsible for the schoolTs genesis. The
combination of vividly recounted anecdotes from
the oral history and BannerTs clear and energetic
prose lend A Passionate Preference a rare spar-
kle and immediacy. Among the principal charac-
ters were Governors Sanford and Dan K. Moore. It
was MooreTs generous support of the NCSA, de-
spite the fact that it had been his predecessorTs
creation, that kept it alive during its infancy. John
Ehle, a young writer and instructor at UNC-
Chapel Hill, attracted Governor SanfordTs atten-
tion through a provocative article called oWhat's
the Matter with Chapel Hill?� in which the scholar
criticized the university systemTs lack of support
for the arts. Within a few months of its publica-
tion in the Raleigh News and Observer, Ehle had
become the governorTs special assistant for new
projects and one of the prime movers behind the
arts school. Vittorio Giannini, a talented and char-
ismatic composer and music teacher, became the
first president of the NCSA. GianniniTs contageous
enthusiasm, tireless work, and international con-
nections established the school on a truly profes-
sional footing. Dr. James Semans, the first
chairman of the schoolTs board of trustees, and
his wife Mary used their personal and political
influence to garner support for the school and
helped to steer it through many rocky shoals.

A Passionate Preference is impeccably re-
searched and features extensive notes and bibli-
ography and a thorough, well-designed index.
Anyone interested in recent North Carolina his-
tory, education, or the performing arts would
enjoy it. The book also provides great insight into
the realities of state politics. Descriptions of the
machinations in which the NCSATs supporters
engaged are a major source of the humor in this
delightfully witty history. A Passionate Prefer-
ence is highly recommended for public and aca-
demic libraries and special libraries collecting
North Caroliniana or materials in public policy,
political science, education, or arts administra-
tion.

Leslie Banner, a native of Asheville, earned
her Ph.D. in English literature from the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her extensive
writings on native Appalachian fiction include
her 1984 doctoral dissertation, o~The North Caro-
lina Mountaineer in Native Fiction.T She is

Senior Research Editor for Duke University Presi-
dent H. Keith H. Brodie, M.D.

Elizabeth Bramm Dunn, Duke University

Betsy Holloway. Heaven for Beginners: Recollec-
tions of a Southern Town. Orlando: Persimmon
Press, 1986. 236 pp. ISBN 0-9616500-0-1.

How did a book about Durham come to be
written in Florida? Florida resident Betsy Hollo-
way, a Durham native, has fond memories and
recollections of her hometown. When The Orlando
Sentinel sponsored a contest in which readers
submitted letters describing their hometown, she
was one of the winners. The paper sent a reporter
to Durham to gather background information for
a feature article which someone sent to the Dur-
ham Morning Herald. The Herald published an
article of its own encouraging Holloway to expand
her letter into a full length book. This was the
beginning of Heaven for Beginners: Recollec-
tions of a Southern Town.

The book starts with a short history of Dur-
ham. This overview includes how Durham got its
name, the story of the distinctive Durham
tobacco, the manufacture and sale of tobacco by
the Dukes, and the development of Trinity College
into Duke University. From this brief history Hol-
loway turns her attention toward her own his-
tory, starting with her parents. From this point
on, Heaven for Beginners is a blend of local and
social history, personal recollections and family
experiences.

Holloway recalls her childhood home: oI loved
the house with its substantial-looking brick exte-
rior, its handsome wood floors, cheerful sun par-
lor, and pretty blue-tiled bathroom.� She de-
scribes the house from a childTs perspective, even
confessing to living in terror of the living room
chandelier. She takes the reader on a room by
room tour offering insight into her family as well
as customs of the time. The tour progresses from
the self-contained world of the house, to the yard,
and then extends into the neighborhood.

Next Holloway gives us a glimpse of the enter-
tainment available for Durham citizens. She tells
of the unveiling of Lakewood Park, oa gay and glit-
tering amusement facility� that provided much
fun for locals for over thirty years. She describes
programs sponsored by the Durham Recreation
Department and the creation of the ChildrenTs
Museum (which grew into the North Carolina
Museum of Life and Science).

At home, the radio was the familyTs primary
source of entertainment. They listened to shows

North Carolina Books

such as Lux Radio Theatre, DuffyTs Tavern,
Truth or Consegences, and Amos TnT Andy. Hollo-
way recalls with particular fondness her weekly
or biweekly outings with her mother in Durham
and their annual outing to Raleigh, as well as
events offered by Duke University and the annual
family vacation.

As Holloway recalls grammar school, we
come to know the Twaddell School and the begin-
nings of Watts Street School. Her fond memories
of favorite teachers and classmates often stir the
readerTs own.

Holloway had a great appetite for reading
and enjoyed it tremendously. She went from the
Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, and Judy Bolton to
the Durham Morning Herald, and soon was
caught up in the society editor's column, oThe
World of Women.�

Church played an important role in her fam-
ily, who attended the Asbury Methodist Church,
oone of the many Methodist churches founded or aided
by members of the Duke family ... � She recalls
that her family attended both the morning and
evening service on Sunday. Also, Holloway relates
how busy Sunday School kept her, and the many
projects she was involved in during Vacation Bible
School but her favorite memory of church was the
Bible stories.

Holloway shows how World War II affected
Durham. She recalls the housing shortages, the
rationing of tires, gasoline, and metal. Details
such as the newspaperTs Weekly War Ration Guide
give her story more vivid local color.

The last chapter in the book describes down-
town Durham as it appeared to Holloway as a
child of eight or nine. She takes the reader along
on her Saturday excursions, stopping by several
businesses of that era. Included in these Saturday
outings were her visits to the Durham Library. In
her book Holloway tells how the Durham Library
opened its doors on February 10, 1898.

The book closes by describing Durham as it is
today.

Betsy Holloway attended Duke University.
She moved to Florida in 1963 and lives with her
husband and son in Orlando. Heaven for Be-
ginners is her first book. A work of personal
memoirs with a local backdrop, it includes family
experiences to which each reader can relate. The
illustrations included are an added attraction
that help to carry out the visual image created by
the author's writing. There are also a bibliography
and index. The book would be a good choice for
any public library as a book of recollections or
social history of Durham. The author herself
opens the book with a quote that is quite appro-

Fall 1987"157

North Carolina Books

priate, oHome interprets heaven. Home is heaven
for beginners.�

Sue Lithgo, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Mena Webb. Jule Carr: General Without an
Army. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1987. 306 pp. $19.95 ISBN 0-8078-1705-8.

Jule Carr, the very readable new biography
of industrialist Julian Shakespeare Carr by Dur-
ham writer Mena Webb, is a welcome addition to
the growing bookshelf of histories about the peo-
ple and events which shaped modern North
Carolina. CarrTs story is one North Carolinians
need to know more about if they are to under-
stand how and why their state came to be the
industrial leader of the South.

Carr is a well-known figure to Tar Heel his-
tory buffs for his amazing rise to fame and fortune
as the worldTs first prominent tobacco manufac-
turer. After a childhood spent comfortably in a
Chapel Hill mercantile family, Carr joined the
exodus of the ambitious to a new factory center,
Durham. There, during the 1870s, letters were
pouring in from former Union soldiers requesting
some of the fine smoking tobacco they first con-
sumed while bumming under the command of
General William T. Sherman. Carr joined with
tobacconist W.T. Blackwell to market the brand
they called oBull Durham� on a worldwide basis.
Carr's astute sense of merchandising put the virile
BullTs visage on surfaces everywhere, even on the
great pyramids of Egypt.

The success of the Durham brand made Carr
one of North CarolinaTs first multi-millionaires.
Wealth also led him into other fields of enterprise
and public service. Carr joined with various asso-
ciates in bringing the cotton mill industry to the
growing towns of the Piedmont. He also became
one of the most active Methodist laymen in the
state, and was instrumental in the relocation of
tiny Trinity College from its home in Randolph
County to a new campus in west Durham in spite
of his status as a UNC graduate. Moreover, Carr
involved himself in a wide range of benevolent
activities, taught Sunday school through much of
his adult life, dabbled in politics, and became a
oGeneral� (hence Ms. WebbTs subtitle) in the
movement to honor Confederate veterans.

This book is, at its best, a familial history of
Jule Carr. Ms. Webb, a novelist and journalist,
deftly paints a verbal portrait of the significance
of family and friends to this energetic figure. Ms.
Webb is less agile when trying to place Carr in the
context of his times, particularly in fitting him

158 " Fall 1987

into the complex spectrum of political upheaval
which followed in the wake of the industrial
growth Carr helped engender. Like other scholars
still trying to figure out this seminal period, Ms.
Webb has underestimated the significance of
Methodist religious values in the making of Carr
as an entrepreneur and philanthropist. In many
ways (as Carr admitted himself in 1908 in a letter
this history overlooks) Methodism was the driving
force behind a significant group of manufactur-
ers, including the Odells and the Dukes, all of
whom had close ties to the charismatic leader of
Trinity College, Reverend Braxton Craven. This is
an element of the North Carolina story yet to be
developed.

Still, if the book is imperfect analytically, it is
nevertheless richly rewarding in the human touch
it gives to the life of a man who never allowed
himself to forget that commerce and manufactur-
ing are principally social endeavors. Librarians
will find that the book will appeal to a wide range
of readers, from the casual request for a good
biography to the eager pursuer of the Tar Heel
past. The book belongs in most local library his-
tory rooms and will be of value for undergradu-
ates in area colleges. In fact, it has only one
serious flaw. The curious reader will long for more
illustrations of the oBull� that made Durham
famous and DurhamTs first success story about
the very wealthy.

Gary Freeze, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Victoria Byerly. Hard Times Cotton Mill Girls:
Personal Histories of Womanhood and Poverty
in the South. Ithaca, N.Y.: ILR Press, New York
School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell
University. 233 pp. ISBN 0-87546-128X (cloth)
$26.00; ISBN 0-875546-129-8 (paper) $9.95.

Victoria Byerly does not believe that oYou
canTt go home again.� Byerly began work in the
Amazon Cotton Mill in Thomasville upon com-
pleting high school in 1967. She was in the fourth
generation of her family to work at Amazon, but,
unlike that of most of her family members, her
tenure at Amazon was brief. A scholarship com-
mittee at her high school arranged college admis-
sion and financial aid for her, and Byerly left the
mill. In 1980, after college and years away from
North Carolina, Byerly returned to Thomasville
armed with a tape recorder to interview women
who lived the life that she had left.

Hard Times Cotton Mill Girls is Victoria
ByerlyTs exploration of the mileau from which she
emerged. It is a collection of interviews with

twenty women whose lives were shaped by the
culture of the mill towns in which they lived. The
women are from towns throughout Piedmont
North Carolina; they are evenly divided between
white and black, and the ages of the women range
from twenties to eighties. These women tell of the
spread of industry in the Piedmont, how families
moved from farm to factory work, and how this
change affected families, especially women.
Readers who view this industrialization positively
will find evidence to support their position, for
several women mention their eagerness to work
in the mills and the measure of freedom that their
mill paychecks gave them. Readers more attuned
to the burdens of industrial labor will find ample
testimony about poor working conditions, arbi-
trary supervisors, and sexual and racial discrimi-
nation.

Most of the women interviewed for this book
worked in the mills, but mill work was but one
part of their lives. The women also talked about
families, both the ones they were born into and
the ones they created; social relations in mill
towns; and their own aspirations and disap-
pointments. These are tales of deprivations, scant
schooling, early childbearing, difficult family rela-
tions, social and racial divisions, and the struggle
to attain a decent standard of living and peace of
mind. Heartbreaks and injustices are recounted,
yet many interviews are also tales of emotional
and spiritual triumph, if not material success. The
interviews with Aliene Walser and Billie Parks
Douglas are alone worth the price of the book.

It is difficult for a reviewer to assess the sour-
ces used for this volume. As a genre, oral history
has obvious limitations; readers come to a volume
of oral histories knowing these limitations and
either accepting the genre or not. Only one of the
women interviewed asked for the protection of a
pseudonym, and all the women are listed with the
towns where they currently reside. The text is
supplemented by twenty photographs. These
illustrations, particularly the portraits of some of
the women in their youth, enhance the volume.
The interviews are organized in sections with
titles such as oFrom Farm to Factory� and oMar-
riage, Motherhood, and Work.� This organization
is not completely successful since most interviews
range across a womanTs whole life and so could fit
in several sections. Byerly precedes each section
with a brief essay. This too is not entirely success-
ful. These essays, along with Cletus Daniel's
general introduction, appear to be addressed to
an academic audience, while the interviews them-
selves have a more general appeal. An index
allows the reader to compare specific topics in

North Carolina Books

several interviews. Recommended for public, high
school, college, and university libraries.

Eileen McGrath, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Kaye Gibbons. Ellen Foster. Chapel Hill: Algon-
quin Books of Chapel Hill, 1987. 146 pp. $11.95.
ISBN 0-912697-52-0.

oI just worked in the trail my mama left.�
Ellen Foster is remembering gardening with her
mother, but the statement could apply to all the
efforts eleven-year-old Ellen makes to get her life
on the right track. She cares for her invalid .
mother until her death, then coexists in an
uneasy truce with her violent father. When the
situation becomes intolerable, she lives with her
art teacher until the court assigns her back to her
family: first, to her spiteful grandmother, who
blames her for her fatherTs actions, and, later, to
an aunt and cousin who have no room for Ellen in
their lives. All the while, Ellen dreams of belonging
to a oreal� family, and, when she spots her onew
mama,� nothing can stand in her way. Ellen is a
survivor who snares the reader with her unself-
conscious courage and gritty determination.

Upon reading this novel, Eudora Welty
exclaimed, oThe life in it, the honesty of thought
and eye and feeling and word!� Kaye Gibbons has a
rare ear for the cadence of common speech.
Words come naturally to Ellen. When she hears
that her old house is occupied again, it is not
simply orented out,� but is orented out to a family
of four.� Her life is altered by the oromantic� fever
her mother suffered from as a girl; she is entirely
too familiar with the function of oundertaking
cars�; and, on fine occasions, she wears opatting
leather� shoes. Gibbons also sums up people with
remarkable economy. EllenTs Aunt Nadine is a
case in point: oWhen she is not redecorating or
shopping with Dora she demonstrates food slicers
in your home.�

That conversational tone permeates the
novel, since it is told entirely through EllenTs voice.
Scenes of her present life alternate with those
from her past. Both strands of the story work
toward the point of the narratorTs becoming Ellen
Foster, a new identity which she signifies by
choosing a new surname.

EllenTs journey is not simply one from a cha-
otic home life to security and love. She is also
working through her own views about other peo-
ple. Ellen learns that blood kin may not necessar-
ily protect her better than caring strangers. She
also must revise her views about racial differen-
ces, which she received before she was able to

Fall 1987"159

North Carolina Books

reason. EllenTs firm friendship with the black
child, Starletta, is a constant throughout the
novel, but a great deal of growth must occur on
EllenTs part. StarlettaTs secure home life, in spite of
grinding poverty, runs counterpoint to EllenTs
volatile environment, and Ellen comes to respect
as well as value their situation.

EllenTs character is almost frighteningly real.

' She is a spunky girl who has been forced to cope
prematurely because of her familyTs neglect. She
can plan monthly budgets while leaving her father
enough liquor money, pay the utilities, and man-
age the cooking: oIt is best to buy in bulk,� she
notes. Yet she is still a small child in many ways,
who enjoys having friends over to visit and play-
ing with nice toys. She is afraid of what happens
when people she has known are buried.

Ellen Foster is Kaye GibbonsTs first novel. It
has garnered accolades from a range of critics
and authors including Walker Percy, Alfred Kazin,
Elizabeth Spencer, and Gordon Lish. Gibbons has
been interviewed by Bob Edwards of National
Public Radio. Her achievement is all the more

impressive in that this novel was published before
the completion of her bachelorTs degree at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Born
in Nash County in 1960, Gibbons was graduated
from Rocky Mount Senior High School and stud-
ied for two years at North Carolina State Univer-
sity. In high school she received National Honor
Society and North Carolina Veterans Association
scholarships, and she was a finalist for the
National Council of Teachers Writing Award. She
also won the 1978 Poetry Prize of the North Caro-
lina Arts Council. Gibbons and her husband
Michael live in Raleigh with their three-year-old
daughter, Mary.

Ellen Foster is well-suited for public and
academic library collections of contemporary or
Southern fiction and is also appropriate for
secondary school collections. It is recommended
both for its focus on contemporary social issues
as well as for its own literary merit.

Margaretta Yarborough, University of North Carolina at

Chapel Hill al

1987:

(THE YEAR

~OF THE
READER

I AS DESIGNATED BY CONGRESS

o1D RATHER BE READING�
BOOKMARKS 100-200 @ $10 per 100

300-900 @$ 7 per 100
1,000 or more @$ 4 per 100
BUMPERSTICKERS 100-1,000 @$15 per 100
1,000-5,000 @$10 per 100
5,000-10,000 @ $9.50 per 100
SHOPPING BAGS 25-75 += @ $10 per 25
(plastic) 100-1,000 @ $30 per 100
Over 1,000 @ $19.50 per 100
BUTTONS Same as Bumperstickers
NOTEPADS 10-90 @ $5.25 per 10
(50 sheets each) 100-900 @$4.75 per 10
Over 1,000 @ $9.50 per 100

160 " Fall 1987

Association of American Publishers

o
So
a
a4

Sere samen slant |

WDIRATHERNBE IM IL
ill RECA DIN GUL

IS ON BOOKMARKS,
BUMPERSTICKERS, |
SHOPPING BAGS AND MORE §
FOR ALL YOUR

LITERACY PROMOTIONS

IN 1987.

oI'D RATHER BE READING�T

IS JOINTLY SPONSORED BY
THE ASSOCIATION OF
AMERICAN PUBLISHERS AND
THE CENTER FOR THE BOOK

IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

NCLA Minutes

North Carolina Library Association
Minutes of the Executive Board
April 24, 1987

The Executive Board of the North Carolina Library Associa-
tion met on April 24, 1987 at 7:00 p.m. in the Sternberger Room
of the Jones Library of Greensboro College, Greensboro, North
Carolina. Members present were President Pauline Myrick, Rose
Simon, Dorothy Campbell, Nancy Fogarty, Kieth Wright, Ben-
jamin Speller, Arial Stephens, Rebecca Taylor, Elizabeth Smith,
Jean Amelang, April Wreath, Helen Tugwell, and Waltrene Can-
ada. Also present were Dale Gaddis and Susan Squires.

President Myrick called the meeting to order. She recog-
nized Susan Squires, Director of Library Services at Greensboro
College, who in turn welcomed the group to Greensboro College.
Mrs. Myrick expressed appreciation for the cordiality and co-
operation shown by Mrs. Squires as she assisted with plans for
this meeting and the spring workshop.

The minutes of the meeting of February 6, 1987 were
approved as distributed by the secretary.

The president called for the treasurerTs report. Nancy
Fogarty reviewed the report for the first quarter which had been
distributed. She reported that the financial statement prepared
by W. John M. Tinker, public accountant, shows that NCLA
records are in order. The audit report is available for review.
Fogarty was applauded for rendering efficient service.

It was noted that June 1 is the deadline for submitting
requests to the 1987 Conference Planning Committee and that
the place and date of the 1987 conference have been confirmed.

Mrs. Myrick called for the report of the ALA chapter repre-
sentative. Dr. Kieth Wright reviewed a proposal for ALA Mem-
bership in NCATE presented to the ALA Executive Board by the
American Association of School Librarians. He distributed
copies of the statement. Wright suggested that the Executive
Board consider supporting the proposal. Wright also announced
that arrangements can be made to exhibit materials during the
ALA Conference. He stated that he is willing to assist NCLA
sections in getting single copies of materials transported and
exhibited.

In the absence of Jerry Thrasher, SELA representative,
President Myrick distributed copies of the 1987 SELA member-
ship statistics as of March 25, 1987 and minutes of the SELA
Executive-Board meeting of March 2, 1987.

It was noted that the deadline for submitting material for
the next issue of North Carolina Libraries was May 10.

Reporting as an NCLA director, at the request of the Presi-
dent, Dr. Benjamin Speller stated that several members are par-
ticipating in the preparation of a necrology scheduled to appear
in the program book for the 1987 biennial conference.

Responding to the PresidentTs call for comments about
National Library Legislative Day, several members, who had
attended the event, expressed the belief that it was a day well
spent. Also acknowledged was the positive impact of Major
OwensT efforts to gain the attention of congressmen as revealed in
the current issue of the ALA Washington Newsletter.

Arial Stephens reported for the Networking Committee.

The next order of business was reporting by section repre-
sentatives. Elizabeth Smith, chair of the College and University
Section, announced that the program oIntroducing Your Public
to the Online Catalog� will be presented on May 1, 1987 at Mere-
dith College.

Vice-chair of the Community College Section Frank Sinclair
reported on plans being developed by the Section for the bien-
nial conference.

Helen Tugwell, chair of the North Carolina Association of
School Librarians, reported on the activities presented during
School Media Day on April 8 and announced the candidates for
the offices of NCASL for 1987-1989. She said that Peggy Parish
will be the sectionTs keynote speaker during the 1987 biennial
conference.

Jean Amelang, reporting as chair of the Reference and
Adult Services Section, presented details of plans for a work-
shop entitled oRethinking Reference: Searching for Solutions to
Everyday Problems� which will be co-sponsored with the North
Carolina Library Staff Development Program and be held on May
15 at North Carolina Central University. Amelang announced,
also, that Matthew Lesko, president of Information USA, will
speak during the sectionTs program at the NCLA biennial con-
ference.

Reporting for the Resources and Technical Services Section,
chair April Wreath stated that the section devoted its seventh
meeting of the biennium to discussing the Futures Committee
report and formulating reactions to it. She reviewed plans for
the biennial conference and announced that a committee has
been formed to evaluate the past bienniumTs contributions to
North Carolina Libraries in the realm of resources and techni-
cal services for the sectionTs Best Article Award.

The ChildrenTs SectionTs report was presented by chair
Rebecca Taylor. She said the Publications Committee is develop-
ing a book of reproducible patterns. The next issue of The Chap-
book is expected to generate special interest.

Waltrene Canada, chair of the Documents Section an-
nounced that the workshop oCounty Government Information�
being planned by the section and the Durham County Library
will be held on May 1. She stated, also, that a government infor-
mation showcase is scheduled to be shown during the 1987
NCLA biennial conference on Friday, October 30 from 10:00 -
12:00. Canada then reported on the status of the documents
depository bill.

At the request of President Myrick, Dorothy Campbell read
a report for the roundtable on the Status of Women in Librar-
ianship which had been submitted to the President by Mary
McAfee. It was noted that a workshop entitled oWhatTs Our Prob-
lem?"Women in Library Management� is scheduled for August
6 and 7 in Winston-Salem. The roundtableTs plans for the NCLA
biennial conference have been extended to include a reception
at the Craft Shop of Piedmont Craftsmen.

The report of the North Carolina Public Library Directors
Association was given by Dale Gaddis.

The President called for unfinished business. The board was
reminded of the Documents SectionTs request for support pre-
sented at the February meeting. Discussion followed concerning
the SectionTs financial burden of promoting passage of the de-

Fall 1987"161

NCLA Minutes

pository bill. A motion by Dorothy Campbell that the Executive
Board provide $500 to help defray the sectionTs expenses related
to gaining passage of the documents depository bill was
seconded by Rose Simon. It passed unanimously.

The board discussed the matter of membership renewal as
it relates to the right to vote. It was agreed that persons who
have not renewed their memberships by the time ballots are
mailed are not eligible to receive ballots.

President Myrick asked the board to consider the sugges-
tion of William Bridgman, chair of Governmental Relations
Committee that the names of Aaron Plyler and Senator Tony
Rand be added to the list of courtesy memberships. The recom-
mendation was acceptd by vote of the board. Mrs. Myrick read
the names of persons appearing on the existing list.

Mrs.Myrick reported that on April 1, Past President Leland
Park represented NCLA at the inauguration ceremony of M.
Christopher White as the tenth president of Gardner Webb Col-
lege and expressed greetings. She read the statement presented
by Dr. Park on behalf of the association.

The board members were reminded that a called session is
scheduled to begin tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. and that the Spring
Workshop will be held from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned
at 8:50 p.m.

Dorothy W. Campbell, Secretary

Approved, July 24, 1987

North Carolina Library Association
Minutes of the Executive Board
April 25, 1987

The Executive Board of the North Carolina Library Associa-
tion met on April 25, 1987 at 9:30 a.m. in the Sternberger Room
of the Jones Library of Greensboro College, Greensboro, North
Carolina. Executive Board members present were President
Pauline Myrick, Patsy Hansel, Rose Simon, Dorothy Campbell,
Nancy Fogarty, Mae Tucker, Kieth Wright, Benjamin Speller,
Arial Stephens, Rebecca Taylor, Elizabeth Smith, Waltrene Can-
ada, Jean Amelang, April Wreath, Mary McAfee, and Helen Tug-
well. Committee representatives and other members present
were Richard Barker, Doris Ann Bradley, William Bridgman, Mell
Busbin, Dot Nahory, Frank Sinclair, Luvenia Summerville, Clar-
ence Toomer, and Carol Walters.

President Myrick called the meeting to order and reminded
the board that the purpose of this special meeting is to hear
reports on the deliberations concerning the Futures Committee
report.

The agenda was accepted.

The president stated that the compilers of reactions would
lead the discussion on each issue and would recognize persons
who would like to comment.

A motion by April Wreath that the board vote upon each of
the recommendations of the Futures Committee in sequence as
discussed was seconded by Helen Tugwell and passed.

The report of responses pertaining to purpose and objec-
tives was presented by Dr. Speller, compiler. Speller moved that
the board accept the Futures CommitteeTs recommendation on
mission and goals; and that the current mission statement be
revised and a set of goal statements be formulated. The motion
passed. Further discussion of the recommendation followed.
Patsy Hansel moved that the Constitution, Codes and Handbook
Revision Committee be requested to develop a recommended
revised mission statement and goals for consideration by the
NCLA Executive Board at its July meeting. The motion was
seconded by Helen Tugwell and passed. President Myrick asked
Dr. Speller to work with the Committee.

162 " Fall 1987

The report of reactions to the Future CommitteeTs recom-
mendations regarding employment of a management firm was
presented by Nancy Fogarty, compiler of the comments. Fogarty
then informed the board of the information which she had
gathered relating to the issue. She made a motion that the
recommendation that NCLA contract with IMI not be accepted
by the Board. The motion was seconded by Patsy Hansel and
passed.

The need for services of a clerical assistance firm was dis-
cussed. Upon motion of Patsy Hansel, which was seconded by
Helen Tugwell and passed, it was decided that the NCLA treas-
urer is requested to investigate clerical assistance firms and
recommend one for employment by NCLA at the July Executive
Board meeting.

At this point reactions to the Futures CommitteeTs recom-
mendations regarding structure of NCLA were discussed. A
motion that the Executive Board reject the recommendations
regarding structure of NCLA was made by Patsy Hansel and
seconded by April Wreath. The motion passed. Further discus-
sion of the issues followed. It was moved by Patsy Hansel that
the structure of the Executive Board remain as it is except that
the position of second vice-president be eliminated and that the
membership function be delegated to the directors as co-chairs
of the Membership Committee. The motion was seconded by
Arial Stephens and passed.

The report on reactions of the Futures CommitteeTs recom-
mendation regarding the establishment of a publications com-
mittee was presented by Arial Stephens, compiler of the
comments. The recommendation was discussed. Stephens
moved that the committeeTs recommendation that a publica-
tions committee be established to carry out the suggested func-
tions be rejected. The motion was seconded by Patsy Hansel and
passed.

The report of reactions of the Futures CommitteeTs recom-
mendations regarding membership and dues was presented by
Rose Simon, compiler. The recommendations were discussed.
Simon moved that the board accept the Futures CommitteeTs
recommendation that NCLA support its operating expenses
with its dues; that conferences should pay for themselves; and
that any conference profits be applied to special projects. The
motion was seconded by Kieth Wright and passed. Further dis-
cussion of dues ensued. A motion by Rebecca Taylor that the
Finance Committee be asked to study the per-member operating
costs per year and/or biennium and recommend a revised dues
structure by the time of the July meeting was seconded by Patsy
Hansel and passed.

Dr. Kieth Wright, compiler of reactions to the recommenda-
tions regarding annual elections and annual conferences pre-
sented the report. The board discussed the recommendation that
consideration be given to holding annual elections of officers.
Wright moved that the Executive Board recommend to the Con-
stitution, Codes and Handbook Revision Committee that the
Association Bylaws be revised to allow for annual election of
officers. The motion was seconded by Arial Stephens. Following
discussion, the motion was voted on and rejected unanimously.

Wright then moved that the Executive Board reject the
Future CommitteeTs recommendation that annual conferences
be held, and retain the current biennial conference schedule.
The motion was seconded by Helen Tugwell and passed unani-
mously.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:15 a.m.

Immediately after adjournment the president called for a
special meeting so the board could hear an awards report by
Mell Busbin, chair of the Honorary and Life Membership Com-
mittee. Dr. Busbin presented the report. He then moved that the
NCLA Executive Board accept the CommitteeTs recommendation
that honorary and life membership status be awarded the fol-
lowing persons: Honorary membership"Patric G. Dorsey, Craig
Phillips, William Friday; Life membership"Mae Tucker, Martha

Davis, Allegra Westbrooks, Marge Lindsey, Mertys W. Bell, Leon-
ard Johnson, and Ila T. Justice. The motion was passed. Busbin
then moved that the Executive Board accept the committee's
proposal for a new award, The North Carolina Distinguished
Library Service Award, and criteria established by the commit-
tee for selecting nominees as follows:

1. For distinguished professional library services to North

Carolina.

2. One award every two years, or when deemed appropriate, to
a professional librarian or in memory of a deceased profes-
sional librarian.

3. For significant service or other professional contributions
provided during either a short or long span of time.

4. For service resulting in a regional or national impact on
librarianship in general.

5. Nominations will be solicited from NCLA membership and
must be made in writing and include the following documen-
tation: description of distinguished service, description of
impact on librarianship (North Carolina, regional, national),
short professional resumeT and biographical information.

6. Final selection will be determined by the NCLA Executive
Board from no more than two nominations submitted by an
NCLA designated committee.

By vote of the Executive Board, the motion was amended to
change the name of the award to oThe North Carolina Library
Association Distinguished Library Service Award� by inserting
the words oLibrary Association.� The motion passed.

Upon being recognized by the President, Dr. Kieth Wright
requested that the board consider the American Association of
School LibrariansT proposal regarding ALA membership in
NCATE. Dr. Wright moved that the NCLA Executive Board
endorse the AASL resolution that ALA become an institutional
member of NCATE. The motion was seconded by Dr. Speller and
passed.

President Myrick thanked everyone for their cooperation.
She reminded the Board that the next meeting will be held in
Pinehurst in July.

The special meeting was adjourned at 11:30 a.m.

Dorothy Campbell, Secretary

;
Approved as amended, July 24, 1987. é |

We've Got
Answers to
Your Questions.

A TT TE TE PE

Instructions for the Preparation
of Manuscripts

for North Carolina Libraries

AAAS ML ET TTI TE I TL TE

1. North Carolina Libraries seeks to publish articles, book
reviews, and news of professional interest to librarians in
North Carolina. Articles need not be of a scholarly nature, but
they should address professional concerns of the library
community in the state.

2. Manuscripts should be directed to Frances B. Bradburn, Edi-
tor, North Carolina Libraries, Central Regional Education
Center, Gateway Plaza, 2431 Crabtree Boulevard, Raleigh,
N.C. 27604.

3. Manuscripts should be submitted in triplicate on plain white
paper measuring 8%" x 11�.

4. Manuscripts must be double-spaced (text, references, and
footnotes). Manuscripts should be typed on sixty-space lines,
twenty-five lines to a page. The beginnings of paragraphs
should be indented eight spaces. Lengthy quotes should be
avoided. When used, they should be indented on both mar-
gins.

5. The name, position, and professional address of the author
should appear in the bottom left-hand corner of a separate
title page.

6. Each page after the first should be numbered consecutively
at the top right-hand corner and carry the author's last name
at the upper left-hand corner.

7. Footnotes should appear at the end of the manuscript. The
editors will refer to The Chicago Manual of Style, 13th edition.
The basic forms for books and journals are as follows:

Keyes Metcalf, Planning Academic and Research Li-
brary Buildings. (New York: McGraw, 1965), 416.

Susan K. Martin, oThe Care and Feeding of the MARC
Format,� American Libraries 10 (September 1979): 498.

8. Photographs will be accepted for consideration but cannot be
returned.

9. North Carolina Libraries is not copyrighted. Copyright rests
with the author. Upon receipt, a manuscript will be acknowl-
edged by the editor. Following review of a manuscript by at
least two jurors, a decision will be communicated to the wri-
ter. A definite publication date cannot be given since any
incoming manuscript will be added to a manuscript from
which articles are selected for each issue.

Issue deadlines are February 10, May 10, August 10, and
November 10.

lis

Fall 1987"163

JOIN NCLA

To enroll as a member of the association or
to renew your membership, check the appro-
priate type of membership and the sections or
roundtables which you wish to join. NCLA
membership entitles you to membership in
one of the sections or roundtables shown
below at no extra cost. For each additional
section, add $4.00 to your regular dues.

NORTH CAROLINA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

O New membership [1 Renewal O Membership no.

Name

Position

Business Address

City or Town State

Mailing Address (if different from above)

Return the form below along with your
check or money order made payable to North
Carolina Library Association. All memberships
are for two calendar years. If you enroll during
the last quarter of a year, membership will
cover the next two years.

CHECK TYPE OF DUES:

O SPECIAL-Trustees, paraprofessional and support staff,
non-salaried persons, retired librarians, library school
students, ~~Friends of the Library,� and non-librar-

O LIBRARIANS"earning up to $12,000

O LIBRARIANS"earning $12,000 to $20,000

O LIBRARIANS"earning over $20,000

O CONTRIBUTING"Individual, Association, Firm, etc. in-
terested in the work of NCLA

O INSTITUTIONAL"Same for all libraries
CHECK SECTIONS: One free; $4.00 each additional.

(WomenTs Round Table
O Ethnic Minorities RT

O Trustees
O Public

O ChildrenTs
O College
O Documents O Ref. & Adult

O Jr. College OO RTSS (Res.-Tec.)
O NCASL (School) 0 JMRT

AMOUNT ENCLOSED $______

Mail to: Nancy Fogarty, Treasurer, NCLA, P.O. Box 4266, Greensboro, N.C. 27404

164 " Fall 1987

President

PAULINE MYRICK
Box 307
Carthage, NC 28327
(919) 947-2763

First Vice-President/

President-Elect

PATSY J. HANSEL
Cumberland County Public

Library

300 Maiden Lane
Fayetteville, NC 28301
(919) 483-1580

Second Vice-President
ROSE SIMON
Dale H. Gramley Library
Salem College
Winston-Salem, NC 27108
(919) 721-2649

Secretary
DOROTHY W. CAMPBELL
School of Library and
Information Science
North Carolina Central
University
Durham, NC 27707
(919) 683-6485

Treasurer

NANCY CLARK FOGARTY
Jackson Library
University of North Carolina
Greensboro, NC 27412
(919) 334-5419

Director
ARIAL A. STEPHENS
Richard H. Thornton Library
P.O. Box 339
Oxford, NC 27565
(919) 693-1121

Director
BENJAMIN F. SPELLER, JR.
School of Library and
Information Science
North Carolina Central
University
Durham, NC 27707
(919) 683-6485

Past President

LELAND M. PARK
Library of Davidson College
Davidson, NC 28036
(704) 892-2000

ALA Representative
KIETH C. WRIGHT
Dept. of Library Science and
Educational Technology
University of North Carolina-
Greensboro

Greensboro, NC 27412
(919) 334-5100

166 " Fall 1987

NCLA EXECUTIVE BOARD
1985-1987

SELA Representative
JERRY THRASHER
Cumberland County Public
Library
Fayetteville, NC 28302
(919) 483-8600

Editor, NORTH CAROLINA
LIBRARIES
FRANCES BRADBURN
Gateway Plaza
2431 Crabtree Boulevard
Raleigh, NC 27604
(919) 733-2864

SECTION/ROUND TABLE CHAIRS

ChildrenTs Services
REBECCA TAYLOR
New Hanover Co. Public
Library
201 Chestnut Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
(919) 763-3303

College and University
ELIZABETH H. SMITH
Joyner Library
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC 27834
(919) 757-6692

Community and Junior College

MARY AVERY
Learning Resources
Rowan Technical College
P.O. Box 1595
Salisbury, NC 28144
(704) 637-0730

Documents
JANET M. ROWLAND
Forsyth County Public
Library
660 West Fifth Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
(919) 727-2220

Junior Members Roundtable
STEPHANIE ISSETTE
Atlantic Christian College
Wilson, NC 27893
(919) 237-3161

N.C. Association of School

Librarians

HELEN TUGWELL

North Central Regional
Education Center

P.O. Box 21889
Greensboro, NC 27420
(919) 334-5769

Public Libraries
NANCY MASSEY
Hyconeechee Regional
Library
P.O. Drawer E
Yanceyville, NC 27379
(919) 694-6241

Reference and Adult Services
JEAN S. AMELANG
New Hanover Co. Public
Library
201 Chestnut Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
(919) 395-0449

Resources and Technical

Services

APRIL WREATH
University of North Carolina
Greensboro, NC 27412
(919) 379-5781

Round Table for Ethnic

Minority Concerns

SYLVIA SPRINKLE-HAMLIN
Forsyth County Public

Library

660 W. Fifth Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
(919) 727-2556

Round Table on the Status of
Women in Librarianship
MARY McAFEE
Forsyth County Public
Library
660 W. Fifth Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
(919) 727-2264

Trustees

J. A. oJAKE� KILLIAN
P.O. Box 143
Peachland, NC 28133
(704) 272-8375