Palin= Book Banner

[ploto]

Shortly after becoming mayor, former city officials and Wasilla residents said, Ms. Palin approached the town librarian about the possibility of banning some books, though she never followed through and it was unclear which books or passages were in question.

Ann Kilkenny, a Democrat who said she attended every City Council meeting in Ms. Palin’s first year in office, said Ms. Palin brought up the idea of banning some books at one meeting. “They were somehow morally or socially objectionable to her,” Ms. Kilkenny said.

The librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, pledged to “resist all efforts at censorship,” Ms. Kilkenny recalled. Ms. Palin fired Ms. Emmons shortly after taking office but changed course after residents made a strong show of support. Ms. Emmons, who left her job and Wasilla a couple of years later, declined to comment for this article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/us/politics/03wasilla.html?hp

[PixelPusher]

"They hate us for our freedoms"

[efrem1]

Ploto:

I am a librarian myself (MLIS San Jose State) and I will tell you that librarians let their bias influence them one way or another. Would that librarian put "Little Black Sambo" or "Mein Kampf" in the collection? I don't think so.

[DMX7]

Ploto:

I am a librarian myself (MLIS San Jose State) and I will tell you that librarians let their bias influence them one way or another. Would that librarian put "Little Black Sambo" or "Mein Kampf" in the collection? I don't think so.

I do. It's not like you can't get one of these at your local bookstore.

[ChumpDumper]

You can get Mein Kampf at nine SA library branches.

Sambo at six.

[ploto]

Ploto:

I am a librarian myself (MLIS San Jose State) and I will tell you that librarians let their bias influence them one way or another. Would that librarian put "Little Black Sambo" or "Mein Kampf" in the collection? I don't think so.

I am a librarian, as are a number of posters on this board. That is why I posted this.

You might want to check the catalog of the Matanuska-Susitna Library Network. :lol

[efrem1]

You can get Mein Kampf at nine SA library branches.

Sambo at six.

True enough. I went by talk that I heard when I went to the American Library Association mid-winter meeting in Seattle last year where some librarians would not put racist books on the shelf as part of their collection development plans.

[td4mvp21]

A republican pro-censorship? You don't say...

[Wild Cobra]

I've wondered about the facts behind that story. Everyone jumps to conclusions in one way or another, the hard part is not reacting on an unfounded conclusion.

My though on the subject is that being a small town, with the library only being able to hold so many books, that Palin wanted some books to have priority over others to properly serve the general welfare of the city. I really doubt it went to 'censorship' but was probably percieved as such. This is one of those topics that cane be spun so many ways, I'd say it's impossible to really determine the truth behind it.

Just my opinion. Don't make too much of it please.

[Phenomanul]

C'mon it's not like everything should be exempt from censorship. They banned a couple of books at Barnes&Nobles because they contained several pictures of naked children and tweens.... I happen to agree that the correct decision was made on the matter.

[boutons_]

....

[cool hand]

drill, drill, drill.......like thats gonna do shit. please.

[boutons_]

"with the library only being able to hold so many books, that Palin wanted some books to have priority over others to properly serve the general welfare of the city"

holy fucking shit, you condemn everybody else jumping to conclusions and then you jump to your own conclusion! :lol

Palin banned books due to space limitations? :lol

Palin's opinion of which books are good and bad is her role a mayor? This is called micro-managed, activist interventionism with a fascist threat to fire anybody who objects. That's great executive, "decider" expertise.

[Hook Dem]

drill, drill, drill.......like thats gonna do shit. please.

Did Obama tell you that?:lol

[ploto]

I've wondered about the facts behind that story. Everyone jumps to conclusions in one way or another, the hard part is not reacting on an unfounded conclusion.

My though on the subject is that being a small town, with the library only being able to hold so many books, that Palin wanted some books to have priority over others to properly serve the general welfare of the city. I really doubt it went to 'censorship' but was probably percieved as such. This is one of those topics that cane be spun so many ways, I'd say it's impossible to really determine the truth behind it.


She did not go to the librarian about issues of budget and collection development and giving priority to certain subjects. She FIRED the librarian who refused to be a part of REMOVING books that she thought were immoral.

Here is another account of it from a different source posted in the other thread:

While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected
City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from
the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents
rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin’s
attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew
her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the
Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.



Even without anyone being willing to list which ones she was offended by, it is very easy to make an educated guess- if you have any background in dealing with book banners.

Here is the ALA List of books most often requested for banning from public libraries from 1990-2000.

Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
Forever by Judy Blume
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Giver by Lois Lowry
It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Sex by Madonna
Earth's Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel

[Viva Las Espuelas]

A republican pro-censorship? You don't say...

PMRC, buddy
PMRC

[Oh, Gee!!]

Everyone jumps to conclusions in one way or another, the hard part is not reacting on an unfounded conclusion.

good advice


My though on the subject is that being a small town, with the library only being able to hold so many books, that Palin wanted some books to have priority over others to properly serve the general welfare of the city. I really doubt it went to 'censorship' but was probably percieved as such.

And watch as WC not only jumps to conclusions but creates a story justifying her actions out of whole-cloth