Intellectual Freedom is not a topic I know very much about or feel very strongly about.Hopefully by the end of this class I will be ready to throw elbows & be well educated about IF!
The first thing I did was research IF. I went to the ALA website ( http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/index.cfm) and read about challenged books, ALA's mission and the OIF blog (http://www.oif.ala.org/oif/) . I have alot to learn & I can't wait for Banned Book Week!
After this I talked to a few of my friends and family because I wanted their opinion / thoughts on IF. I started with my friend who teaches 7th grade English. She feels very strongly about IF and wants everyone no matter what age to be able to choose what they want to read.Unfortunately her opinion does not count at her school.She went on to talk about how hard she had to fight for her class to read The Giver.( not exactly a scandalous book!)
Next I called my mom's friend who has been a librarian for over 15 years. She also feels strongly about IF ( how has everyone's strong opinion not rubbed off on me?!). She talked about her biggest challenge, IF over selection. She often struggles when choosing/ approving new materials not be be swayed by her own personal views and opinions.She also has to consider the conservative small town she works in. often community standards win over IF.
Last I talked to my Nana who's opinion is always interesting.She enjoys a good smutty romance novel and as long as the book isn't hurting anyone you should be able to read it. She also told me to find out how my teacher felt about IF and agree with her.Best way to ensure I get a good grade.
My next posting will be based on a current article and how it relates to IF. I hope this post is ok. If it isn't I will be happy to create another post based on an article. I just wanted to get a few more facts first and explore the topic of IF.
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I think you've taken a great first step in finding out about how other people feel in regards to Intellectual Freedom, but since you don't have any "strong feelings" about it maybe you should take the time to figure out why. Look inside and see who you are. Now imagine someone told you that you couldn't be that you. That you had to read smutty romances and act a certain way. They took away all the books and magazines you like to read. They took away your computer and/or writing paper and told you not to write... Think about the ways you enjoy Intellectual freedom and how life would be without it. I think you may feel a little more strongly on the topic :) And I didn't even mention the poor ladies who get their heads cut off in Afghanistan for teaching to girls. Feel any stronger yet? See you in class! -Carmen Michele Cannello
ReplyDeleteWow, your Nana is putting a lot of pressure on me by adding the grade into it all. ;-) We'll be discussing this a lot more this semester and maybe by the end you'll feel strongly about I.F. For now it's fine for you to explore. It may be helpful for you to continue talking to people about it. I think it's good to put myself in other peoples' shoes and try to view things from their perspective. People who censor others usually are very well intentioned. My argument with them is that they are making choices for other people, basically eliminating others' rights to decide for themselves what they will or will not read.
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