Librarians: Protecting our First Amendment Rights, One Book at a Time

Image Source: Amber's Website

This time last year I used this space to share my thoughts about the importance of voice and my thoughts on Amber J. Keyser's book, The V-Word: True Stories About First Time Sex. In that post, I shared a love letter I wrote to my daughter encouraging her to honor and value her own voice.

Today, I'm using this space to share my thoughts about the importance of using our voices to stand up for our First Amendment rights. The April 12, 2017 edition of the Palmetto Business Daily reports that Amber's book is at the center of a controversy at a library in Charleston, South Carolina. I've pasted below the letter I've emailed to the Library Board of Trustees that will hold a meeting about this issue at 8:00 AM on Monday, April 25, 2017. If you'd like to bring your own voice into the conversation, message me via the comments below or the contact form to the left and I will provide the email address where comments can be sent.

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April 21, 2017 

Dear Charleston County Library Board of Trustees:

I am a parent, children’s author, and library advocate. In 2015 I was named Oregon Library Supporter of the Year. I believe strongly that libraries have a duty and responsibility to champion First Amendment rights and to ensure that all community members have unrestricted access to the information they seek. I also believe that parents have a duty and responsibility to set appropriate limits for their own children. These ideas are not mutually exclusive.

I read in the April 12, 2017 edition of the Palmetto Business Daily that your Board of Trustees will be meeting on April 25th to discuss community concerns related to the placement of books that provide accurate and factual information about sex, including, but not limited to The V-Word: True Stories About First Time Sex.

Our society is filled with an abundance of information and images, much of which may not be age-appropriate for any one particular child. There are provocative photographs on magazine covers in the grocery store, explicit videos that are accessed via the Internet and shared on social media, and graphic news stories and programs shown on television. Again, it is the library’s role to champion freedom of speech and uncensored access to information, and it is a parent’s role to set appropriate limits for their own children.

Each parent will navigate these challenges differently, depending on their own values and the maturity of their particular child. Some parents intentionally refrain from watching graphic news stories while their children are in the room, opting instead to chat about world events at the dinner table. Other parents might watch graphic news stories alongside their child, and have a rich conversation afterwards. Some parents turn off the news completely to protect their children from the troubling truths in our world, and some children hunger for information nonetheless. The public library serves all of these children and all of these parents.

I write books that incorporate AmericanSign Language (ASL), and even this seemingly innocuous subject can stir different comfort levels in different parents. Some parents acknowledge the research that early exposure to sign language enriches and stimulates verbal communication, while other parents fear that sign language is a verbal language inhibitor. Some parents consider ASL as an important part of their family’s culture, and other parents consider ASL an inferior substitute for verbal language. Some parents contend that sign language should only be taught via three-dimensional formats such as in-person or through videos, while other parents strictly forbid screen time. Some parents have never considered teaching their child a second language, and some children are curious about ASL nonetheless. The public library serves all of these children and all of these parents. It would be a disservice* to the general public and an affront to the First Amendment and the ideals of free speech and unrestricted access to information if the library were to avoid displaying my sign language books in a prominent location for fear that they might be seen by a child whose parents were uncomfortable with my treatment on the subject.

I would urge you to resist the temptation to censor controversial materials from your library shelves. I would also urge you to resist the temptation to hide books that provide accurate and factual information about sex, such as The V-Word, effectively making it more difficult for the young people for whom these books are written to find them.

I applaud the librarians who continue to stand up for the First Amendment, freedom of speech, and unrestricted access to information. I encourage you to support them in fulfilling their important role in our democratic society.

Sincerely,

Dawn Prochovnic, MA

Founder of SmallTalk Learning

www.dawnprochovnic.com

*This word was inadvertently mis-spelled in the original letter.

 
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Again, if you'd like to bring your own voice into the conversation, message me via the comments below or the contact form to the left and I will provide the email address where comments can be sent.