The Huffington Post has a nice collection of 15 famous movies (including clips) based on banned books. The collection has put together in collaboration with the ALA and Banned Books Week. It’s always surprising to see what books get people worked up… or that people are threatened by books to begin with…

El Huffington Post tiene una buena colección de 15 películas famosas (incluyendo cortos) basadas en libros que han sido prohibidos. La colección se organizo con la colaboración de la ALA y la Semana de Libros Prohibidos. Siempre es sorprendente ver que libros hacen que la gente se agite… o peor un, ver que algunos se siente amenazados por algún libro.

Book: 1964 (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Roald Dahl
Movie: 1971 with Gene Wilder and 2005 (as “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”) with Johnny Depp

Locked away in 1988 by a librarian in Boulder, CO who thought it espoused a poor philosophy of life. (Since removed from the locked collection)

Learn more about Banned Book Week from their website.

Aprenda más sobre Semana de Libros Prohibitos en su página web.

©2012 Bilingual Librarian. All Rights Reserved.

Share and Enjoy

15 Movies Based on Banned Books originally appeared on Bilingual Librarian on September 30, 2010.

Share and Enjoy

Google has just announced the launched the Government Request tool. This tools offers people “information about the requests for user data or content removal [Google] receive from government agencies around the world.”

I sense the launch of this tool might be Google response to the criticism they received while negotiating whether they were going to comply with the Chinese government’s request to censor web services in China. In any case, Google’s announcement invokes Article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights which states that

“everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” Written in 1948, the principle applies aptly to today’s Internet — one of the most important means of free expression in the world. Yet government censorship of the web is growing rapidly: from the outright blocking and filtering of sites, to court orders limiting access to information and legislation forcing companies to self-censor content.”

All this preamble is to make the point that while Google may take its time negotiating whether to censor information or not, plenty of governments are asking them to remove or hand over information gathered through their services.

The Government Request tool is a map that gathers information from many governments around the world that have asked Google to hand over information, or have it removed from local searches. (04/21/10 – The information is also available as a spreadsheet.) The list of countries here is very varied. The one mayor absence is China, and this absence is explained by the Guardian as follows;

However China has no listed requests – because, as the online tool explains, “Chinese officials consider censorship demands as state secrets, so we cannot disclose that information at this time.” If China were included it would almost certainly be in the top spot, because its government only allowed Google to operate inside the country if it hid thousands of web pages from search results.

Wired explained the numbers for the U.S.A.;

The answer for U.S. users is 3,580 total requests for information over a six-month period from July 2009 to December 2009. That number comes to about 20 a day, and includes subpoenas and search warrants from state, local and federal law enforcement officials.

I’d just like to note that there were less than 10 request for information removals from the Colombian government, and apparently no data requests in the last six months.

Very telling about what governments are up to around the globe. Maybe this initiative will help cool down the prodding into our private lives, but somehow I doubt it…

Google acaba de anunciar el lanzamiento de Gobierno Requests tool (Herramienta de Peticiones Gubernamentales). Esta herramienta nos ofrece “información sobre las solicitudes de datos del usuario o la eliminación de contenido que [Google] ha recibido de agencias gubernamentales de todo el mundo.”

Me da la impresión que el lanzamiento de esta herramienta podría ser la respuesta de Google a las críticas que recibió durante las negociaciones con el gobierno Chino mientras decidía si iban a cumplir con la petición para censurar los servicios web en China. En cualquier caso, el anuncio de Google invoca el artículo 19 de la Declaración Universal de Derechos Humanos que establece que

“Todo individuo tiene derecho a la libertad de opinión y de expresión; este derecho incluye el de no ser molestado a causa de sus opiniones, el de investigar y recibir informaciones y opiniones, y el de difundirlas, sin limitación de fronteras, por cualquier medio de expresión”. Escrito en 1948, el principio se aplica con acierto a la Internet de hoy – uno de los medios más importantes de la libre expresión en el mundo. Sin embargo, la censura del gobierno de la web está creciendo rápidamente: desde el bloqueo total y el filtrado de los sitios, a órdenes judiciales que limitan el acceso a la información y la legislación obliga a las empresas a la libre censurar el contenido. ”

Todo este preámbulo es para hacer el punto de que si bien Google puede tomarse su tiempo mientras negocia la posibilidad de censurar información o no, muchos gobiernos del mundo le están pidiendo que controlen o entreguen información obtenida a través de sus servicios.

La herramienta de Government Request es un mapa que recoge información de muchos de los gobiernos que le han pedido a Google que entregue información, o que censuren cierta información de las búsquedas locales. (04/21/10 - La información también está disponible en una hoja spreadsheet.) La lista de países incluidos aquí es muy variada. La gran ausente es la China, y esta ausencia se explica en The Guardian de la siguiente manera;

Sin embargo China no tiene peticiones enumeradas – porque, como la herramienta en línea, explica, “los funcionarios chinos consideran las demandas de censura como secretos de Estado, por lo que no podemos revelar esa información en este momento.” Si la China fuese incluida casi seguro que estaría en el primer lugar porque su gobierno sólo le permite a Google operar dentro del país si esconde a miles de páginas web de los resultados de búsqueda.

Wired explica los números para los U.S.A.;

La respuesta para los usuarios de EE.UU. es un total de 3.580 solicitudes de información durante un período de seis meses comprendido entre julio 2009-diciembre 2009. Esa cifra asciende a alrededor de 20 al día, e incluye citaciones y órdenes de registro de estado, los agentes del orden locales y oficiales federales.

Me gustaría señalar que hay menos de 10 solicitudes decensura de información del gobierno colombiano, y al parecer no las solicitudes por información en los últimos seis meses.

Muy elocuentes los que nos dice esta herramienta sobre el comportamiento de muchos gobiernos alrededor del mundo. Tal vez esta iniciativa ayudará a enfriar las introspecciones en nuestras vidas privadas, pero de alguna manera lo dudo…

©2012 Bilingual Librarian. All Rights Reserved.

Share and Enjoy

Government Requests tool originally appeared on Bilingual Librarian on April 20, 2010.

Share and Enjoy

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is one of those books I always heard about, but hadn’t actually read, so I finally got around to it. This short novel follows “fireman” Guy Montag as he begins to question the society he lives in, and its emphasis on keeping people so busy there is no time to think, question, or enjoy anything that doesn’t come from a TV. In many ways it reminded me of the other dystopian novels I read in the 10th grade; Nineteen Eighty-Four, Brave New World, and Animal Farm.

As a librarian I really appreciate Bradbury’s message regarding books; that books can help us think for ourselves, enrich our lives, preserve our history and help trace our future. And having read enough about what world powers have done to control the citizenry, the novel’s message on censorship feel as relevant today, as it every has. Having said all of this, I only gave to book 3 stars because of it’s ending. Yes, “the good guys win” but it’s such an melodramatic, over the top ending that it was a sour note to end the book on. Still, if you haven’t read the book, you should. It’s still going strong after half a century, and that speaks for itself.

And just as interesting as the novel itself, is the story behind it. Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 57 years ago, in the basement of the Powell UCLA library, while using a typewriter that required change to continue working. It started out as a short story in 1947, and after being declined for publications many times, it was first printed as a novella by a young enterprising man who was starting a magazine; that guy was Hugh Hefner.

A few quotes from the book;

• I sometimes think drivers don’t know what grass is, or flowers, because they never see them slowly. If you showed a driver a green blur, Oh yes! he’d say, that’s grass! A pink blur! That’s a rose garden! White blurs are houses. Brown blurs are cows. My uncle drove slowly on a highway once. He drove forty miles per hour and they jailed him for two days. Isn’t that funny, and sad, too?

• With school turning out more runners, jumpers, racers, tinkerers, grabbers, snatchers, fliers, and swimmers instead of examiners, critics, knowers, and imaginative creators, the word `intellectual,’ of course, became the swear word it deserved to be. You always dread the unfamiliar.
• Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular songs or the names of state capitals or how much corn Iowa grew last year. Cram them full of non-combustible data, chock them so damned full of ‘facts’ they feel stuffed, but absolutely ‘brilliant’ with information. Then they’ll feel they’re thinking, they’ll get a sense of motion without moving. And they’ll be happy, because facts of that sort don’t change. Don’t give them any slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy.

Este es uno de esos libros del cual siempre había oído hablar pero no había leído, así que finalmente le saque el tiempo. Esta novela corta sigue a un “bombero” llamado Guy Montag mientras comienza a cuestionar la sociedad en la que vive, y su énfasis en mantener a la gente tan ocupada que no hay tiempo para pensar, cuestionar, o disfrutar de cualquier cosa que no venga de un televisor. En muchos aspectos me recuerda a las otras novelas distópicas que leí en 10º grado, 1984, Un mundo feliz, y Rebelión en la granja.

Como bibliotecaria realmente aprecio el mensaje de Bradbury con respecto a los libros; que los libros pueden ayudarnos a pensar por nosotros mismos, enriquecen nuestras vidas, preservar nuestra historia y ayudar a trazar nuestro futuro. Y después de haber leído lo suficiente sobre lo que las potencias mundiales han hecho para controlar a la ciudadanía, el mensaje de la novela sobre la censura se sienten tan relevante hoy como siempre. Habiendo dicho todo esto sólo le doy 3 estrellas al libro por su final. Sí, “los buenos ganan” pero la historia termina en un melodrama tremendo, tanto así que me dejo con una mala imagen del libro. Sin embargo, si usted no ha leído el libro, debería hacerlo. Después de medio siglo el libro tiene tanta acogida hoy como al principio, y semejante legado habla por sí mismo.

Tan interesante como la novela en si, es la historia detrás de ella. Bradbury escribió Fahrenheit hace ya 57 años en el sótano de la biblioteca Powell en UCLA mientras usaba una máquina de escribir que requiera monedas para funcionar. La historia comenzó como una historia corta en 1947. Después de haber sido rechazada varias veces para publicación, al fin fue publicada por primera vez como una novela por un joven emprendedor que estaba empezando una revista, que tipo era Hugh Hefner.

Algunas frases del libro;

• A veces pienso que los conductores no saben qué es el pasto, ni las flores, porque nunca  las ven detenidamente. Si le muestra a un conductor una mancha verde dirá, ¡Oh sí! ¡Es pasto! ¡Un borrón de color rosa! ¡Eso es un jardín de rosas! Las manchas blancas son casas. Las manchas marrones son vacas. Mi tío condujo lentamente por una carretera una vez. Condujo a cuarenta millas por hora y lo encarcelaron por dos días. ¿No es gracioso, y triste también?

• Con las escuelas produciendo más corredores, saltadores, experimentadores, usurpadores, ladrones, volantes, y nadadores,  en vez de los examinadores, críticos, conocedores y creadores imaginativos, la palabra “intelectual,” por supuesto, se convirtió en la grosería que merece ser. Siempre se teme a lo desconocido.

• Dele a la gente concursos por ganar recordando la letra de las canciones más populares o los nombres de las capitales de los estados o cuánto maíz produjo Iowa el año pasado. Llénelos  de datos no combustibles, deles tantos  ”hechos” que se sienten de repletos, pero absolutamente “brillante” con la información. Entonces se sentirán que están pensando, van a tener una idea de movimiento sin moverse. Y serán felices, porque los hechos de esta naturaleza no cambian. No les des ninguna materia resbaladiza como la filosofía o la sociología con que atar los hechos. De esta forma se encuentra la melancolía.

View all my reviews >>

©2012 Bilingual Librarian. All Rights Reserved.

Share and Enjoy

Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury originally appeared on Bilingual Librarian on April 7, 2010.

Share and Enjoy

I found it appalling that Cook began by checking the book out, in effect removed it from the shelves. When a patron placed a hold on it, she checked to see who the patron was, and upon realizing it was a 11 year old girl, she overrode the hold, thus preventing anyone from checking out the book. She still hasn’t returned it.

I’m quite tired of all these cries of  “we are protecting our children;” it’s simply not our job, nor our responsibility as librarians, and other library employees to decide what is appropriate or not for our patrons to read.  This type of censorship is all the more enraging when I know of so many cases where the public library has been a save heaven for children and young adults who wish to explore topics that might not have been easily embraced at home or with their peers. Just to bring up one example, I know several people whose explorations at the public library allowed them to gain the courage to come out the closet. The public library should encourage exploration of all kinds.

I don’t want to end this on such a sour note. Unfortunately there are plenty of nosy people trying to impose their views on others. I’d rather end this post on an uplifting note. Not that long ago StoryCorps release a story of Judge Olly Neal, who credits his open minded librarian for much of his success in life. He says that as a young man he did not feel comfortable reading because he thought his peers would make fun of him, yet one day he was in the library and saw a book that looked a little “risque” and wanted to read it. Not feeling he wanted to be “outed” as a reader, he took the book under his jacket, read it, and returned in a couple weeks later, only to find another book for him in the exact same spot. He took that book home as well and read it. This cycle when on for some time, and only years later did he learn that his librarian had seen him take that first book, and instead of chastising him for wanting to read “inappropriate books” she went out and looked for more books for him to read. It was his librarian who kept putting the books where he could find them, and encouraged him to continue reading. What a different attitude towards a user. This last librarian respected her patron, and helped enrich someone’s life.

Cheers to all the wonderful, open-minded librarians!

12.05.09 – This book has since been recataloged and placed in the adult section of the library.

Un amigo encontró este artículo y comenzó una conversación muy animada. El artículo explica la historia de dos mujeres (Sharon Cook, y Beth Boisvert) quienes trabajan en una biblioteca pública en el Condado de Jessamine, Kentucky, quiénes decidieron qué material era “apropiado” para los usuarios jóvenes, y llegaron hast al extremo de retirar un libro de la colección evitando que este pudiera circular. El libro en cuestión es “La Liga de los Hombres Extraordinarios, volumen IV: El Dossier Negro“, una novela gráfica que en el 2007 ganó el “Favorite Original Graphic Novel” Eagle Award, e incluye algunos desnudos que estas mujeres decidieron no era apropiados.

Me pareció terrible que Cook empezó por sacar el libro a su nombre, en efecto retirado de los estantes. Cuando un usuario lo pidió, Cook reviso los registros para ver quien había pedido el libro, y al darse cuenta de que era una niña de 11 años, ella hizo caso omiso al pedido, evitando así que alguien pudiese sacar el libro. Cook todavía no ha devuelto el libro.

Estoy muy cansado de todos estos gritos de “estamos protegiendo a nuestros niños,” sencillamente no es nuestro trabajo ni nuestra responsabilidad como bibliotecarios y otros empleados de la biblioteca decidir que es apropiado o no para nuestros usuarios. Este tipo de censura es aún más indignante cuando sé de tantos casos en que la biblioteca pública ha servido como un espacio seguro para niños y adultos jóvenes que desean explorar temas que habrían sido aceptados fácilmente en casa o con sus compañeros. Sólo para mencionar a un ejemplo, conozco a varias personas cuyas exploraciones en la biblioteca pública les permitió obtener el valor de salir closet. La biblioteca pública debe alentar la exploración de todo tipo.

No quiero terminar esto con una nota tan amarga. Desafortunadamente, hay mucha gente entrometida tratando de imponer sus puntos de vista sobre los demás. Prefiero terminar este post con una nota alentadora. No hace mucho StoryCorps publico una historia del Juez Olly Neal que da crédito a una bibliotecaria de mente abierta por gran parte de su éxito en la vida. Él dice que de joven no se sentía cómodo leyendo porque creía que sus compañeros se burlaban de él. Pero un día estaba en la biblioteca y vio un libro que parecía un poco “subidas de tono” y quiso leerlo. No queriendo que sus compañeros se burlaran de leer, por ser un “lector,” se llevo el libro debajo de su chaqueta, lo leyó, y lo regresó al par de semanas. A su regreso encontrar otro libro parecido, justo en el mismo lugar. Se llevo ese libro a casa, lo leyo, y lo regreso. Este ciclo continuo por algún tiempo, y sólo años más tarde se enteró de que su bibliotecaria lo había visto tomar ese primer libro, y en lugar de castigarlo por querer leer “libros inapropiado” salió y buscó más libros para que leyera. Era su bibliotecaria quien consegia los libros y los ponía donde el los pudiera encontrar, y asi lo animo a seguir leyendo. Que diferencia de actitud hacia un usuario. Esta bibliotecaria respeto su usuario, y ayudó a enriquecer su vida.

¡Saludos a todos los maravillosos bibliotecario que conservan y animan a tener una mente abierta!

12.05.09 – Este libro ha sido reclasificado y se ha incluido en la sección de adultos de la biblioteca.

©2012 Bilingual Librarian. All Rights Reserved.

Share and Enjoy

“Child protection or censorship”; I say it’s censorship originally appeared on Bilingual Librarian on November 14, 2009.

Share and Enjoy

You can click on each pin to get a brief description of the case.

View Book Bans and Challenges, 2007-2009 in a larger map

Mi amigo Lars acaba de encontrar un mapa que traza todos los retos contra los libros que tuvieron lugar en los EE.UU. entre 2007 y 2009. Información para crear le mapa fue tomada de las estadísticas recopiladas por la ALA y el Right to Read Project (Proyecto Derecho a Leer).

Puede hacer clic en cada pin para obtener una descripción breve del caso.

©2012 Bilingual Librarian. All Rights Reserved.

Share and Enjoy

Book Bans and Challenges, 2007-2009 originally appeared on Bilingual Librarian on August 27, 2009.

Share and Enjoy

Initially the term was disabled after complains from the development agency claiming that the database contained two articles which they believed did not meet the database’s standards (they were about abortion advocacy). A Popline manager explained at information could still be retrieved through “related” terms such as “fertility control, postconception” or “pregnancy, unwanted”, what they failed to point out is that these terms do not mean the same as “abortion”, and in any case, they are restricting information to the general public.

It’s amazing to me that such draconian measures were taken to appease an over zealous political position. There is no need to “throw the baby out with the bathwater.” Just because certain powerful people do not like a few articles in a database, is no reason to restrict everyone else’s access to them.

Loriene Roy, president of the American Library Association (ALA) best summed up the situation.

“Any federal policy or rule that requires or encourages information providers to block access to scientific information because of partisan or religious bias is censorship,” she said. “Such policies promote ideology over science and only serve to deny researchers, students and individuals on all sides of the issue access to accurate scientific information.”

You can read more about this case from an article form the NYT here, and Wired Magazine here.

©2012 Bilingual Librarian. All Rights Reserved.

Share and Enjoy

“Abortion” Taken Out of Publicly Funded Database originally appeared on Bilingual Librarian on April 5, 2008.

Share and Enjoy

The archives should contain information on military activities during the country’s civil which lasted over 30 years, between 1960 and 1996. It is estimated that at the time as many as 2000,000 civilians were killed and about 50,000 were disappeared. The archives should also shed light as to the location of unnamed graves. In 1999 the UN truth commission estimated that about 90% of these deaths could be attributed to the army and state.

The military establishment and former national leaders have not welcomed this announcement, although it is expected that the opening of these archives will go forth since is it mandated by a presidential decree.

You can read more about this from a BBC article here, and from a Voltairenet article here (in Spanish).

©2012 Bilingual Librarian. All Rights Reserved.

Share and Enjoy

Guatemala to Open War Archives originally appeared on Bilingual Librarian on March 14, 2008.

Share and Enjoy

Oddly, Mrs. Karkos did send a check to the library for the cost of replacing the book, but library personal explain that if she wanted the books removed from the shelf she needed to follow standard procedures. The Library has since returned her money, and has ordered additional copies to meet increased interest in this title.

Earlier this week there was a similar story reported in American Libraries told about a young girl in Brookwood, AL, who borrowed Sandpiper, by Ellen Wittinger, for a school assignment and now refuses to return it on grounds that it teaches students about sex, when school policy is to promote “abstinence-only.”

“Perfectly Normal” is no stranger to controversy. It was the ALA‘s most challenged book in 2005, toping a list that includes authors such as J.D. Salinger, Toni Morrison, and Judy Blume.

You can read the full article from Boston.com here, and the article from American Libraries, here.

01.05.08 – Initially Karkos tried to get the police to remove the book on grounds of obscenity, but the police refused to pursue the complains. In the end this case actually ended up going to court, where Karkos plead not guilty to civil charges that were subsequently filed against her. It was determined that the book does not violate city ordinance. You can read more about this at American Libraries.

Image info; Perfectly Normal, & Sandpiper.

©2012 Bilingual Librarian. All Rights Reserved.

Share and Enjoy

Refusing to Return Library Books originally appeared on Bilingual Librarian on September 20, 2007.

Share and Enjoy

A standard list of 150 titles for each from 20 religious groups, ranging from Baha’ism to Yoruba, has been established, with a promise of being expanded in October. Still religious experts who have seen the list are baffled about the choices on it, commenting that there are inclusions by C.S. Lewis, but none by theologians such as Reinhold Neibuhr, Karl Barth, and Cardinal Avery Dulles, nor Robert H. Schuller.

Then there is also the issue that regardless of who is on those lists, this is an affront to the First Amendment, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons was quoted in a NYT article arguing that a 2004 report by the Office of the Inspector General in the Justice Department recommended that books in prisons should be taken a closer look at after the events of September 11, 2001. This argument feels more like an excuse for further censuring, since material entering prisons all over the country is already highly controlled. Besides, it is interesting that a government that has been so vocal in promoting their personal religious beliefs as a way to become a better human being, is now removing the very tools that will aid this process.

I visited a medium security prison while taking a class on library services for under serve- populations, and got to see and learn first-hand how prison libraries function. While laws vary from state to state, it is standard procedure to evaluate the intellectual content of library material before adding it to the collection. Some states further restrict books depending on whether they are hardbound or paperback; none allow material containing violent or sexual material. The only material that is federally required to be housed in every prison library are legal books, short of this, your local prison library looks very much like your local public library; hardly a breeding ground for violence and chaos.

10.04.07 – After much outcry from civil libertarians and religious groups, the Federal Bureau of Prisons has agreed to return to prison chapel libraries all the material that had been previously removed. You can read more about this new development from an article in American Libraries. Or from an article in the New York Times.

©2012 Bilingual Librarian. All Rights Reserved.

Share and Enjoy

Standardized Library Chapel Project originally appeared on Bilingual Librarian on September 16, 2007.

Share and Enjoy