Massachusetts News

September 2--Why do the librarians believe that citizens are so unimportant–and that librarians will always win if they yell "Freedom of Speech?" 

You might consider a case that was decided by an activist federal judge in Boston in 1978.

The citizens of Chelsea had become upset about a poem in a book in the school library that contained explicit sexual language in four-letter words. The School Committee voted unanimously to remove the book from the library under its responsibility to oversee the curriculum of the Chelsea High School. They were then sued in U.S. District Court by the librarian, the Massachusetts Library Association, an English teacher and several others. A trial was held before Judge Joseph L. Tauro, which lasted for more than a week.

The judge decided, "Local authorities are, and must continue to be, the principal policy makers in the public schools....Clearly, a school committee can determine what books will go into a library and, indeed, if there will be a library at all...The Committee was under no obligation to purchase this book for the High School Library..."

Judge Tauro then held that even though the citizens and their elected officials had the power to decide which books would go into the library, they did not have the power to decide which books would be removed from the library. This means that if a Committee wants to pick the appropriate books for their school library, they can do so but they have to review the books before they are bought. If they wait until afterward, then the librarian and a federal judge will make the decision for the school.

And the decision that will be made by the judge will cost thousands of dollars in lawyer fees and months of time spent in preparation and trial of the case.

The practical result?

The librarian is in charge of what the students of the community will read. The citizens and their elected representatives have been replaced by a librarian and one person in a black robe–both of whom are employees of the citizens.

This court’s decision is undoubtedly the reason for the haughty attitude of the librarians at the Minuteman Network. 

It Gets Worse

The more facts you know about this court case, the more bizarre it becomes. The book was one of a collection of 1,000 books that was sold to the school at an "attractive cost" by Prentice Hall. They were purchased with a money-back guarantee that "any titles unsuitable for the high school could be exchanged." 

After she received it, the librarian looked at the book in question. She scanned the contents, but she did not read the poem that caused the controversy. If she had returned the book at that time, there would have been no controversy because no one would have known about it. It was only because she disagreed with the school board that this became a federal case.

The judge wrote, "The librarian felt that Male & Female would be useful for students taking adolescent literature and creative writing courses, particularly because it would give them an opportunity to see the variety of ways in which other students expressed themselves. She recognized the anthology’s two editors as highly regarded professionals, and the publisher, Avon Books, as having a good reputation in the area of young adult literature." 

The librarian and the judge may have been correct. This book may belong in every school library in the country. But who should make that decision? When you read the paragraph above, it is clear that the judge is making a pedagogical decision. This is not about Freedom of Speech. It’s obvious that the judge disagrees with the school board about what should be taught in the schools. He also believes that the members of the school board are "prudes" who do not want their children being taught about sex. He may be right about that, also, but that is none of his business. But he is going to have his way, no matter what the citizens of Chelsea want to teach their children. 

You can now understand why the librarians feel offended. They believe they have total power to run their libraries any way they want. And the citizens have no right to ask questions.

The name of the case is Right to Read Defense Committee of Chelsea v. School Committee of the City of Chelsea, C.A.0 77-2318-T. 
 

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