Book Challenge in Wilmington

In late March, the Intellectual Freedom Committee shared with the Executive Board news of a book challenge in Wilmington. Parents of a first-grader were shocked by the content of a book their child brought home -- King & King, a “ . . . mischievous twist on the picking-the-princess motif . . . (in which) a bachelor prince finds something lacking with each princess . . . until the last candidate brings along her cute brother . . . (and) the prince discovers what’s been missing.”1 . The parents’ concern and complaint seemed to have escalated rapidly into an emotional and charged confrontation involving the local media. Barbara Hawley, librarian at Rachel Freeman Elementary in Wilmington, contacted ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom for assistance. OIF contacted the chair of the Intellectual Freedom Committee, who offered Ms. Hawley support.

By early the next week, Ms. Hawley had succeed in getting the issue back into a policy-driven book-challenge process. At my last contact she expected the family to return King and King to the library and the formal challenge process to begin. Following review, the book was shelved in the reference collection and designated as adult access only.

I was contacted by a couple of reporters for comments. To the best of my knowledge they did not see print. I was also asked to contribute an article to a local Wilmington-area weekly, The Tonic, to serve as half of a pro-vs.-con response to the final outcome. I do not know if it saw print, but have attached a copy of my submission.

Incidentally, this year Tricycle Press issued a sequel, King & King & Family, in which the newlywed kings adopt a child who stowed away on their return from an idyllic honeymoon.

NCLA Centennial-SELA Biennial Conference

The NCLA Intellectual Freedom Committee is co-sponsoring with the SELA Intellectual Freedom Committee two programs at this November’s conference. Our committee has taken primary responsibility for the program entitled “The USA Patriot Act Revisited” (2-3:15, Friday, 11/12) with the following description:

Following a brief review of the potential effects of the Patriot Act on the free access to information and of efforts to extend and modify the law, participants will closely examine the process of developing a responsive policy for a major university. Practicing attorneys representing an academic institution and a public agency with responsibility for libraries will react to the policy from the perspectives of “parent agencies.” Participants will be encouraged to interact with presenters throughout the program and will provide access to example policies from both public and academic libraries.

Anne Klinefelter, Associate Director of the Law Library at Chapel Hill, will present the process of policy development. The attorneys have not been identified.

The SELA committee is leading “Solving the Mysteries of Full-text Databases – Intellectual Freedom & Copyright Issues” (2:30-3:30, Wednesday, 11/10).

Respectfully submitted
Jim Kuhlman, 7/14/04

1. Sutton, Roger. Review of King and King by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland. Horn Book Magazine. 78 (July-August 2002), 445.

Report of the NCLA Intellectual Freedom Committee – Attachment A
July 16, 2004

“ Thoughts on a Little Book in a Small Library”

As a librarian I frequently have cause to consider freedom of speech, or, more broadly, freedom of expression. It is one of our nation’s core values and guaranteed to all by the First Amendment to our Constitution. Countless Americans have fought for its sake. Numberless fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers have died defending it.

Through times of deeper reflection I’ve come to the awareness that freedom of expression, no matter how aggressively protected, has no real meaning without a corollary freedom to hear, to read, and to inquire. And, ultimately, the freedom to agree or disagree.

Guaranteeing the unfettered freedom to hear, to read, and to inquire has long been a central mission of America’s libraries. This is a freedom for ALL without regard for wealth, social status, origin, background, views, or age. According to the American Library Association’s policy statement on the freedom to read, it is the right to explore “the widest diversity of views and expressions, including those that are unorthodox or unpopular with the majority.”

Few events in the real world comfortably or fully accommodate such ideals. All libraries should, therefore, have written policies clearly stating the scope and purpose of their collections. They should also have procedures that allow, even encourage, questioning the appropriateness of individual items. Those making the initial selection sometimes make mistakes. And each community will have its own, often-unique standards. From what I understand, the disagreement over the “appropriateness” of King and King for the young readers served by Rachel Freeman Elementary School library began in acrimony. Thanks, however, to the professionalism of librarian Barbara Hawley, the support of the school‘s administration, the cooperation of the Hartsell family, and the willingness for everyone to follow just such procedures, the community, the school, and the library seem to have come to an acceptable resolution.

As an information professional and an administrator, I applaud this success. As a dyed-in-the-wool advocate of freedom of expression and intellectual freedom for all, I lament the outcome. Personally, I believe that the Hartsells’ child has an inalienable human right to access information, including grappling with the perhaps startling appearance of homosexuality within the framework of a traditional fairy tale, even if a parent would deny that right. Even more emphatically, I believe that the decision prohibiting other students at Freeman Elementary from checking out King and King, with or without adult permission, is a travesty. They have both the fundamental right and perhaps the need to inquire into a version of the world that may more accurately represent their own home, that of a family member, or a neighbor. King & King should have been left as one little book in one small library, available to all who wish to inquire.

Jim Kuhlman
Chair, Intellectual Freedom Committee, North Carolina Library Association
University Librarian, UNC Asheville