Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Final Book Selection

I have chosen to write my final book review on Evelyn Geller's "Forbidden Books in American Public Libraries, 1876-1939." After reading next week's readings on censorship and librarianship, I realize that this book is probably old hat to seasoned veterans of SLIS. Yet, as a student new to the study of librarianship in general, I've found one of the most fascinating historical tensions we've studied so far is the question of "right" vs. "wrong" kinds of reading. I certainly never realized this was still such an issue in librarianship today. I'd like to read Geller's book because it seems to offer an in-depth look at censorship as a reaction to changing American politics, economics, and social norms in the late 19th and early 20th century. Though the readings for next week go into some detail, I'd like to look even more deeply into just what kinds of literature were considered dangerous, and why.

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