Martin, Mary Jane H.

English

The research study was directed to Iowa school librarians and sought information in the areas of censorship and selection. A questionnaire survey was submitted to 155 elementary and secondary school librarians in the Spring of 1975. 130 replies were returned and tabulated.
The results of the study show that fifty-one percent of the schools had a materials selection policy. Of the sixty-six schools reporting materials selection policies all but three had policies which included procedures to be used when complaints against materials were lodged. The same number of respondents felt such policies do allow the librarian to use his/her professional judgment when selecting materials for the media center.
Forty-eight objections to materials included in the media center had been received during the years 1973-1975 by the 130 librarians responding to this study.  Vulgar language  was given as the reason for the objection in fifty percent of cases and the parent was listed as the source of the objection fifty percent of the time. The respondents revealed that in fifty-nine percent of the cases the final disposition of the objection resulted in the student being denied direct access to the materials in question either through restricted circulation or removal of the item. The same librarians who had been involved in censorship incidents reported they had felt they had the support and cooperation of their faculty colleagues in ninety-three percent of the replies, but less support had been received from principals (seventy-four percent), superintendents (seventy percent) and school boards (sixty-seven percent).
126 respondents predicted future support during censorship incident would be high from faculty colleagues and principals (eighty-seven percent and eighty-three percent, respectively), but would expect less support from superintendents (fifty-five percent) and school boards (forty-four percent).
The librarians were asked to rank a list of organizations from which they would consider seeking advice and support during future censorship incidents, and the librarians indicated the Iowa State Education Association would be their first preference if they felt the need to contact an organization for additional assistance

University of Northern Iowa

Protection Against the Threat of Censorship: An Opinion Survey of School Librarians

https://scholarworks.uni.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4781&context=grp

Protection Against the Threat of Censorship: An Opinion Survey of School Librarians

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University of Northern Iowa