University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

No Longer Safe: West Bend, Young Adult Literature, and Conservative Library Activism

Gaffney, Loretta M.

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/54903

Description

Title
No Longer Safe: West Bend, Young Adult Literature, and Conservative Library Activism
Author(s)
Gaffney, Loretta M.
Issue Date
2014
Keyword(s)
  • censorship
  • intellectual freedom
  • West Bend Community Memorial Library
Abstract
The West Bend library controversy of 2009 was part of a larger conservative movement critical of Young Adult (YA) literature and the American Library Association. Organizations such as Family Friendly Libraries and the American Family Association leveraged community and parental fears about teens’ reading to target public library policies supporting intellectual freedom for youth. Ginny Maziarka and her husband Jim participated in conservative library activism by drawing information and resources from other organizations and by serving as an inspiration to would-be library activists. Their critiques of YA literature and of ALA policies defending youth access propelled them into a community battle contesting the purpose and mission of the public library.
Publisher
Johns Hopkins University Press and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
ISSN
0024-2594
Type of Resource
text
Language
en
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/54903
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2014.0019
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2014 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Owning Collections

Library Trends 62 (4) Spring 2014: The West Bend Challenges PRIMARY
Library Trends 62 (4) Spring 2014: The West Bend Challenges: Open Access and Intellectual Freedom in the Twenty-First Century. Edited by: Joyce M. Latham and Barbara M. Jones