Library censorship in high schools of Delaware County : an honors thesis (HONRS 499)
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Abstract
Literary censorship and intellectual freedom are important issues within public school libraries. What is appropriate for our children to read is brought into question every day throughout America's schools. The Association for Indiana Media Educators regularly conducts empirical studies to understand the level of intellectual freedom in Indiana's school libraries. Two studies conducted in 1996 and 1997, Intellectual Freedom Survey in Indiana Schools were published by the Association for Indiana Media Educators' Intellectual Freedom Committee. My study examines school libraries in Delaware County in comparison to state-wide data. I interviewed three high school librarians in spring 2008 to find answers on library selection and censorship. My research has shown the library is still an arena for battling censorship and protecting intellectual freedom. Important to maintaining intellectual freedom, the need forqualified librarians increases as even in Delaware County a licensed librarian may be asked to provide services in more than one school at a time. I found that a fine line exists between censorship and selection that must be balanced by qualified librarians.