The subtitle of the report states clearly that it focuses on Islamic
extremism not all types of extremism. Librarians cannot act as if they
exist in some kind of vacuum, and must be accountable for their selections.
They must be able to give a clear rationale for why they have spent public
money on materials that people may be concerned with. This is not new, as
librarians have been doing this since the dawn of the profession, but to
criticise other agencies for having an opinion on it is naive.
Of more concern to me, looking at the recent LISU Public Library Materials
Fund statistics for Tower Hamlets in terms of professional staff numbers, my
question is who is actually undertaking the selection of stock? The
estimate of 2 professional staff from a total of 142 cannot be correct,
surely?
I think Ian Snowley makes excellent points in the press release, but with
the twin obsessions of deprofessionalisation and supplier selection
currently in vogue how much longer will professional librarians be
responsible for developing the balanced collections we have come to expect.
Cheers
David
--------------------------------------------------------------
David McMenemy
Department of Computer and Information Sciences
University of Strathclyde
Glasgow, Scotland
--------------------------------------------------------------
-----Original Message-----
From: Library and Information Professionals
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mark Perkins lists
Sent: 09 September 2007 15:43
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Censorship and public library collections-"Extremist"
literature?
A very sensasionalist report, not surprising given the authors. It focuses
purely on Islam rather than extremism per se; it would be interesting to see
a report on public library stock regarding eg. the portrayal of UK history &
patriotism (often violently extremist).
Perhaps more importantly, it does not provide the response or explanations
of the Councils listed in the report, only links to the following;
Tower Hamlets (heavily criticised by the report):
"In a statement to Newsnight, a Tower Hamlets Council spokeswoman said: "The
Islamic book stock came from a narrow range of publishers, thereby not
reflecting the broad range of Islamic thought. We recognised we needed to
improve the balance of the Islamic literature in our libraries, which has
resulted in us buying extra books more widely representative of Islam. The
council said it would not remove the books by Abu Hamza and al-Faisal
because the writings themselves remain legal in Britain."
[Radical books in London libraries, By Richard Watson, Correspondent, BBC
Newsnight <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6980888.stm>]
Birmingham (criticised but dispite itself the report in effect indicates a
balanced collection):
"But a Birmingham City Council spokesman said: "Many of the writings
highlighted are historic and scholarly works. We do not stock any material
in any of our libraries that incites racial hatred. We have a balanced
selection of literature on Islam and other cultural beliefs." "
[Library chiefs hit back at islamic books claim, Sep 7 2007
<http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/mail/news/tm_headline=library-chiefs-hi
t-back-at-islamic-books-claim&method=full&objectid=19749249&siteid=50002-nam
e_page.html>]
The Councils Respond
http://www.socialcohesion.co.uk/blog/2007/09/the_councils_respond.html
Birmingham Council and Tower Hamlets are the only Councils listed so far
while "Among the reaction to the Centre's work in the press are major pieces
in the Telegraph, Sun and a lively column in the Daily Mail. In the
blogosphere the report has been picked up by numerous sites including Little
Green Footballs and Jihad Watch."
[Posted September 7, 2007 6:18 PM]
The Tower Hamlets Press release (not linked to by 'Social Cohesion):
Book Stocking
06/09/07, Press releases, Kate Taylor
http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/templates/news/detail.cfm?newsid=8064
Tower Hamlets Council would like to make its position on book stocking in
the libraries and Idea Stores clear following recent coverage on the BBC
current affairs programme Newsnight (5 September).
The programme highlighted that we currently stock a number of books on Islam
which do not represent mainstream views and said that our book collection
was imbalanced.
In fact, we constantly review content and over the past twelve months have
considerably widened our range of Islamic books to better reflect the broad
range of views within Islam.
To put this into context, of the 580 individual titles on books about Islam
currently stocked, 47 (six percent of the whole collection) are by the five
authors Newsnight has listed . Of our entire stock collection, books about
Islam account for considerably less than a quarter of one per cent.
So, whereas the Newsnight report was overall well balanced and reflected a
range of views, it did not reflect this reality.
The matters raised by the programme contribute to the wider debate on
freedom of information and censorship in the public library service, which
has been ongoing since the inception of public libraries.
We take advice from the Chartered Institute of Libraries and Information
Professionals (CILIP) on the matter of intellectual freedom, access to
information and censorship, which states that:
'Access should not be restricted on any grounds except that of the law. If
publicly available material has not incurred legal penalties then it should
not be excluded on moral, political, religious, racial or gender grounds, to
satisfy the demands of sectional interest. The legal basis of any
restriction on access should always be stated.'
Ends
[I could not find replies from the other councils mentioned (Waltham Forest,
Birmingham, Blackburn, Leicester, Ealing, Nottinghamshire) ]
Regarding the Centre For Social Cohesion <http://www.socialcohesion.co.uk/>,
it was established Civitas <http://www.civitas.org.uk/>. An indication of
their bias is shown by their 'membership' and publications:
Centre for Social Cohesion: Who we are
http://www.socialcohesion.co.uk/pubs/about.php
Director: Douglas Murray (recent book is the critically acclaimed
Neoconservatism: Why We Need It (SAU, UK: Encounter Books, US) favourably
reviewed by Christopher Hitchens)
Senior Research Fellow: David Conway (publications include A Farewell to
Marx; Classical Liberalism: The Unvanquished Ideal;)
Senior Research Fellow: James Brandon (writes for Janes' and Jamestown
Foundation)
Senior Research Fellow: Salam Hafiz (Arabic speaking journalist)
Advisory Council
Lord Carey of Clifton (former Archbishop of Canterbury)
Baroness Cox of Queensbury
Frank Field MP
David Goodhart (Editor of Prospect magazine)
Dr Neil Lochery (University College, London)
Dr Denis MacEoin (University of Newcastle upon Tyne)
Dr John Marks
The Rt Rev Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, The Lord Bishop of Rochester
Andrew Roberts
Professor Robert Rowthorn (University of Cambridge)
Centre for Social Cohesion advertised the following Civitias publications:
Poverty of Multiculturalism by Patrick West;
Our Island Story by HE Marshall;
Civitas also promotes the following publications:
A Nation of Immigrants? by David Conway;
We're (Nearly) All Victims Now! by David G. Green;
West, Islam and Islamism (Second Edition) by Caroline Cox and John Marks;
Anthony Browne argues in The Retreat of Reason;
---
Mark Perkins MLIS, MCLIP
www.markperkins.info
https://keyserver.pgp.com/
________________________________
From: Library and Information Professionals
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Diane Dewar
Sent: Friday, September 07, 2007 11:14 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: FW: Censorship and public library collections-"Extremist"
literature?
CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals
7 Ridgmount St, London WC1E 7AE.
Tel: 020 7255 0500
Text phone: 020 7255 0505
Fax: 020 7255 0501
Mailto:[log in to unmask]
News from CILIP
7 September 2007
Censorship and public library collections
"Extremist" Literature on library shelves?
The recent report of the Centre for Social Cohesion - Hate the State - has
raised again the issue of the nature of public library collections, this
time in regard to Islamic literature and the allegation that some public
library services are stocking "extremist" Islamic publications.
Commenting on the recent debate Ian Snowley, CILIP's President said, "I
applaud the responsible way this debate has been conducted and especially
the fact that there have been no calls for censorship. We support the
concerns that library services should have "balanced" collections
representing a range of viewpoints. It is a key role for professional
library staff to ensure that the stock of a library service meets the needs
of their local community and that a range of viewpoints is represented in
their collections".
CILIP believes that:
* Access to any book or information should not be restricted on any grounds
except the law. If publicly available material has not incurred legal
penalties then it should not be excluded on moral, political, religious,
racial or gender grounds, to satisfy the demands of sectional interest. The
legal basis of any restriction on access should always be stated. [The
full text of CILIP's statement on Intellectual Freedom, Access to Knowledge
and Censorship is attached]
* Collections should represent a wide range of perspectives and viewpoints
and that this is part of the responsibility of a public library service in
providing the "comprehensive and efficient library service for all persons
desiring to make the use thereof..." required by the Public Libraries and
Museums Act (1964).
"It is important that public libraries continue to be seen as impartial
sources of information and knowledge" concludes Ian "and that no creed,
philosophy or political viewpoint is seen to be favoured. This is an
important responsibility and one which CILIP members take very seriously".
Contact: Guy Daines, Director of Policy and Advocacy
Tel: 020 7255 0632
Notes to Editors
CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals is
the leading professional body for librarians, information specialists and
knowledge managers. It forms a community of around 36,000 people engaged in
library and information work, of whom around 21,000 are CILIP Members, and
15,000 are stakeholders including customers of CILIP Enterprises. CILIP
members work in all sectors: business and industry, science and technology,
further and higher education, schools, local and central government, the
health service, the voluntary sector, national and public libraries. Visit
www.cilip.org.uk for more information about CILIP.
Ian Snowley is CILIP's President for 2007. He is available to be interviewed
on this subject and may be contacted through the main CILIP contact (see
above) or emailed Mailto:[log in to unmask]
The Centre for Social Cohesion published its report on "Hate the State: How
British Libraries Encourage Islamic Extremism" on 5 September 2006 and it
was a major feature on BBC2's Newsnight that day. Further information on the
report can be found at: http://www.socialcohesion.co.uk/
The full text of CILIP's statement on Intellectual Freedom, Access to
Information and Censorship can be found at:
http://www.cilip.org.uk/professionalguidance/foi/intellfreedom.htm
- Ends -
|
