{"id":828,"date":"2014-09-25T20:23:20","date_gmt":"2014-09-26T03:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/galencharlton.com\/blog\/?p=828"},"modified":"2014-09-25T20:23:20","modified_gmt":"2014-09-26T03:23:20","slug":"banned-books-and-the-library-of-morpheus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/galencharlton.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/banned-books-and-the-library-of-morpheus\/","title":{"rendered":"Banned books and the library of Morpheus"},"content":{"rendered":"

A notion\u00a0that haunts me is found in Neil Gaiman’s\u00a0The Sandman<\/em>:\u00a0the library of the Dreaming, wherein can be found books that no earth-bound librarian can collect. \u00a0Books that caught existence only in the dreams \u2013 or passing thoughts \u2013 of their\u00a0authors. The Great American Novel. Every<\/em> Great American Novel, by all of the frustrated middle managers, farmers, and factory workers who had their heart attack too soon. Every Great Nepalese Novel. \u00a0The conclusion of the\u00a0Wheel of Time<\/em>, as written by Robert Jordan himself.<\/p>\n

That library has a section containing\u00a0every book whose physical embodiment was stolen. \u00a0All of the poems of Sappho. Every\u00a0Mayan and Olmec text \u2013 including the ones that, in the real world, did not survive the fires of the invaders.<\/p>\n

Books can be like cockroaches. Text thought long-lost can turn up unexpectedly, sometimes just by virtue of having been left lying around until someone things to take a closer look. It is not an impossible hope that one day, another Mayan codex may make its reappearance, thumbing its nose at the colonizers and censors who despised it and the culture and people it came from.<\/p>\n

Books are also fragile. Sometimes the censors do succeed in utterly destroying every last trace of a book. Always,\u00a0entropy threatens all. \u00a0Active measures against these threats are required; therefore, it is appropriate that librarians fight the suppression, banning, and challenges of books.<\/p>\n

Banned Books Week<\/a> is part of that fight, and is important that folks be aware of their freedom to read what they choose \u2013 and to be aware that it is a continual<\/em> struggle to protect that freedom. \u00a0Indeed, perhaps “Freedom to Read Week” better expresses the proper emphasis<\/a> on preserving intellectual freedom.<\/p>\n

But it’s not enough.<\/p>\n

I am also haunted by the books that are\u00a0not<\/em> to be found in the Library of the Dreaming \u2013 because not even the shadow of their genesis crossed the mind of those who could have written them.<\/p>\n

Because their authors\u00a0were shot for having the wrong skin color.<\/p>\n

Because their authors were cheated of an education.<\/p>\n

Because their authors were sued into submission for daring to challenge the status quo. \u00a0Even within the profession of librarianship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Because their authors made the decision to not pursue a profession in the certain knowledge that the people who dominated it would challenge their every step.<\/p>\n

Because their authors were convinced that nobody would care to listen to them.<\/p>\n

Librarianship as a profession must consider and protect both sides of intellectual freedom. Not just consumption \u2013 the freedom to read and explore \u2013 but also the freedom to write and speak.<\/p>\n

The best\u00a0way to ban a book is to ensure that it never gets written. Justice demands that we struggle against those who would not just ban books, but destroy the will of those who would write them.<\/p>\n

Share this:<\/h3>