SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
EXPLORE +
  • About infoDOCKET
  • Academic Libraries on LJ
  • Research on LJ
  • News on LJ
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Libraries
    • Academic Libraries
    • Government Libraries
    • National Libraries
    • Public Libraries
  • Companies (Publishers/Vendors)
    • EBSCO
    • Elsevier
    • Ex Libris
    • Frontiers
    • Gale
    • PLOS
    • Scholastic
  • New Resources
    • Dashboards
    • Data Files
    • Digital Collections
    • Digital Preservation
    • Interactive Tools
    • Maps
    • Other
    • Podcasts
    • Productivity
  • New Research
    • Conference Presentations
    • Journal Articles
    • Lecture
    • New Issue
    • Reports
  • Topics
    • Archives & Special Collections
    • Associations & Organizations
    • Awards
    • Funding
    • Interviews
    • Jobs
    • Management & Leadership
    • News
    • Patrons & Users
    • Preservation
    • Profiles
    • Publishing
    • Roundup
    • Scholarly Communications
      • Open Access

May 29, 2012 by Gary Price

Full Text: PhD Dissertation: “Intellectual Freedom And The Politics Of Reading: Libraries As Sites Of Conservative Activism, 1990-2010”

May 29, 2012 by Gary Price

Title

Intellectual Freedom And The Politics Of Reading: Libraries As Sites Of Conservative Activism, 1990-2010

Author

Loretta Mary Gaffney

Source

Graduate School of Library and Information Science
University of Illinois, 2012

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Library and Information Science.

Abstract

During the 1990s and 2000s, conservative activists not only appropriated libraries as battlegrounds for causes like antigay activism, but also incorporated libraries and librarianship into the issue base of the pro family movement. A collection of loosely linked, well-organized grassroots campaigns around issues like opposition to abortion and gay marriage, the pro family movement was a resurgence of conservative activism in the late 20th and early 21st centuries that brought libraries into the culture wars crossfire. Pro family library challenges went beyond objections to particular materials in order to target library policies of open access, collection diversity, and patron privacy. Pro family activists also mounted an explicit critique of the American Library Association (ALA), opposing the ALA’s defenses of intellectual freedom for all ages and all types of media. These activists described their own struggle as a quest to wrest libraries away from the ALA and restore them to parental and taxpayer control.

This dissertation explores why libraries and librarianship became issues in the pro family movement. Written at the intersection of media studies and library history, it places library challenges within a social movement context, illustrating the symbiotic relationship between grassroots campaigns and national pro family groups. It analyzes the writings of individuals and organizations that identify as “pro family” and that target libraries and/or youth reading, discussing media aimed at actual and potential activists. It reveals that conservative library challenges are driven by competing worldviews of reading, information access, and the role of libraries in the community, and explicates how those worldviews inform pro family library activism. Neither librarians’ professional literature nor LIS scholarship has fully recognized how pro family library activism altered the political landscape of library challenges. This dissertation illustrates that the root quarrel in pro family challenges is not simply an argument about whether or not certain materials belong in libraries, but an argument about the purpose of the library and who shall have the right to determine it.

Direct to Full Text Dissertation (213 pages; PDF)

Filed under: Associations and Organizations, Libraries, News, Open Access

SHARE:

CensorshipDissertationIntellectual FreedomLoretta Mary GaffneyUniversity of Illinois

About Gary Price

Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Job Zone

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Infodocket Posts

ChatGPT One Year On: Who Is Using It, How And Why?; Elizabeth (Liz) Lorang Named Dean of University...

AI/GPT Ai Image Generator Stable Diffusion Perpetuates Racial and Gendered Stereotypes, Study Finds (via University of Washington) ChatGPT One Year On: Who Is Using It, How And Why? (via Nature) ...

IARLA Statement: "International Principles for Research Libraries on a Safe and Open Internet"

From the International Alliance of Research Library Associations (IARLA): Research libraries, along with their home institutions, provide access to the internet for students, faculty, researchers, and the broader communities we ...

Wisconsin: Bills Would Require Libraries to Notify Parents What Kids Check Out. Librarians Say That's Unnecessary; Edition Guide...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stable Diffusion XL Turbo Generates AI Images In Real-Time (via The Decoder) ChatGPT ChatGPT Can Reveal Personal Information From Real People, Google Researchers Show (via VICE) Coalition ...

Two New Reports With Data on Over 70 Publishing Markets Around the World Released Today by World Intellectual...

From an IPA Post: At the Guadalajara International Book Fair, two new reports have been published which provide data on over 70 publishing markets around the world: the Global Publishing ...

Just Released: An Updated Joint Statement on Research Data From STM, DataCite, and Crossref

From the Joint Statement: In 2012, DataCite and STM drafted an initial joint statement on the linkability and citability of research data. With nearly 10 million data citations tracked, thousands of repositories ...

DEAL Consortium and Wiley Sign New 5-Year Open Access Agreement; ResearchGate and American Association for the Advancement of...

American Library Association ALA Announces the 2024 Class of Emerging Leaders British Library British Library Hack: Customer Data Offered For Sale on Dark Web (via BBC) Canada Montreal Libraries Will ...

Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh City Clerk’s Office Launches City Archives Digital Collections Website

From the City of Pittsburgh: The Records Management Division of the Office of the City Clerk and City Council is pleased to announce the launch of a City Archives Digital ...

IFLA's AI SIG Releases: "Developing a Library Strategic Response to Artificial Intelligence" Working Document

From the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) AI Special Interest Group: The purpose of this working document is to set out considerations relevant for libraries developing a ...

scite Joins Research Solutions

From a scite Blog Post: We’re excited to enter a new phase of our journey at scite by coming together with Research Solutions. The motivation behind this decision was our desire ...

Authentic is the Merriam-Webster 2023 Word of the Year; Mendeley Shares "The Most Popular Citation Styles"; & More...

Association of Research Libraries ARL Annual Salary Survey 2022 Reports Data on Professional Positions in Member Libraries Citations Mendeley Shares “The Most Popular Citation Styles” DORA: Declaration on Research Assessment ...

Science: NOAA Unveils New Data Visualization Tool For Exploring Coral Reef Data

From a NOAA Release: NOAA’s National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) launched a new data visualization tool, which will provide free and easy-to-access information on the status of U.S. coral reefs. ...

Not Real News: An Associated Press Roundup of Untrue Stories Shared Widely on Social Media This Week

From the Associated Press: A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were ...

ADVERTISEMENT

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

Tweets by infoDOCKET

ADVERTISEMENT

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • Programs+
  • Design
  • Leadership
  • People
  • COVID-19
  • Advocacy
  • Opinion
  • INFOdocket
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Booklists
  • Prepub Alert
  • Book Pulse
  • Media
  • Readers' Advisory
  • Self-Published Books
  • Review Submissions
  • Review for LJ

Awards

  • Library of the Year
  • Librarian of the Year
  • Movers & Shakers 2022
  • Paralibrarian of the Year
  • Best Small Library
  • Marketer of the Year
  • All Awards Guidelines
  • Community Impact Prize

Resources

  • LJ Index/Star Libraries
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies

Events & PD

  • Online Courses
  • In-Person Events
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Submit Features/News
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Careers at MSI


© 2023 Library Journal. All rights reserved.


© 2022 Library Journal. All rights reserved.