As a librarian, I was immediately concerned when I read news that vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin once tried to censor library books during her tenure as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. According to Time Magazine, Palin approached a local librarian, Mary Ellen Baker, and asked her how she would go about banning some books that voters found to contain inappropriate language (Read the entire article, Mary Palin: A Rough Record). In addition, a February 1, 1997 article in the Anchorage Daily News reports that Palin threatened to fire Mary Ellen Baker (listed in the article as Mary Ellen Emmons), saying ”I do not feel I have [her] full support in my efforts to govern the city of Wasilla.” This news arrived in a letter to both Mary Ellen Emmons, who served as Wasilla’s library director for seven years, and police chief Irl Stambaugh. Stambaugh was indeed fired, while Emmons was allowed to stay after further conversations with Palin.

This whole situation reminds me of the recent controversy in Oklahoma surrounding representative Sally Kern. In 2004, Kern supported withdrawing funding from public libraries that did not segregate children’s books  dealing with homosexuality (like King and King) from the rest of the collection (Read an article from the Oklahoman on this issue). Thankfully, this measure did not pass.

Why do so many politicians continue to try and push their way into public libraries and infringe on our customers’ freedom to read? To all librarians out there, I say stay strong. Politicians bring their own agendas, and the library should not bend to their will. If you need a quick pick-me-up, dig out that graduate school copy of the Library Bill of Rights and give it another read. Or check out a book that I recently picked up for The Big Read, Fahrenheit 451. And if all else fails, why not read the American Library Association’s advice on fighting censorship?

It is our responsibility as librarians to protect our customers’ freedom to read from the special interest groups and the overzealous politicians.