What's next - banned bookings week?
July 13, 2017 4:19 PM Subscribe
Most mefites are aware of the link between librarians and intellectual freedom through initiatives like Freedom to Read week and Banned Books week. This week a controversial request to hold a memorial for a lawyer who defended far right extremists at a branch of the Toronto Public Library has Canadian librarians
caught between obligations to their principles and obligations to their patrons.
can i use my freedom of speech to write fanfic of marcus gee and jordan peterson freeing each other's speech , so to speak ? ;0
posted by LeviQayin at 4:38 PM on July 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by LeviQayin at 4:38 PM on July 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
I was happy to see the library sought legal advice regarding whether they could legally cancel the event rather than acting unilaterally.
They did what they could.
posted by zarq at 6:01 PM on July 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
They did what they could.
posted by zarq at 6:01 PM on July 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
I wish they'd thought to invite Mr. Leipciger to speak about his experiences at the same time, but I would understand if he didn't want to be there.
posted by Etrigan at 6:38 PM on July 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Etrigan at 6:38 PM on July 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
Oof, as a librarian I have such feels for these poor folks up in Toronto for having to deal with this. I think they made the right choice, but I can see and respect the other side of the argument to not allow the event to occur. My library had a dude run a How To PickUp Women (fedora style) seminar. The blowback was bad enough that we had to make him change the publicity to make it real clear that it was an event at the free room for booking for community events, not a library-sponsored event.
Overall, I am baffled by the idea of holding a memorial service for anyone in a library. Like...what? Did every other possible place (funeral home, bar, restaurant, private home of a group member, community center, church, park, event space, theatre, coffee shop) turn them down?
posted by holyrood at 6:48 PM on July 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
Overall, I am baffled by the idea of holding a memorial service for anyone in a library. Like...what? Did every other possible place (funeral home, bar, restaurant, private home of a group member, community center, church, park, event space, theatre, coffee shop) turn them down?
posted by holyrood at 6:48 PM on July 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
We preserve our democratic society by making it available to people with a wide range of ideas and viewpoints including those which some consider unacceptable.
I'm sorry, but this is one of the most trite pieces of bullshit, which always gets trotted out when this sort of shit happens. And what's even more infuriating is that we've had the past two years demonstrating that, in fact, the opposite is true - that our democratic society is preserved when hate is pushed back against and not allowed a place in public, and that when we defer to hate out of some incredibly misguided notion of "intellectual freedom", that's how democracy dies.
posted by NoxAeternum at 7:11 PM on July 13, 2017 [11 favorites]
I'm sorry, but this is one of the most trite pieces of bullshit, which always gets trotted out when this sort of shit happens. And what's even more infuriating is that we've had the past two years demonstrating that, in fact, the opposite is true - that our democratic society is preserved when hate is pushed back against and not allowed a place in public, and that when we defer to hate out of some incredibly misguided notion of "intellectual freedom", that's how democracy dies.
posted by NoxAeternum at 7:11 PM on July 13, 2017 [11 favorites]
Overall, I am baffled by the idea of holding a memorial service for anyone in a library. Like...what? Did every other possible place (funeral home, bar, restaurant, private home of a group member, community center, church, park, event space, theatre, coffee shop) turn them down?
Barbara Kulaszka, the woman being memorialized, was a librarian.
posted by phoenixy at 7:19 PM on July 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
Barbara Kulaszka, the woman being memorialized, was a librarian.
posted by phoenixy at 7:19 PM on July 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
Overall, I am baffled by the idea of holding a memorial service for anyone in a library. Like...what? Did every other possible place (funeral home, bar, restaurant, private home of a group member, community center, church, park, event space, theatre, coffee shop) turn them down?
Libraries in Toronto are a very good source of space for small gatherings. They are inexpensive, air conditioned, provide chairs, spread out throughout the city, available for flexible time periods, don't require you to pay a catering minimum, clean, and have myriad other good qualities. Part of the library service mandate is to provide community accessible spaces, even for events which have nothing to do with books.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:19 PM on July 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
Libraries in Toronto are a very good source of space for small gatherings. They are inexpensive, air conditioned, provide chairs, spread out throughout the city, available for flexible time periods, don't require you to pay a catering minimum, clean, and have myriad other good qualities. Part of the library service mandate is to provide community accessible spaces, even for events which have nothing to do with books.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:19 PM on July 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
The Toronto Public Library published an update on the evening's events.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 4:03 AM on July 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 4:03 AM on July 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
That statement is full of the same trite bullshit:
To deny access on the basis of the views or opinions that individuals or groups hold contravenes the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the principles of intellectual freedom, both cornerstones of the library’s mission and values. Sometimes in defending freedom of speech, it’s very uncomfortable to be put in a situation where we are defending the rights of those whose viewpoints many consider to be offensive. However, it is at those times that we must be vigilant in protecting the rights of all.
And I was trying to figure out why such statements anger me, and it finally dawned on me this morning: it's the euphemistic dishonesty. Bigotry and hate always gets reframed as something "unacceptable", "offensive", or "unpopular" (that one's particularly pernicious, because it's often a flat out lie.)
No more euphemisms. If you think that tolerating bigotry, hate, and those who forward either is necessary for protecting free speech, have the intellectual integrity and honesty to make that argument, without the weasel words.
posted by NoxAeternum at 7:12 AM on July 14, 2017 [2 favorites]
To deny access on the basis of the views or opinions that individuals or groups hold contravenes the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the principles of intellectual freedom, both cornerstones of the library’s mission and values. Sometimes in defending freedom of speech, it’s very uncomfortable to be put in a situation where we are defending the rights of those whose viewpoints many consider to be offensive. However, it is at those times that we must be vigilant in protecting the rights of all.
And I was trying to figure out why such statements anger me, and it finally dawned on me this morning: it's the euphemistic dishonesty. Bigotry and hate always gets reframed as something "unacceptable", "offensive", or "unpopular" (that one's particularly pernicious, because it's often a flat out lie.)
No more euphemisms. If you think that tolerating bigotry, hate, and those who forward either is necessary for protecting free speech, have the intellectual integrity and honesty to make that argument, without the weasel words.
posted by NoxAeternum at 7:12 AM on July 14, 2017 [2 favorites]
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That happens all the time. No doubt the library policy has limits for room usage of some sort but basing that on some sort of purity test is not something you'd want to have to manage.
One time, several years ago, I found an article in the newspaper about my library. Seems that a local guy had been using our meeting rooms to plan a (failed) coup attempt in if I remember right Ghana. Was that the library's fault? No.
posted by graventy at 4:25 PM on July 13, 2017 [6 favorites]