Toni Morrison: why books must not be censored

By Marjorie Kehe 6-5-09 The Christian Science Monitor

“You have to read, you have to know, you have to have access to knowledge,” said Toni Morrison, just weeks after one of her own novels, “Song of Solomon,” was banned from (and then reinstated to) a reading list at a Michigan high school.

Morrison was speaking at an event in New York to launch the National Coalition Against Censorship’s new initiative, the Free Speech Leadership Council. According to the Guardian, she spoke with gratitude of “the sacredness attached to reading in her own family.”

Censorship, she said, comes from fear of information and the idea that knowledge can be dangerous – which she traced back to Eve’s temptation in the Garden of Eden.

Morrison is also the editor of and a contributor to “Burn This Book,” a collection of essays on censorship.

“The thought that leads me to contemplate with dread the erasure of other voices, of unwritten novels, poems whispered or swallowed for fear of being overheard by the wrong people, outlawed languages flourishing underground, essayists’ questions challenging authority never being posed, unstaged plays, cancelled films – that thought is a nightmare,” she writes. “As though a whole universe is being described in invisible ink.”

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Resolution Honoring Judith F. Krug

Whereas Judith F. Krug was the public face of our profession’s every effort to preserve, protect and defend the First Amendment right to freedom of expression and the corollary right to receive ideas, information and images so essential to the functioning of a free and democratic society throughout her long and distinguished tenure as director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association since 1967 and as director of the Freedom to Read Foundation since 1969; and

Whereas Judith F. Krug also served as chair of the Board of Directors of the Center for Democracy and Technology, as chair of the Media Coalition, as vice-chair of the Internet Education Foundation, and as a member of the Advisory Board of GetNetWise, and also served on the Board of Directors of the Fund for Free Expression, the Board of Directors of the Illinois Division of the American Civil Liberties Union, as a member of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Public Understanding About the Law, and as a member of the Advisory Council of the Illinois State Justice Commission; and

Whereas Judith F. Krug’s efforts on behalf of librarianship and freedom of expression and the right to receive expression were recognized repeatedly throughout her career, including the Irita Van Doren Award from the American Booksellers Association, the Harry Kalvern Freedom of Expression Award from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Robert B. Downs Award from the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois, the Carl Sandburg Freedom to Read Award presented by the Friends of the Chicago Public Library, the Open Book Award and the President’s Award from the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union, the Intellectual Freedom Award of the Illinois Library Association, the Ohio Educational Library Media Association/SIRS Award for Intellectual Freedom, the Freedom to Read Foundation Roll of Honor Award, the Joseph W. Lippincott Award of the American Library Association, an honorary doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and, most recently, the William J. Brennan Jr. Award from the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Freedom of Expression; and

Whereas Judith F. Krug provided practical assistance and unstinting support to thousands of librarians, library workers and library trustees throughout the United States striving to fulfill their ethical obligation and public trust to preserve the complete record of human expression and to provide free and unbiased access for all to the full range of ideas, information and images; and

Whereas Judith F. Krug was an indefatigable champion of libraries and librarianship and a steadfast advocate for First Amendment rights for all people; and

Whereas Judith F. Krug was a trusted colleague and a cherished friend and mentor to so many in the library community and beyond who learned their principles and commitment from her example; therefore be it

Resolved: that [State Chapter] salutes the life and legacy of our champion, friend and mentor, Judith F. Krug; and be it further

Resolved: that the [State Chapter] extends its deepest sympathy to the family of Judith F. Krug on the loss of their beloved wife, mother, grandmother and sister; and be it further

Resolved: that the [State Chapter] bestows Honorary Membership in the [State Chapter] upon Judith F. Krug in gratitude and appreciation for her dedication and commitment to libraries, librarianship, and the First Amendment rights of all people.