Banned in the U.S.A.: A Reference Guide to Book Censorship in Schools and Public Libraries (New Directions in Information Management) [Hardcover]

Herbert N. Foerstel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1994 | ISBN-10: 0313285179 | ISBN-13: 978-0313285172

Foerstel analyzes eight major bookbanning incidents from 1976 through 1992, ranks the 50 most frequently challenged books in the 1990s and summarizes the challenges to them, traces First Amendment cases and precedents in bookbanning in schools and public libraries, and interviews frequently banned authors including Judy Blume, Robert Cormier, and Katherine Paterson.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Foerstal, author of Surveillance in the Stacks: The FBI's Library Awareness Program (Professional Reading, LJ 1/91) and head of the University of Maryland's Engineering and Physical Sciences Library, presents an informative survey of the history of book censorship in school and public libraries. He includes detailed analyses of eight significant cases from 1976 to 1992, relating the emotional as well as the legal bearing of the incidents. He also provides insightful interviews with Judy Blume, Daniel Cohen, Robert Cormier, Katherine Paterson, and Jan Slepian, authors whose works have been frequently censored. Foerstal examines 50 books most often banned in this decade; and his appendixes include short lists of challenged materials and authors from 1982 to 1992, compiled by the People for the American Way. A fourth appendix lists the states with the most challenges, and there is also a selected bibliography. This well-researched study provides a useful understanding of the concerns and impact of censorship issues on libraries and the communities they serve. For both professional reading and general reference collections. For an exploration of librarians' attitudes toward censorship, see also Frances Beck McDonald's Censorship and Intellectual Freedom: A Survey of School Librarians' Attitudes and Moral Reasoning , Professional Reading, LJ 1/93.--Ed.
- Eloise R. Hitchcock, Tennessee Technological Univ. Lib., Cookeville
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

HERBERT N. FOERSTEL is the muthor of Surveillance in the Stacks: The FBI's Library Awareness Program (Greenwood Press, 1991), which was a Choice Best Academic Book for 1991, and of Secret Science, Federal Control of American Science and Technology (Praeger, 1992).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Greenwood Pub Group (March 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0313285179
• ISBN-13: 978-0313285172
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,569,583 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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