Tables for Censorship: What Do School Library Specialists Really Know? A Consideration of Students’ Rights, the Law and Implications
| Table 1. Characteristics of Sample | ||
| Personal Characteristics | ||
| Gender | N | % |
| Female | 136 | 94 |
| Male | 9 | 6 |
| Education | N | % |
| Bachelor’s degree | 39 | 26 |
| Doctor’s degree | 3 | 2 |
| High school or less | 2 | >1 |
| Level of Library Certification | N | % |
| Learning Resources Certification | 83 | 56 |
| Endorsement Level Certification | 60 | 41 |
| Studying for Certification | 3 | 2 |
| Emergency Level Certification | 1 | >1 |
| School Characteristics | ||
| Configurations | N | % |
| ElementarySchool | 61 | 41 |
| High School | 32 | 21 |
| Middle School | 27 | 18 |
| Combination Schools | 16 | 11 |
| Junior High Schools | 9 | 6 |
| Other | 4 | 3 |
| School Sizes | N | % |
| 5001 to 1000 | 76 | 51 |
| 201 to 500 | 44 | 29 |
| 1001 and over | 29 | 19 |
| Up to 200 | 2 | 1 |
| Location of School | N | % |
| Suburban | 58 | 39 |
| Mostly Rural | 52 | 35 |
| Urban | 27 | 38 |
| Inner City | 11 | >7 |
| Table 2. Librarians’ Responses to Censorship Challenges | ||
| Censorship Experiences | ||
| N=150 | N | % |
| None at all | 81 | 54 |
| Some, but rare | 65 | 43 |
| Often | 4 | 3 |
| Table 3: Awareness of Selected Court Rulings | ||
| Cases and Response Categories 1. Never heard of it 2. Have some awareness of it 3. Have a general concept of it 4. Have a good solid understanding of it 5. I know and understand it well | ||
| Miller v. California (N=149) | N | % |
| 1 | 103 | 69 |
| 2 | 36 | 24 |
| 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 10 | 7 |
| 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Tinker v. Des Moines (N=149) | N | % |
| 1 | 89 | 60 |
| 2 | 37 | 25 |
| 3 | 20 | 13 |
| 4 | 2 | 7 |
| 5 | 1 | 7 |
| President Council v. Community Schools (N=149) | N | % |
| 1 | 127 | 85 |
| 2 | 37 | 25 |
| 3 | 20 | 13 |
| 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 5 | 1 | 7 |
| Right to Read v. Chelsea (N=149) | N | % |
| 1 | 111 | 75 |
| 2 | 31 | 21 |
| 3 | 7 | 5 |
| 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Table 4: Libarians’ Agreement with Island Trees v. Pico Ruling and Perception of Administrators’ Awareness of Pico | ||
| Librarians’ Agreement (N=147) | N | % |
| I generally agree | 61 | 42 |
| I am in agreement | 43 | 29 |
| I support these [rulings] completely | 28 | 19 |
| I have some problems with the legal interpretations | 12 | 8 |
| I do not agree with any of these [rulings] | 3 | 2 |
| Librarians’ Perception of Administrators’ Awareness (N=136) | N | % |
| Administrators have limited knowledge | 64 | 47 |
| Administrators are generally aware | 34 | 25 |
| Administrators have no knowledge | 31 | 23 |
| Administrators have good understanding | 7 | 5 |
|
Table 5: Librarians’ Feelings about Having to Explain Island Trees V. Pico to Administrators and Support from Administrators in Censorship Situation | ||
| Feelings about Having to Explain Pico | ||
| N=148 | N | % |
| I would not feel threatened for my professional credibility | 64 | 43 |
| I would feel that my professional credibility would be respected | 46 | 31 |
| I would feel somewhat threatened for my professional credibility | 22 | 15 |
| I feel my professional creditability would be enhanced | 15 | 10 |
| I would feel threatened for my professional credibility | 2 | 1 |
| Feelings of Support from Administrators | ||
| N=148 | N | % |
| Support | 58 | 39 |
| Limited support | 52 | 35 |
| Strong support | 18 | 12 |
| No support | 14 | 10 |
| Complete support | 6 | 4 |
| Table 6: Librarians’ Acceptance of Order to Remove Item(s) from Collections by School Boards | |||
| Librarians' Answers (N=148) | N | % | |
| Accept but explain legal consequences | 82 | 55 | |
| Accept with professional reservations | 35 | 24 | |
| Dispute the order and provide court evidence that order is in violation of law | 24 | 16 | |
| Accept the order | 7 | 5 | |
| Reject the order | 0 | 0 | |
| Table 7. Librarians' Preferred Sources of Outside Help in Event of Censorship Challenge | ||
| Parents (N=150) | N | % |
| Probably not | 71 | 47 |
| Yes | 37 | 25 |
| No | 15 | 10 |
| Most certainly | 9 | 14 |
| Definitely not | 9 | 13 |
| Texas Library Association (TLA) (N=150) | N | % |
| Most certainly | 77 | 51 |
| Yes | 65 | 43 |
| Probably not | 4 | 3 |
| No | 3 | 2 |
| Definitely not | 1 | <1 |
| American Library Association (ALA) (N=148) | N | % |
| Most certainly | 59 | 40 |
| Yes | 57 | 39 |
| Probably not | 20 | 14 |
| No | 8 | 5 |
| Definitely not | 4 | 2 |
| American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) (N=148) | N | % |
| Probably not | 66 | 45 |
| Yes | 43 | 29 |
| No | 15 | 10 |
| Most certainly | 14 | 10 |
| Definitely not | 10 | 6 |
| Personal counsel (N=134) | N | % |
| Probably not | 46 | 34 |
| Yes | 46 | 34 |
| Most certainly | 26 | 19 |
| No | 12 | 10 |
| Definitely not | 4 | 3 |
