scholarly journals Censorship in Israeli High School Libraries: Analysis of Complaints and Librarians' Reactions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moshe Yitzhaki ◽  
Yosef Sharabi
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Parental Involvement ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Book Selection ◽  
Sexual Permissiveness ◽  
Holocaust Denial ◽  
Jewish Religion

The study sought to determine the extent of censorship in high school libraries in Israel, using a questionnaire mailed to 442 schools and yielding 187 usable replies. Significant differences were found regarding both complaints about book content and librarians' response, between the religious sectors and the non-religious one, indicating a much lower rate in the latter. More complaints were received from teachers than principals, but the latter elicited a higher compliance, probably due to their special status in school. Very little parental involvement was reported, receiving the lowest compliance. Topics of the complaints ranked as follows: pornography, degrading the Jewish religion, hard violence, sexual permissiveness, missionizing, racism, drug use, holocaust denial and bizarre sects. Pornography and violence ranked high in all sectors, but sexual permissiveness and degrading Judaism ranked high among the two religious sectors but much lower in the nonreligious one. Few complaints about certain genres may result from preliminary censorship during book selection process, but in most cases it indicates less sensitivity in that sector concerning that genre.

scholarly journals Censorship in High School Libraries in Israel: An Analysis of School Sectorial Affiliation Effect

2021 ◽  
pp. 231-247
Author(s):  
Moshe Yitzhaki
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
External Pressure ◽  
School Principal ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Book Selection ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Right

Although school libraries have existed in Israel for several decades, some of them dating back to the 50's, the issue of censorship has not been studied. The objective of this full-blown study was to empirically assess the current state of censorship in a large sample of high school libraries in Israel, following an exploratory study. The sample comprised 98 high schools, from both the 'religious' and `nonreligious' sectors. The main research tool was a two-parts questionnaire, designed to be filled out during the researcher's visit to the library. Most librarians reported that some form of control, restriction or supervision was, always or very often, applied to books being added to the collection, usually by the head librarian, and/or the school principal. None of the libraries had any kind of written document, or even an unwritten statement specifying instructions or policy regarding book selection and acquisition. The librarians never mentioned any external pressure to censor the existing collection or books to be acquired, and clearly the censorship was strictly internal, initiated by the librarians themselves and other members of the school staff. In both sectors there was wide agreement on banning titles which included violence, hard pornography, racism and drugs, but there were considerable differences regarding 'soft' pornography, sexual permissiveness and books degrading the Jewish religion or its values, principles or commands. A comparison of four lists of specific titles against the catalogs showed that the non-religious sector libraries owned three times the percentage from the first list (explicit violence and sex), but only less than half the percentage from the fourth list ('Judaism'), compared to the religious sector. Interestingly, the religious group had lower percentages of both the `right-wing' and `left-wing' lists, due to its smaller collections, but had relatively more from the `right-wing' list than the `left-wing' one, while in the libraries of the non-religious sector the situation was reversed.

scholarly journals Censorship in High School Libraries in Israel: An Exploratory Field Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 265-276
Author(s):  
Moshe Yitzhaki
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
External Pressure ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Us ◽  
Empirical Field ◽  
Jewish Religion

The issue of censorship in school libraries has long concerned researchers and practitioners in the field and is well documented in literature. A literature survey reveals dozens of opinion articles as well as research papers reporting empirical field studies, especially in the US, which attempt to determine the extent and objects of censorship and its underlying factors. Although school libraries have existed in Israel for several decades, some of them dating back to the 50's, the issue of censorship has not been studied. The objective of the present exploratory study was to empirically assess the current state of censorship in a sample of high school libraries in the country. The sample comprised 25 high schools, from both the 'religious' and 'non-religious' sectors. The main research tool was a two-parts questionnaire, designed to be filled out during researchers visit to the library. Most librarians reported that some form of control, restriction or censorship was, always or very often, applied to books to be added to the collection, usually by the head librarian. No library had any kind of written document, or even some permanent unwritten statement specifying instructions or policy regarding book acquisition. None of the librarians mentioned any external pressure to censor the existing collection or books to be acquired, and it was dear that the only censorship was an internal one, initiated by the librarians themselves and other members of the school staff. In both sectors there was wide agreement on banning titles which included violence, hard pomography, racism and drugs, but there were considerable differences regarding 'soft' pornography, Holocaust denial, sexual pemissiveness and books degrading the Jewish religion or its values, principles or commands. A comparison of four lists of specific titles against the catalogs showed that the `non-religious' libraries owned three times the percentage from the first list (explicit violence and sex), but only half the percentage from the fourth list ('Judaism), compared to the 'religious' one. Interestingly, the religious group had lower percentages of both the 'rightist' and 'leftist' lists, due to its smaller collections, but relatively more from the 'rightist' list than the 'leftist' one.

Do primary school libraries affect teenagers’ attitudes towards leisure reading?

IFLA Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 034003522098335
Author(s):  
Pamela McKirdy
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Family Background ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
First Year ◽  
Noisy Environments ◽  
Primary School Students ◽  
School Students ◽  
Leisure Reading ◽  
Reading For Pleasure

This study explores how New Zealand primary school students’ experiences of school libraries affected their attitudes towards reading for pleasure once they entered secondary school. Two hundred and seventy-six students in their first year at high school completed a survey asking about their primary school libraries. The students were asked to self-identify as keen readers, occasional readers or non-readers. The results were analysed in a spreadsheet, considering variables such as attitude to reading, former school and family background. The students were mainly positive about their libraries, but were bothered by cramped and noisy environments and books they perceived as babyish. Students from schools with a librarian were more positive about reading for fun than those from schools where the library was not prioritised. Students from a family background where reading was encouraged were more likely to maintain a positive attitude to reading by the time they reached high school.

Tobacco and Other Drug Use among High School Students with Asthma

2006 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherry Everett Jones ◽  
Sarah Merkle ◽  
Lani Wheeler ◽  
David M. Mannino ◽  
Linda Crossett
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
School Students
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