International Association
of School Librarianship

IASL Research Abstracts: 168

Findings: Significant differences exist between religious and non-religious schools in Israel concerning censorship complaints about book content and librarians' response. Most complaints are about books containing pornography and violence. More complaints are received from teachers than from principals and very little from parents.

Abstract: This study examined the extent of censorship from teachers, principals and parents (sources of complaints) in high school libraries of religious and non-religious schools in Israel. Data were collected from 187 teacher librarians by questionnaire. Findings revealed book topics most highly rated as receiving complaints from three groups of sources, and differences among the source groups in frequency of complaints. The absence of censorship reports and public discussions in the media indicate that most problems are likely resolved within the school suggesting the support of the exercise of censorship in certain cases. See:

Yitzhaki, M. and Sharabi, Y. (2005). Censorship in Israeli high school libraries: Analysis of complaints and librarians' reactions. In S. Lee, P. Warning, D. Singh, E. Howe, L. Farmer and S. Hughes (Eds.) IASL Reports 2005: Information leadership in a culture of change. Erie, PA: International Association of School Librarianship.

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