READING AND MORALS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 913, 5 March 1930, Page 11

READING AND MORALS

SHOULD A LIBRARIAN ACT AS CENSOR? BOOKS PEOPLE DISLIKE Should a librarian be a censor? Should he tell the public what it is to read ? "These problems puzzle most librarians at some time,’’ said Mr. Ernest J. Bell, librarian of the Canterbury Public Library. Christchurch, in an address to the Libraries Conference this morning on "Librarians and Censorship.” From recent happenings in New Zealand it was plain that there wer* different and opposing points of view. Mr. Bell said. He felt personally that the librarian should not act as censor for adult readers. They should not g«» to the length of absolutely banning a. book which had been written by a good author and published by a firm of standing. If a book had been praised for its literary merit then it was surely worth a place on the shelves. The question would, of course, arise whether these, books should circulate freely or bo resstrictod so that they would not fall into the hands of immature readers. OFFENDING WORDS All librarians experienced instances of a reader returning a book and pointing out a sentence or a word which offended and demanding withdrawal of the book. Mr. Bell thought it advisable in such cases to secure other opinions before action was taken. He admitted that a "wrong’* book sometimes crept in, but on discovery it should bo quietly withdrawn. this being done only if the volume had no literary merit. Mr. Bell quoted examples in which publishers had rejected manuscripts on the ground that they were objectionable. The speaker thought that a censorship of manuscripts might be u, solution of the problem. Another difficulty was the literary- masterpiece, which to some readers had a suggestive tone. He considered it not wise to circulate such books freely, but they should be held for borrowing "on demand” only. As far as he could judge this type of book was not popular with the majority of library read-

Mr. Bell expressed the opinion that Remarque's famous war novel. "All Quiet on the Western Front,” was of interest to only 20 per cent, of members of the Christchurch Library-, yet this book was talked about more than any other publication. On this point he regarded it futile to act as censor and ban the book altogether, when it was on sale in every city bookshop. "If we are going to ban all the modern novels which are a psychological study then we must consider banning older writers, such as Fielding, Hardy and many others who produced tho problem novel of their period,” he commented. Forty years ago the novels of Corelli. Caine and Hardy were .banned from many English libraries. Marie Corelli had stated, however, that she took it as a great compliment that her book* should have been banned, as under that ruling it would also be necessary to ban Sterne, Swift, Byron and Shakespeare. T think that many folk who object to an incident in a novel on th»ground that it is immoral are not in tho,habit of reading anything els© but fiction," Mr. Bell observed. "What won Id these people «ay if they were t<* read some of the standard biographical and other works found on all library shelves? Such books usually go unchallenged.” BEAUTY AND UGLINESS Fiction certainly discussed sex moi« ‘now than in the past, but it should b%» remembered that sex had been studied with increasing interest during the las; few years. Many writers dealt with such matters artistically and without offence, but others were coarse unci ugly in their treatment. It was the latter type of book which needed circulating with care or not at all. The speaker doubted whether there really was a public for this class of publication. Most people wanted something interesting, sensational or sentimental. The story must be well written. “The youthful mind is not attracted by many of the modern novels which are termed questionable inasmuch as these are seldom exciting,” the librarian remarked. “Critics tell us that certain of these are masterpieces and that they are moral lessons, but it is doubtful whether such books are read in the manner intended " A library should furnish impartially material" dealing with every aspect of a question. Concluding, Mr. Bell dealt with the question of censorship by a Government department. This was regarded by many librarians as a failure, because it involved decisions bv those often least qualified to judg*. This was the position in Boston, where the police acted as censors of literature and of public morals. He thought that public censorship simply acted as an advertising medium whether for books, films or the drama.