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This nonsensical and fantastical complaint alleges, or at least appears to allege, that unidentified library workers, relatives of Plaintiff, and others colluded to add homosexuals as friends of Plaintiff on his Facebook page. Such unidentified persons also engaged in a fraudulent credit card scheme with Comcast Cable that somehow resulted in homosexual activity occurring within the apartment complex where Plaintiff resides. They also used witchcraft on Plaintiff and, as he described, "disappeared around me to wait and see what kinda activity me gone do."
By way of relief, the plaintiff requested that all internet service be removed from the public library in question. In finding that "such vague and conclusory allegations are insufficient to state a viable claim" the Magistrate Judge found the claim to be frivolous and recommended that the case be dismissed. On May 16 2016, District Judge Hall adopted this recommendation and dismissed the case (CV 116-008, S.D. Ga. May 16 2016)
As Fake Library Statistics, a truly accurate and most reliable statistical resource* states, "In the patron's defence at least 12.5% of librarians are witches."
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| A slide from the 2017 Library Law Salad presentation by Marti A Minor from Library Law Consultants discussing the case of West v Augusta Richmond County Public Library System. |
But what do those witchcraft doing librarians do when the books they need are being challenged?
Banned and challenged book lists are getting longer, and during the 20th century Australia was considered one of the harshest censors in the Western world. In 2010, 793 boxes of books that were considered to be obscene, blasphemous, or excessively violent were located deep underground of the National Archive of Australia in Sydney. This discovery became a 2015 exhibition at the National Archives of Australia. The Australian Geographic talks more about this discovery, and what led to the changes in approach to federal censorship. AustLit also provides a bibliographic dataset of around 500 titles that were prohibited imports under Australian customs law - Banned in Australia: Federal Book Censorship, 1900-1973. There are of course, still some categories of materials that fall into the category of prohibited imports under the Customs Act 1901 (Cth), but the items that are captured by this legislation are unlikely to raise the ire of librarians, witches or not.
In a 2020 post on The Wild Hunt - a pagan news and perspectives website - Manny Moreno discusses how pagan librarians are responding to the challenged books list.
Crystaline, a librarian and Witch in South Florida, works at keeping books available to everyone and ensuring that all members of the community she serves have access to materials they need. “Being a practicing Traditional Wiccan, I also try to suggest books for purchase that I know will benefit those seeking all Pagan paths,” she says. (Crystaline requested to use her Pagan name for this story.)
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Dana Alvara, a Witch and librarian from the Pacific Northwest, says that the numbers, titles, and concerns of challenged books differ by region and municipality, but she finds the nature of challenged books says something about our current national anxieties and conversations. “Certainly, banned books, in general, have something to say about the times we live in and what is going on in the national dialog,” she says. “More authors writing about LGBTQ+ experiences is a hopeful step towards acceptance, and it is something that is topical in our current political environment. Both the volume and the timeliness of these stories make them ripe for challenges.”
Nevertheless, librarians find ways to get accurate information in front of their patrons. “We will create displays, especially during Banned Book week; we will create Libguides (webpages of research material); we will create other paper resources (bookmarks),” says Norma, the librarian and Witch from Oklahoma. “All these are created and maintained so that patrons needing access to specific titles that their systems may have removed, have available options.”
Putting more frivolity into Plaintiff West's claim,
Norma added that she refrains from magickal work in her professional duties, but she said that her spiritual path and tradition inform her work as a librarian and demand she keeps openness to information at the forefront of her work. “By that, I mean that the ‘openness to ideas’ that Witchcraft has cultivated has helped me have openness to library service. I’m not sure that makes sense. But to me, it is hand in hand.”
The Wild Hunt article notes that the Harry Potter series returned to the challenged list in 2020 after a 15-year absence (clearly, the pandemic strengthened its effects?) and provides some statistics on where book challenges occur in the United States:
66% of challenges take place in public libraries serving their communities. Only 2% of challenges occur in academic libraries. 56% of the challenges involved books, 9% were related to artwork, and 8% involved films. A surprising 22% involved programs or meeting rooms.
While I've been offended by many a uncomfortable chair in a meeting room, I've yet to seek it to be banned. Perhaps this is a result of the majority of my librarian career being spent in law libraries? Perhaps public library meeting rooms in the United States are truly a spooktacular experience?
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| Imagine the mystery gunk that will come through the returns shoot in a magick collection. |
Of course it has. Many times. Don't know why I even questioned it. There was even a 1807 family edition published and in 2018, a Busselton private school considered banning the works.
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