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[CCBC-Net] Library censorship
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From: Kathleen T. Horning <horning>
Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:06:27 -0500
Nancy, it's not our "rule" on CCBC-Net. It's a university policy handed down from our Board of Regents in a document called "Guidance on Political Campaign Activities at UW system Institutions." Since CCBC-Net is run from a University of Wisconsin server and sponsored by the UW's School of Education, it is, by definition, a "state resource," and those of us who facilitate the discussion are all UW employees.
I'll quote the relevant portion from the Sept 2, 2008, memo:
> I. Guidance for UW Employees
> 1. What is political campaign activity?
> Political campaign activity includes not only solicitation of campaign
> contributions, service in furtherance of candidates, political parties
> and political action committees, and advocating a particular position
> on a referendum, but also promoting action on issues which have become
> highly identified as dividing issues between the candidates. Further,
> comments regarding the specific actions, positions, or records of a
> particular candidate may be perceived as support or endorsement by the
> institution of a particular candidate or political party.
>
> There are other ?political? activities that might not fall within the
> scope of political campaign activities as discussed in this guidance.
> For example, advocating for governmental action or legislative change,
> at a local, state or federal level, may be political although not
> related to a political campaign. While this guidance does not cover
> those activities in detail, because of restrictions on state lobbying
> and personal use of state resources, individual employees should not
> use state work time or state resources to engage in political
> activities unless expressly designated with this responsibility on
> behalf of the institution.
>
> 2. As a university employee, are there restrictions on my political
> campaign activity?
> Yes. As a university employee, your political campaign activities are
> restricted by Regent policy and state law in three significant ways:
> (1) You may not engage in political campaign activities during your
> work time; (2) You may not use state resources to engage in political
> campaign activities at any time; and (3) You may not solicit
> contributions or services for a political purpose from other
> university employees while they are engaged in their official duties.
> State resources include resources such as
> o institutional letterhead and logos
> o office space and other facilities
> o office supplies
> o photocopiers
> o telephones or facsimile machines
> o electronic resources including email, websites, on-line discussion
> boards, cell phones, or other similar resources.
> As a private citizen, you are free to engage in political activities
> on your own time and with your own resources.
Of course, we can discuss issues of censorship and intellectual freedom on CCBC-Net. We just can't allow discussion about a particular current candidate for office and his or her record, no matter what the issue. Period.
This discussion seems to come up every four years, not just on this list but on other listservs sponsored by 501(c)3 organizations such as the American Library Association. And every four years, those of us employed by those institutions get the memo about political activity from our administration offices. We don't like being put in the role of "The Enforcer," any more than you like being told you can't say something. But it does come down to this: no comments, pro or con, about political candidates can be made on this list.
Happily, there are many other online forums for exchanges of ideas and information about the upcoming election, and there are many other topics we can talk about on CCBC-Net. This month, for example, we're discussing
"Parallel Perspectives in Fact and Fiction" for the rest of this week, and next week, we'll move on to a discussion of board books. Let's return please to the planned topic.
Thanks, KT
Kathleen T. Horning Director Cooperative Children's Book Center 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 N. Park St Madison, WI 53706
Phone: 608-263-3721 FAX: 608-262-4933
horning at education.wisc.edu http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Nancegar at aol.com wrote:
> Although I understand and appreciate the "rule" about keeping politics out of
> CCBC discussions, I agree wholeheartedly that incidents of library
> censorship, regardless of whether they're perpetrated by political candidates and
> officials or private citizens, are relevant to those of us who read and contribute
> to the CCBC listserv. I guess we've just found out how hard it sometimes is
> to separate the two--but given the several book-related professions
> represented by CCBC subscribers, I'd vote for allowing censorship discussions
> regardless of any political overtones. But perhaps in those cases in which there
> are such overtones, it would indeed be wise to avoid any appearance of
> campaigning overtly for or against any of the political figures involved. Given the
> fact that most (all? almost all?) of us are anti-censorship, our views pro or con
> those political figures are likely to be obvious anyway--but it would be too
> bad and I think a mistake to ignore discussing any censorship situation that
> had political overtones.
>
> I do think, though, that the Sara Palin situation is a more than usually
> questionable one given that she's actively running for office and since the
> censorship situation in which she was involved occurred some time ago. For that
> reason, it was perhaps a good idea that we were reminded of the "rule." Unless I
> missed it, though, I don't think that anyone participating in the discussion
> openly advocated voting one way or the other.
>
> Nancy Garden
>
>
> **************
> Psssst...Have you heard the news? There's a new
> fashion blog, plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com.
>
> (http://www.stylelist.com/trends?ncid=aolsty00050000000014)
> _______________________________________________
> CCBC-Net mailing list
> CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
> Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe...
> http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net
>
Received on Mon 08 Sep 2008 11:06:27 AM CDT
Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:06:27 -0500
Nancy, it's not our "rule" on CCBC-Net. It's a university policy handed down from our Board of Regents in a document called "Guidance on Political Campaign Activities at UW system Institutions." Since CCBC-Net is run from a University of Wisconsin server and sponsored by the UW's School of Education, it is, by definition, a "state resource," and those of us who facilitate the discussion are all UW employees.
I'll quote the relevant portion from the Sept 2, 2008, memo:
> I. Guidance for UW Employees
> 1. What is political campaign activity?
> Political campaign activity includes not only solicitation of campaign
> contributions, service in furtherance of candidates, political parties
> and political action committees, and advocating a particular position
> on a referendum, but also promoting action on issues which have become
> highly identified as dividing issues between the candidates. Further,
> comments regarding the specific actions, positions, or records of a
> particular candidate may be perceived as support or endorsement by the
> institution of a particular candidate or political party.
>
> There are other ?political? activities that might not fall within the
> scope of political campaign activities as discussed in this guidance.
> For example, advocating for governmental action or legislative change,
> at a local, state or federal level, may be political although not
> related to a political campaign. While this guidance does not cover
> those activities in detail, because of restrictions on state lobbying
> and personal use of state resources, individual employees should not
> use state work time or state resources to engage in political
> activities unless expressly designated with this responsibility on
> behalf of the institution.
>
> 2. As a university employee, are there restrictions on my political
> campaign activity?
> Yes. As a university employee, your political campaign activities are
> restricted by Regent policy and state law in three significant ways:
> (1) You may not engage in political campaign activities during your
> work time; (2) You may not use state resources to engage in political
> campaign activities at any time; and (3) You may not solicit
> contributions or services for a political purpose from other
> university employees while they are engaged in their official duties.
> State resources include resources such as
> o institutional letterhead and logos
> o office space and other facilities
> o office supplies
> o photocopiers
> o telephones or facsimile machines
> o electronic resources including email, websites, on-line discussion
> boards, cell phones, or other similar resources.
> As a private citizen, you are free to engage in political activities
> on your own time and with your own resources.
Of course, we can discuss issues of censorship and intellectual freedom on CCBC-Net. We just can't allow discussion about a particular current candidate for office and his or her record, no matter what the issue. Period.
This discussion seems to come up every four years, not just on this list but on other listservs sponsored by 501(c)3 organizations such as the American Library Association. And every four years, those of us employed by those institutions get the memo about political activity from our administration offices. We don't like being put in the role of "The Enforcer," any more than you like being told you can't say something. But it does come down to this: no comments, pro or con, about political candidates can be made on this list.
Happily, there are many other online forums for exchanges of ideas and information about the upcoming election, and there are many other topics we can talk about on CCBC-Net. This month, for example, we're discussing
"Parallel Perspectives in Fact and Fiction" for the rest of this week, and next week, we'll move on to a discussion of board books. Let's return please to the planned topic.
Thanks, KT
Kathleen T. Horning Director Cooperative Children's Book Center 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 N. Park St Madison, WI 53706
Phone: 608-263-3721 FAX: 608-262-4933
horning at education.wisc.edu http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Nancegar at aol.com wrote:
> Although I understand and appreciate the "rule" about keeping politics out of
> CCBC discussions, I agree wholeheartedly that incidents of library
> censorship, regardless of whether they're perpetrated by political candidates and
> officials or private citizens, are relevant to those of us who read and contribute
> to the CCBC listserv. I guess we've just found out how hard it sometimes is
> to separate the two--but given the several book-related professions
> represented by CCBC subscribers, I'd vote for allowing censorship discussions
> regardless of any political overtones. But perhaps in those cases in which there
> are such overtones, it would indeed be wise to avoid any appearance of
> campaigning overtly for or against any of the political figures involved. Given the
> fact that most (all? almost all?) of us are anti-censorship, our views pro or con
> those political figures are likely to be obvious anyway--but it would be too
> bad and I think a mistake to ignore discussing any censorship situation that
> had political overtones.
>
> I do think, though, that the Sara Palin situation is a more than usually
> questionable one given that she's actively running for office and since the
> censorship situation in which she was involved occurred some time ago. For that
> reason, it was perhaps a good idea that we were reminded of the "rule." Unless I
> missed it, though, I don't think that anyone participating in the discussion
> openly advocated voting one way or the other.
>
> Nancy Garden
>
>
> **************
> Psssst...Have you heard the news? There's a new
> fashion blog, plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com.
>
> (http://www.stylelist.com/trends?ncid=aolsty00050000000014)
> _______________________________________________
> CCBC-Net mailing list
> CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
> Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe...
> http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net
>
Received on Mon 08 Sep 2008 11:06:27 AM CDT
