# Mayor Palin tried to force her local Library to ban books she didn't like. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 3, 2008, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900 "2008-09-03T18:31:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900/1 "2008-09-03T18:31:09Z")
I think this deserves its own thread. Let’s see hpw the Palin apologists spin their way out of this one. [NYTimes](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/us/politics/03wasilla.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin) > [@](#): > > Shortly after becoming mayor, former city officials and Wasilla residents said, Ms. Palin approached the town librarian about the possibility of banning some books, though she never followed through and it was unclear which books or passages were in question. > > Ann Kilkenny, a Democrat who said she attended every City Council meeting in Ms. Palin’s first year in office, said Ms. Palin brought up the idea of banning some books at one meeting. “They were somehow morally or socially objectionable to her,” Ms. Kilkenny said. > > The librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, pledged to “resist all efforts at censorship,” Ms. Kilkenny recalled. Ms. Palin fired Ms. Emmons shortly after taking office but changed course after residents made a strong show of support. Ms. Emmons, who left her job and Wasilla a couple of years later, declined to comment for this article. > > In 1996, Ms. Palin suggested to the local paper, The Frontiersman, that the conversations about banning books were “rhetorical.” This is is pretty stark and indefensible. This, along with her desire to teach creationism in public schools, shows at least two examples of gross disrespect for the First Amendment. Shouldn’t a VP candidate be somebody who believes in free speech? I’d love to see an explanation for why it was ok for her to do this. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900/2 "2008-09-03T19:12:00Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I’d love to see an explanation for why it was ok for her to do this. I find this question sexist and offensive to women everywhere. /sarcasm ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900/3 "2008-09-03T19:17:30Z")
Until I know what materials she sought to ban, I have no idea if I support this or not. I don’t want my local library carrying “How to Form A Local NAMBLA Chapter.” If my local librarian sees fit to spend limited publib funds to get that book on the shelves, I’ll want to see him (or her) fired and the book removed. What books did then-Mayor Palin want banned? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900/4 "2008-09-03T20:30:45Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Until I know what materials she sought to ban, I have no idea if I support this or not. > > I don’t want my local library carrying “How to Form A Local NAMBLA Chapter.” If my local librarian sees fit to spend limited publib funds to get that book on the shelves, I’ll want to see him (or her) fired and the book removed. > > What books did then-Mayor Palin want banned? I actually e-mailed Ms. Kilkenny asking what books were to be banned. She responded: > [@](#): > > Thank you. > I don’t know which books. Censorship is censorship. It doesn’t really make any difference which books. They were all selected in accordance with standard purchasing guidelines for libraries, I’m sure. > Anne I think the important part here is the books are selected within some standard library guidelines. So I doubt any NAMBLA books would be on the shelves. That said I do not actually know what the library guidelines are but I feel safe in that assumption and assume a library, especially a small one, wouldn’t have much in the way of questionable material unless _The Catcher in the Rye_ or _The Grapes of Wrath_ offensive. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900/5 "2008-09-03T21:11:23Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I don’t want my local library carrying “How to Form A Local NAMBLA Chapter.” If my local librarian sees fit to spend limited publib funds to get that book on the shelves, I’ll want to see him (or her) fired and the book removed. Just out of curiosity, if someone were to donate that book to the library, how would you feel? ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900/6 "2008-09-03T21:17:00Z")
How odd, I cannot seem to find a book by that title. Perhaps **Bricker** will mention an actual, real live book that he would cotton tossing out of a library. One that meets existing library purchasing guidelines. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900/7 "2008-09-03T21:17:27Z")
It sounds like something that got mentioned in passing, once, but was never followed up on in any way. Doesn’t strike me as a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Booker\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/71c47a/32.png) [@Happy\_Booker\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Booker_1)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900/8 "2008-09-03T21:17:32Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Until I know what materials she sought to ban, I have no idea if I support this or not. > > I don’t want my local library carrying “How to Form A Local NAMBLA Chapter.” If my local librarian sees fit to spend limited publib funds to get that book on the shelves, I’ll want to see him (or her) fired and the book removed. > > What books did then-Mayor Palin want banned? There doesn’t seem to be a cite that addresses exactly what books she wanted removed from the collection. As someone who’s been in the library business for forty years, I can make an educated guess. Requests to pull books come in waves. Every year, the American Library Association compiles a list of the 10 books that have been challenged most often. Here’s the list for 2007, along with the reasons they were challenged: 1. “And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell Reasons: Anti-Ethnic, Sexism, Homosexuality, Anti-Family, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group 1. “The Chocolate War,” by Robert Cormier Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Violence 1. “Olive’s Ocean,” by Kevin Henkes Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language 1. “The Golden Compass,” by Philip Pullman Reason: Religious Viewpoint 1. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” by Mark Twain Reason: Racism 1. “The Color Purple,” by Alice Walker Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language 1. “TTYL,” by Lauren Myracle Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group 1. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” by Maya Angelou Reason: Sexually Explicit 1. “It’s Perfectly Normal,” by Robie Harris Reasons: Sex Education, Sexually Explicit 1. “The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group [http://blogs.ala.org/oif.php?cat=268](http://blogs.ala.org/oif.php?cat=268) Of course, she was mayor prior to 2007, so “And Tango Makes Three” about two male penguins who raise an orphan egg wouldn’t have been there. But people with her social values find a number of these books objectionable. I’m not concerned (on one level at least) that she might find them objectionable. I would be very concerned that she tried to use her political position to get them out of the library. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900/9 "2008-09-03T21:19:13Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I don’t want my local library carrying “How to Form A Local NAMBLA Chapter.” Considering even Amazon doesn’t carry that title, it seems unlikely…but couldn’t they stock it if they did have it, nestled on the shelf between \*NAMBLA: The Hidden Menace \* and _Perverts Behind Every Corner: A Parent’s Guide to Cloistering Your Kids_? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900/10 "2008-09-03T21:20:32Z")
I was pretty neutral about Palin at first. I was seriously considering voting for McCain up until the last few days (and I’m gonna be honest here, “seriously considering” still had me about 70/30 for Obama), but this lady keeps getting wackier and wackier. Banning books is very offensive to me. Teaching creationism as fact is very offensive to me. Outlawing abortions in cases of rape and incest is very offensive to me. I was worrying that I would be standing in the booth come November still trying to decide who to cast my vote for, but barring any new major turning points or revelations, I can relax now. I don’t want someone like this one grabber away from the presidency. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900/11 "2008-09-03T21:48:17Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > It sounds like something that got mentioned in passing, once, but was never followed up on in any way. > > Doesn’t strike me as a big deal. Did you miss the part about Palin firing the librarian, then rehiring her after a public outcry? ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900/12 "2008-09-03T21:53:05Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > It sounds like something that got mentioned in passing, once, but was never followed up on in any way. > > Doesn’t strike me as a big deal. I don’t know…I’m kind of with the OP on this onem. Well…maybe not WITH him, as he tends to go a tad hysterical..(KIDDING, Diogenes!). But I would be interested in knowing which books, and why. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900/13 "2008-09-03T21:55:29Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > It sounds like something that got mentioned in passing, once, but was never followed up on in any way. > > Doesn’t strike me as a big deal. She fired the librarian for not cooperating. That doesn’t count as following up? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900/14 "2008-09-03T21:59:09Z")
Salon has a more in-depth look at Palin’s abuses of power. > **[Salon Radio: Morton Halperin](https://www.salon.com/2008/08/13/halperin/)** > > How and why did one of the nation's most prominent civil libertarians go from vehemently opposing the FISA bill on June 9 to vocally supporting it on June 22? ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900/15 "2008-09-03T22:02:42Z")
The TIME article on the same subject states her objections were to books with offensive language. I think it’s a 1000x more likely she was going after something along the lines of _Lady Chatterley’s Lover_ than _Guidebook to Raping Babies_ or whatever spin is going on now. McCain definitively lost my moderate Republican parents with this pick (irrelevant since they live in MA). Picking a creationist fundamentalist doesn’t tend to go over well with two scientist Hindus. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900/16 "2008-09-03T22:10:23Z")
Banning any book, ANY BOOK- that goes for _Protocols/Elders of Zion_, _Turner Diaries_, _Anarchist Cookbook_, even something as despicable as a pro-NAMBLA book or something by Ann Coulter, is an offense against everything America stands for. (And this is Wasilla, AK for Raven’s sake, I can’t imagine it be a NAMBLA manifesto.) I have absolutely no problem whatever with making some books available for check-out only by adults, even with making some “in library use” only, but saying that they can’t be in the library at all? That is flat out Nazi shite. To me this is such a ‘crime’ that I’ll let Palin be innocent until proven guilty, but forget any other fact or allegation, _this_ is the one that needs to be investigated. I’m hoping it turns out not to be true. I’m also hoping that Ms. Emmons and anyone else in the know will be thoroughly “vetted” before the week is out to find out if this happened and if it did what were the circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900/17 "2008-09-03T22:20:02Z")
I was aghast at this too, the banning and the firing. Then I read that Palin backed down and I thought “Shoot, she doesn’t even have the courage of her convictions.” I might have respected her a little teensy bit if she’d stuck to her guns. She can’t win with me. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900/18 "2008-09-03T22:24:27Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I think this deserves its own thread. Let’s see hpw the Palin apologists spin their way out of this one. > > [NYTimes](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/us/politics/03wasilla.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin) > > This is is pretty stark and indefensible. This, along with her desire to teach creationism in public schools, shows at least two examples of gross disrespect for the First Amendment. Shouldn’t a VP candidate be somebody who believes in free speech? I’d love to see an explanation for why it was ok for her to do this. I’m not a Palin supporter (I’m not even an American!) but this is pretty thin stuff - the recollections of a political opponent, combined with the insinuation (but not, you will note, statement) that the librarian was fired for not complying. Sounds like making a mountain out of a molehill. It could be a sign of a real scandal, or it could be a nothing of a nothing. For me, far more unsettling are her _stated_ views on Creationism, than this sort of thing - every small town mayor in North America has dozens of “scandals” worse than this, if you listen to the locals. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900/19 "2008-09-03T23:18:57Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > I’m not a Palin supporter (I’m not even an American!) but this is pretty thin stuff - the recollections of a political opponent, combined with the insinuation (but not, you will note, statement) that the librarian was fired for not complying. The [Salon version](http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/09/03/halperin/)is far more damning. Excerpts: > [@](#): > > The first thing Palin did after being elected was fire six department heads in the City, including the Police Commissioner and the librarian. As The Anchorage Daily News put it: “the newly elected mayor of Wasilla has asked all of the city’s top managers to resign in order to test their loyalty to her administration.” It added: > > … > Palin said she planned to meet with [Police Chief Irl] Stambaugh and [librarian Mary Ellen] Emmons this afternoon. She also disputed whether they had actually been fired. “There’s been no meeting, no actual terminations,” she said. > > Stambaugh’s response was to read part of the letter given to him. > > "Although I appreciate your service as police chief, I’ve decided it’s time for a change. I do not feel I have your full support in my efforts to govern the city of Wasilla. Therefore I intend to terminate your employment. . . . " > > “If that’s not a letter of termination, I don’t know what is,” he said. From an article in Anchorage at the time: > [@](#): > > City librarian Mary Ellen Emmons will stay, but Police Chief Irl Stambaugh is on his own, Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin announced Friday. > > The decision came one day after letters signed by Palin were dropped on Stambaugh’s and Emmon’s desks, telling them their jobs were over as of Feb. 13. > > The mayor told them she appreciated their service but felt it was time for a change. “I do not feel I have your full support in my efforts to govern the city of Wasilla. Therefore I intend to terminate your employment …” the letter said. > > Palin said Friday she now feels Emmons supports her but does not feel the same about Stambaugh. > > As to what prompted the change, Palin said she now has Emmons’ assurance that she is behind her. She refused to give details about how Stambaugh has not supported her, saying only that “You know in your heart when someone is supportive of you.” ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900/20 "2008-09-03T23:31:19Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I don’t want my local library carrying “How to Form A Local NAMBLA Chapter.” If my local librarian sees fit to spend limited publib funds to get that book on the shelves, I’ll want to see him (or her) fired and the book removed. Reality-based, **Bricker**? You know perfectly well what types of books this type of person tries to ban. Anything with the word “damn”, anything with witches, and anything that depicts sexuality that is non-matrimonial, non-monogamous and/or non-heterosexual in less than a completely condemning style. Quit with the sophistry, please. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayor-palin-tried-to-force-her-local-library-to-ban-books-she-didnt-like/461900.md?page=2)