Abstract:

The primary purpose of this talk is to better understand the worldviews of people who challenge books in public and school libraries through analysis of the discourse of censorship for common themes. A worldview is defined as an interpretive lens that provides individuals with a framework for comprehending day-to-day life events, a method for interpreting the symbolic, and a roadmap for action. Three sources are used for discourse analysis: recordings of public hearings convened by library or government officials concerning the removal or relocation of library collection materials, interviews with individuals who are or have been substantially involved in requests for removal or relocation of materials, and documents that are produced during the course of challenge cases. The study focuses on challengers' construction of the practice of reading and argues that challenge behaviors are rooted in assumptions regarding the "effects" of reading.

Bio:

Emily Knox entered the Ph.D. program in Library and Information Science at Rutgers University School of Communication and Information (SC&I) in the fall of 2008. She received a B.A. in Religious Studies from Smith College, an A.M. in Religious Studies from the Divinity School of The University of Chicago, and an M.S.L.I.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Emily was the Associate Director and Reference Librarian at the St. Mark's (now Keller) Library of the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in New York City for five years before returning to school.

Emily is the 2008 SC&I Diversity Fellow and the 2011-2012 Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries (CISSL) Barham Scholar. In 2011, Emily received the SC&I LIS Faculty Teaching Assistant Award. Emily served as the treasurer of the SC&I Doctoral Students Association for two years and is the current treasurer of the Rutgers University Graduate Student Association. Emily has also published a book on running a small interlibrary loan department, Document Delivery and Interlibrary Loan on a Shoestring, (Neal-Schuman) in 2010.