Responses to censorship issues at Auckland Public Library 1920-1940

Abstract

This report examines how historical responses to censorship issues have influenced the development of contemporary intellectual freedom ideology through an analysis of censorship challenges and responses at Auckland Public Library during the years 1920-1940. Sociological theories related to the development of public libraries and to the development of librarianship as a profession are considered. The Remarque case of 1929 is identified as a pivotal moment in the development of contemporary intellectual freedom ideology among New Zealand librarians. Three key conclusions are made. Some librarians in New Zealand during the 1920s and 1930s saw censorship as part of their role. There was tension between a public expectation that entertaining fiction should be provided by the public library and the librarian's belief that the public library's primary purpose was education and cultural advancement. Although there was some opposition to librarians as censors, New Zealand librarianship had not yet advanced towards a definite understanding that the public library should be for all. This is evidence that New Zealand librarianship was developing in much the same way as its British and American counterparts, who at this time were also negotiating the librarian's role in selection and censorship issues.