Library and Information Science Commons^™

Transmitting Whiteness: Librarians, Children, And Race, 1900-1930s, Shane Hand

Master's Theses

In the wake of the public library movement in the southern United States during the early twentieth century, local librarians began providing library services for those whom they deemed to be their most valuable resources, children. Representatives of a new profession, children’s librarians campaigned for better tomorrows by collecting good books specifically for young readers while providing safe, comfortable spaces that encouraged an atmosphere of instructive entertainment.

Supplemental to the development of a unique children’s department, library administrators sought strong working relationships with the city’s various public schools. The public cooperative that developed between libraries and schools brought thousands of …

Faith And Literature: A Look At Book Censorship, Laura Cox

Honors Theses

For centuries, society has debated the issue of book censorship. Before Johannes Gutenberg introduced the printing press in 1455, the burning of hand-scribed books destroyed limited copies and guaranteed they would not be read. With the printing press, books could be produced in greater numbers; yet, printed speech was still a commodity that could be controlled. In 1517, Pope Leo X condemned Martin Luther's Ninety Five Theses, an early example of religious censorship of materials deemed dangerous or subversive. Political censorship quickly followed when Emperor Charles V issued the Edict ofWorms, containing a "Law ofPrinting" which banned the printing, copying, …