One century of censure in public libraries

Locally isolated, subject to the pressure of the municipalities and of the readers, the librarian admits now he practices a censure more institutional than ideological. After an historical survey of the censure in public libraries over the XXth century, the author demonstrates that these practices have always been existing, even if the idea of " bad book " has changed, in its content and in its title. Political censures were in use, especially between the two wars ; now moral censures, codified by the law of 1949, are applying to the whole publications. Such practices are induced by the wrong ideas existing about reading ; they also stem from the way librarians (or their parent institution) assess their role.
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