Should libraries remove any of the books written by Bill Cosby? I notice a flurry of discussion on this, and I'd like to add a legal framework to the discussion.
The only library book withdrawal / censorship to make it to the U.S. Supreme Court ended in a messy plurality. In Island Trees v. Pico, the question arose whether a school library could withdraw books based on criteria outside the viewpoint neutral regular considerations of age, condition, etc.
Although that court doesn't give much in the way of guidance (despite what I used to think) ... lower courts have parsed through and looked at this question: was the book withdrawn because of its viewpoint? If so, it has some high legal hurdles to overcome.
As to the libraries that are considering labeling or bookplating the Cosby books to show context, let me point to an Infopeople webinar I did on labeling (which oddly seems to show a picture of Susan Hildreth instead of me). I recommend labeling only if the labels are viewpoint neutral.
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