Editor:
On June 2, The Baltimore Sun published an article regarding the decision of the Director of Harford County Libraries to ban a popular book that she deemed inappropriate for Harford County's clientele; "degenerate works" we might say, a term used by Hitler in the 1940s when referring to publications and famous works of art that he deemed unacceptable, and which were therefore destroyed.
I am truly appalled that officials in our libraries can arbitrarily decide what books are acceptable for Harford County citizens. We are intelligent and responsible enough to decide this issue for ourselves.
I would hope that this decision does not reflect the philosophy of our county officials and is merely the small-mindedness and constipated views of one library official who has turned her job into a personal crusade.
What the mute citizens on this issue apparently haven't considered about the banning of books is the insidiousness of censorship. Where does it end? The decision to protect citizens from themselves in one small county in Maryland may appear harmless enough; at best it is an embarrassment for many of us who live in Harford County, but at its worst, it is a dangerous precedent to set. Defense attorney Gerry Spence explained it best: "We forget the lessons of history, that when the rights of those we do not agree with have been taken from them, we have lost our own rights as well, for the same rights serve both."
Sharon Gallagher
Havre de Grace
