Harvard Library Bans Silent Student Protesters, and More Library News
Here are a few of the big news stories making their way through Library Land.
Carrie Being Adapted For New Amazon Series
Look, I love Stephen King as much as the next Constant Reader, but even I think the number of King adaptations coming out is ridiculous. We don’t need a third adaptation of a classic Stephen King novel! We need more money given to filmmakers and storytellers who haven’t had the privilege of seeing their work being adapted three times over!
John Grisham Accused of Plagiarism
The New York Times and ProPublica have claimed that John Grisham’s new nonfiction book, Framed, “draws comprehensively and without appropriate attribution” from a two-part reporting series by criminal justice reporter Pamela Colloff in 2018. Grisham responded with a statement, saying, “’I read about them, via newspaper and magazine articles, books, legal briefs, court opinions, and documentaries. And I have fully acknowledged and credited all of my sources for each and every chapter in Framed. While the facts of any case are irrefutable and unchangeable regardless of form, the writing in Framed is my own. To claim otherwise is simply and patently untrue.’” But, as the article points out, there are examples in the book of Grisham’s own writing that bear a very strong resemblance to Colloff’s original reporting. We’ll see how Grisham and his publisher respond.
Harvard Library Temporarily Bans Silent Pro-Palestinian Student Protesters
After student protesters were banned from holding a silent study-in in support of Palestine at Harvard’s Widener library, a group of faculty staged their own silent study-in, which went about as well as one might expect. And then Martha Whitehead, the University Librarian, wrote an op-ed explaining the decision for the library to ban silent protests within its space: “If our library spaces become a space for protest and demonstration – quiet or otherwise, and no matter the message – they will be diverted from their vital role as places for learning and research.” Are we continuing to pretend that libraries are inherently neutral and apolitical institutions? Also, I wonder what Martha Whitehead’s thoughts are on, say, the silent read-in organized by the Tougaloo Nine in 1961 in response to racially segregated services. Would that also be considered a disruption to the vital role of the library and worthy of a ban?
