Take the Survey, Do Something Proactive

Dear Seattle friends, please take this neighborhood survey on library value. It has been crafted by the Friends of the Seattle Public Library.

Also, look here for ways that you can do something about the proposed reduction in branch operating hours at the Seattle Public Libraries for 2010. For more information on the proposed cuts, click here.

rant/ People who post uneducated slander as comments on the Stranger's Slog really annoy me. They obviously have no idea what they are talking about. Thank goodness there are plenty of people out there who do, so they can educate the others. The problem is, those making the stupid comments often don't listen. /rant

Thank you!

On a lighter note, I have really been enjoying the discussions that our Banned Books display are provoking. One gentleman was very upset that we had wrapped the Koran in string. We explained that it was a symbol for censorship and that the book was damaged or wouldn't have been used for the display. He seemed happy with that explanation. Another woman asked why anyone would want to ban The Color Purple. We had a lively discussion about people (in the "they" sense) wanting to protect others against racism and how if you take away all the books that talk about something "bad" it leaves the future open to repeating the past.

A Little Later...

I am happy to see that Amazon is working to get the issue with ranking fixed, although it seems like they are doing so on a book by book basis. I find this whole thing mildly amusing, more than seditious and scandalous. I like shopping at Amazon, and while that might not be popular with others, I plan to continue. This article from the New York Times mirrors my thoughts pretty well. I hope this never happens again, but I know that history has a way of repeating itself. I have always thought of Amazon as a fairly progressive and open minded company, and I am sure that what happened here was the result of one person's bigotry, or some coding gone wrong. Their biggest mistake, in my mind, was not answering concerns of authors and the internet community fast enough. I am also still looking for some real statement from Amazon about this "glitch."

Ok, I found one.

You'd think we were an evolved species

And then Amazon contributes to the censorship of literature:

I decided to take out the link, as such things don't need to be left up undefinitely, but you can still find it at Smart Bitches below.

Thanks to Smart Bitches, Trashy Books and SB Sarah for the movement.

Did you know that restricting access, ie. moving a book out of regular circulation or its usual collection, is a form of censorship? You deny access by making a book harder to find.

Update:

Upon getting El JoPe's first comment below, I decided to further look into this, and Amazon can't seem to decide what to say about it themselves. Earlier articles have an Amazon rep saying that it was done purposefully, while a newer article by the LA times claims it is a "glitch". Interesting. However, I don't feel it is a bad thing that so many are letting Amazon know how they feel about this issue. I shop there--even for my groceries lately--and I want to be able to feel good about it.

And that said, I guess I should include a link to the petition.

And here is an explanation by author Heather Corinna about why this hurts authors listing on Amazon:

It's not that the books are no longer listed. If you search for a book by title or author, you will still be able to find it.

Rather, it's that those of us with books that have been deranked no longer have our books in the bestselling book ranks, where they appeared before (and would still appear, as that is based on our sales) nor listing under the subject headings in lists for our subjects/genres.

So, unless someone is coming unto Amazon and looking for our book by title or author, they are unlikely to find it. That's a huge issue for authors -- especially those of us who are marginal in some way to begin with -- as often consumers browse those lists to find our books.