The St. Petersburg Times PolitiFacts.com has a GREAT and fact filled account of Palin's skirmish with her librarian, including the fact that Emmons (left, now Baker) was the president of the Alaska Library Association when the questions were asked.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/704/
Read it all, if you have time, but a few key excerpts:
The most definitive record for much of this issue comes from a Dec. 18, 1996, article in the Wasilla newspaper, the Frontiersman. In that story, Wasilla library director Mary Ellen Emmons (now Mary Ellen Baker) said that after Palin was elected mayor, she twice inquired about censoring library books.
“I’m not trying to suppress anyone’s views,” Emmons told the Frontiersman. “But I told her (Palin) clearly, I will fight anyone who tries to dictate what books can go on the library shelves.”
“This is different than a normal book-selection procedure or a book-challenge policy,” Emmons said. “She was asking me how I would deal with her saying a book can’t be in the library.”
Palin told the Frontiersman that she had no particular books or other material in mind when she posed the questions to Emmons.
In a written statement to the newspaper, Palin “said she was only trying to get acquainted with her staff” and that the question was “rhetorical.”
Also from the story:
“Emmons said Palin asked her on Oct. 28 if she would object to censorship, even if people were circling the library in protest about a book. ‘I told her it would definitely be a problem the ACLU would take on then,’ Emmons said.
“Asked who she thought might picket the library, Palin said Monday, ‘Had no one in mind ... again, the issue was discussed in the context of a professional question being asked in regards to library policy.’ ”
A message on her answering machine states: “I have nothing to add to reports from that time. I do not want to discuss the matter. Please respect my privacy.”
But the Frontiersman reporter [Paul Stuart] who wrote that article in 1996 now says Emmons told him Palin did mention three books that she wanted removed from the shelves.
“Mary Ellen told me that Palin asked her directly to remove these books from the shelves,” Stuart said. “She refused.”
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/704/
Read it all, if you have time, but a few key excerpts:
The most definitive record for much of this issue comes from a Dec. 18, 1996, article in the Wasilla newspaper, the Frontiersman. In that story, Wasilla library director Mary Ellen Emmons (now Mary Ellen Baker) said that after Palin was elected mayor, she twice inquired about censoring library books.
“I’m not trying to suppress anyone’s views,” Emmons told the Frontiersman. “But I told her (Palin) clearly, I will fight anyone who tries to dictate what books can go on the library shelves.”
“This is different than a normal book-selection procedure or a book-challenge policy,” Emmons said. “She was asking me how I would deal with her saying a book can’t be in the library.”
Palin told the Frontiersman that she had no particular books or other material in mind when she posed the questions to Emmons.
In a written statement to the newspaper, Palin “said she was only trying to get acquainted with her staff” and that the question was “rhetorical.”
Also from the story:
“Emmons said Palin asked her on Oct. 28 if she would object to censorship, even if people were circling the library in protest about a book. ‘I told her it would definitely be a problem the ACLU would take on then,’ Emmons said.
“Asked who she thought might picket the library, Palin said Monday, ‘Had no one in mind ... again, the issue was discussed in the context of a professional question being asked in regards to library policy.’ ”
A message on her answering machine states: “I have nothing to add to reports from that time. I do not want to discuss the matter. Please respect my privacy.”
But the Frontiersman reporter [Paul Stuart] who wrote that article in 1996 now says Emmons told him Palin did mention three books that she wanted removed from the shelves.
“Mary Ellen told me that Palin asked her directly to remove these books from the shelves,” Stuart said. “She refused.”
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