Everett T. Moore

Infobox Writer
name = Everett Thomson Moore


caption = Powell Library at UCLA
birthdate = birth date|1909|8|6|mf=y
birthplace = Highland Park, California
deathdate = death date and age|1988|1|5|1909|8|6|mf=y
deathdate = death date and age|1988|1|5|1909|8|6
deathplace = California
occupation = Librarian, writer, educator
nationality = American
notable work(s)= Freedom to Read Foundation activist

Everett Thomson Moore (1909-1988) was a Harvard educated librarian, active in the Freedom to Read Foundation which promoted intellectual freedom in libraries. He worked as an academic librarian at University of Illinois, University of California Berkeley and University of California Los Angeles eventually joining UCLA’s school of Library Service faculty in 1961.Obituary: The ALA Yearbook of Library and Information Services, v13, 1988. (p 238)] Moore is most famous for challenging California’s Attorney General on issues of censorship and intellectual freedom in libraries in the case of Moore vs. Younger. Moore, Everett T. (1950-1975). Everett T. Moore Papers (Collection 1256). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles. Retrieved 9/18/08 from http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt438nb23j]

Biography

Everett Thomson Moore (August 6, 1909 – January 5, 1988), was born in Highland Park, California. Moore graduated from Occidental College in Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Arts in 1931 and went on to earn his Master of Arts in English from Harvard in 1933. After teaching at the Webb School for several years Moore earned his Library Science certificate from UCLA in 1939. He then began working as a reference librarian at Berkeley and the University of Illinois until the United States involvement in World War II.
During World War II Moore served as a Major in the United States Army. Stationed in the Southwest Pacific he worked as an Education Officer under General MacArthur.

Censorship after WWII

After World War II censorship was often linked with patriotism. The McCarthy era and the Cold War had begun. [Hallinan, Vincent & Hallengren, Eric & Muscatine, Charles. (2006) McCarthy Era: Era of Political Conformity and Loyalty, ACLU. Retrieved 9/18/08 from http://www.trackedinamerica.org/timeline/mccarthy_era/intro/] Communist literature was heavily challenged as was literature on feminism, sex education, critiques of capitalism, and civil rights. [Jones, Derek. (2001) Censorship: A World Encyclopedia. L-K, v3. Chicago: LL Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, p 1421] Often books were categorized on whether the author had communist principles or leanings and then censored based on this.Moore, Everett T. (1964) Issues of Freedom in American Libraries. Chicago: American Library Association Bulletin Volumes 54-57. June 1960-June 1963 2001]
As the times changed so did the subjects of proposed censorship. Literature on the AIDS epidemic, traditional family values, environmental issues, parental authority, witchcraft, race and gender stereotypes as well as hate speech are often challenged today.

Issues of Freedom in American Libraries

In his book, "Issues of Freedom in American Libraries" (1964), he explores different circumstances of censorship in the United States. Moore notes the popularity in Russia of Ray Bradbury’s book, "Farenheit 451". This book often came under attack during the McCarthy era because it was believed to be a direct criticism of McCarthyism. This initially made the book quite popular in Russia with some 500,000 pirated copies being circulated. The government soon began censoring the book after they discovered it was actually a criticism of “tyranny over the mind at any time or place.”
col-beginMoore continued his research on these issues and continued to be closely involved with libraries on a local and national level including:
*President of California Library Association (1964)
*Member of the American Library Association Council (1962-1966)
*Chairman of the American Library Association Board (1966-1972)
*Editor of the Newsletter on the Intellectual Freedom (1960-1961)
*Vice President of the Freedom to Read Foundation (?-1974)
Moore understood that librarians would often be at the center of this debate and acknowledged the difficulty in differentiating between serious literature and what can fairly be described as obscene. He quotes Reverend Wright of Texas who stated that, “all America’s problems will be solved if he will be permitted to select the books that should be read.”
Some of the books he objected to included:
* George Orwell’s "Nineteen Eighty-Four"
* John Steinbeck’s "The Grapes of Wrath"
* Aldous Huxley’s "Brave New World"
Some psychiatrists, police officers and social workers have insisted on the link between “reading obscene literature” and “criminality.” It was often found that “serious mental disorders or psychological” problems were at the root of their behavior and these cases did not include “average adults.” Moore also includes quotes from Justice William O. Douglas’ pamphlet, "Freedom of the Mind".
Douglas questions why Communism is censored without even allowing the people to learn the principles of what it means. He further describes censorship as forcing, “the public to live up to the censor’s code of morality…” and that banning books, “…would treat all adults as sick and unable to withstand exposure to the world of ideas.”

Moore vs. Younger, 54 Cal. App. 3d 1122 (1976)

The case of Moore vs. Younger originated from a somewhat ambiguous law, the California’s Harmful Matter Statute. California Attorney General Evelle J. Younger “claimed that individual librarians could be prosecuted for giving juveniles access to questionable reading materials.” [Caiger, Anne & Cube, Caroline. (2006) Regent of the University of California, Files relating to intellectual freedom issues, 1960-1969. Retrieved 9/18/08 from http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt438nb23j&doc.view=entire_text&brand=oac] Moore, the plaintiff, challenged the Attorney General through legal action. Minnow, Mary. (2002) Features - Constitutional, Federal and State Legal Definitions of Child Pornography, Obscenity and "Harmful to Minors" of Interest to California Libraries. LLRX, Retrieved 9/18/2008, from http://www.llrx.com/features/obscenitylaws.htm] In February of 1976, one month after he retired from UCLA, Moore won his case. All librarians in California were found to be exempt from the Harmful Matter Statute by the California Court of Appeals.

“The court declares that it was the intention of the Legislature to provide librarians with exemption from application of the Harmful Matter Statute when acting in the discharge of their duties. The court declares alternatively that the availability and distribution of books at public and school libraries is necessarily always in furtherance of legitimate educational and scientific purposes . . . And accordingly, librarians are not subject to prosecution under the Harmful Matter Statute for distributing library materials to minors in the course and scope of their duties as librarians.”

Moore vs. Younger is still relevant today and was cited in 2001 in Kathleen R. vs. City of Livermore, 87 Cal. App. 4th 684 (Cal. App. 1st Dist. 2001). The case involved children and internet instruction. The library defended their position. “We cannot presume that such instruction would include lessons on finding obscenity or other harmful matter on the Internet…such lessons would not further the library's stated mission.”
Censorship is arguably unclear territory and some lawyers have noted that in the United States it may not be possible to uphold certain laws, “without doing violence to due process of law and to the free-press provisions of the Constitution.

Intellectual Freedom

Moore died on January 5, 1988. Fellow librarian at the University of Illinois, Beverly P. Lynch described Moore:

“The epitome of what we all strive to be as librarians: unassuming, yet exacting; intellectually demanding; precise in his work; both scholarly and humble…He respected every colleague, be they supervisor, peer, subordinate. He strove to make their work excellent through his own.”

Moore’s contribution to intellectual freedom is substantial. When he realized librarians were in danger of losing their full ability to “provide people with the information they request, not to judge the uses to which that information will be put” [LibraryTavern: A Librarian’s Duty. (2006) Retrieved 9/18/08 from http://librarytavern.blogspot.com/2006/02/librarians-duty.html] he took legal action to assure everyone had the opportunity to access “a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations.” [The Library of Congress: About the Library. (2008) Retrieved 9/18/08 from http://www.loc.gov/about/mission/]

Works by Everett T. Moore

* "Issues of Freedom in American Libraries". (1964) Chicago: American Library Association Bulletin Volumes 54-57, June 1960-June 1963.
* "Papers in civil action of Everett T. Moore ... et al. against Evelle J. Younger, Attorney General of the State of California " (1972)
* "In the United States District Court, Central District of California, J. Dollen, Anita Iceman, American Library Association, California Library Association, ... J. Younger, defendent: Brief for Plaintiffs" (1973)

*"A Rationale for Bookburners: A Further Word From Ray Bradbury," American Library Association Bulletin, May 1961, pp. 403-404 also In ALA Bulletin, Vol. 55, No. 5, May 1961. pp. 403-404.

Works about Everett T. Moore

* Harlan, Robert D. (1978) "The colonial printer: Two views : a paper read at a Clark Library Seminar on Intellectual Freedom, June 19, 1976, in honor of Everett T. Moore" (William Andrews Clark Memorial Library seminar papers)

Footnotes & References

External links

*"California Harmful Matter Statute" http://www.llrx.com/features/obscenitylaws.htm
* "Freedom to Read Foundation" http://www.ala.org/ala/ourassociation/othergroups/ftrf/freedomreadfoundation.cfm
* "UCLA Library" http://www2.library.ucla.edu/
* "Censored, Banned or Challenged Books" http://www.banned-books.com/bblista-i.html
* "Attorney General Evelle J Younger" http://ag.ca.gov/ag/history/26younger.php
* "USA Patriot Act" http://www.fincen.gov/statutes_regs/patriot/index.html
* "First Amendment" http://www.freedomforum.org/
* Penal Code Section 313-313.5 http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=pen&group=00001-01000&file=313-313.5
* "Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom" http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/oifprograms/ifpubs/nif/newsletterintellectual.cfm