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18th May 2008

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Clause 28 fears over stock

09.05.08 Benedicte Page

The Museums, Libraries & Archives Council's draft guidance on the management of controversial stock in libraries risks creating a situation that echoes the Clause 28 debacle, library professionals have warned. John Vincent, who heads the Network, an organisation devoted to tackling social exclusion in libraries, made the comparison to Clause 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, which forbade local authorities from intentionally promoting homosexuality.

"Our main concern is that the guidance will confuse things rather than help," Vincent said. "After Clause 28, there was all sorts of legal advice, and some people took it to mean they couldn't stock anything. Lots of libraries stopped stocking lesbian and gay newspapers, even though Clause 28 was never used to prosecute anyone. Our fear is that the same will happen and people will panic. We feel the wording [of the MLA guidance] is confusing. Libraries will be scared and decide to be very careful: 'We won't bother with anything to do with Islam and Muslims.' "

CILIP's response to the MLA guidance says that Clause 28 "resulted in a dramatic chilling on stock selection decisions about gay and lesbian literature in public libraries and schools. An unnecessary repetition of this as a result of the guidance and the legal advice MLA has so far received would be an undesirable outcome."

Naveed Aziz, ethnic minorities officer at Oldham Libraries, criticised the Centre for Social Cohesion's "Hate on the State" report, which first prompted the government to commission the MLA's draft guidance. "To me it carries no value whatsoever. They have said all scholars in Islam should be banned—no expert opinion was involved. We thought there was no need to draft this MLA document."

An MLA spokesperson rebutted the comparison with Clause 28 as "nonsense", saying: "Clause 28 was designed to discriminate against a particular lifestyle and is now discredited. This guidance is designed to help authorities avoid any risk of unlawfully inciting hatred or terrorist acts."

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