sr-120859-9c~ ~ J ` ~
r, ''
~\~~
0l7 25th Street -~•-
Santa I~:onica, California ---M.
iovember 23, 1959 _. -
d---
~~nn ~-
Iuw, _ '...._
The City Council ~~ ~~ p~
City of Santa •iotica ~~P, €31959
City Hall : ~I~ Ri D L.'I' S3~v
Santa iIonica California ~~'~~~~~ `1`~ `~'~
4'1T8 CL1~;HK}~ 0.~7~i6Jdf
Gentlemen; m'UB Y ~'
For the past 11 months, I have engaged in correspondence and conferences
frith your Library ioard, City Librarian and City Attorney regarding the
policies and practices used by the Santa ;Monica Public Library is select-
ing books for purchase. The specific occasion for mj concern in this
matter is the decision made by the Librarian not to select for acquisi-
tion the novel Lolita by Gladimir idabokov.
Piy purpose in bringing this matter before your bodyy* is to hig'nlight what
I believe to be a bad administrative practice whereby a single person,
the City Librarian, now exercises complete, final and unappealable dis-
cretion in selecting books to be purchased at the expense of all he tax-
payers of Santa P~ionica. As a resident and property ot~rner in Banta ,Ionica,
I believe this authority more properly lies z~rlth the Library Board orhich
you have appointed, in the Urords of the City Charter, to r'have charge
of the administration of the Santa I~ionica Public Library, and shall 'nave
power and be required to; (1) Puke and enforce such by-laws, 'rules and
regulations as may be necessary for the administration, government and
protection of the City Libraryt7.
Enclosed is a chronological statement shotiring the history of my corres-
pondence and conferences frith the Library Board, City Librarian and City
Attorney. As you will see, I have carefully exhausted all the adminis-
trative avenues to seek a solution to this problem. short of presenting
it to your body. This letter is therefore to request an appointment at
which I can appear before you in regular meeting to present what I be-
lieve to be a matter of important public concern in the administration
of library service in Santa P4onica.
Sincerely,
es.~
Solomon L. Pollack
cc; Library Board
cxizovoLOGY oy
Date
January 5, 1959
1'vent
ARID
Letter from S. Pollack to Dr. Dennen, Library Board,
asking for book selection criteria.
January 9, 1959 Letter from the City Librarian, i-iss Glaser, to S.
Pollack offering several reasons for not selecting
Peyton Place, and stating that Irolita zras not pur-
chased ~tbecause of its perversion, even though it
received high praise for its literary style.pP
January 14, 1959 Letter from S. Pollack to the City Librarian, asking
for information on the administrative procedures for
book selection.
iiarch 3, 1959 Telephone call to t'.~e City Librarian from S. Pollack
requesting answer to January 14 letter (above).
i4arch 5, 1959 Letter from the City Librarian to S. Pollack, sending
copy of the Book Selection Polic,°T, and stating that
the members of tine professional staff of the Santa
ionica Public Library do the book selectior_ for the
Library.
:March 9, 1959 Letter from S. Pollack to the Santa onica City Council
bringing to the City Councilps attention the chronology
of ever.'ts stated above, and soliciting their help in
this matter.
April 1, 1959 Letter from the City Attorney, P„obert G. Calkins, to
S. Pollack stating the above matter had been turned
over to him by the iayor for investigation and report.
April l~, 1954 Letter from the City Attorney to S. Pollack asking
S. Pollack to arrange appointment to discuss the
library situation.
April Discussion between S. Poi~ack and the City Attorney.
The City Attorney agreed to confer Vrlth the Library
Board.
Discussion between S. Pollack and the City Attorney.
The City Attorney stated the Library Board felt that
budget limitations were responsible for the Library~s
not getting Lolita. S. Pollack stated a letter to
this effect would satisfy him.
July, 1959 Since expected letter cLd not arrive, S. Pollack
called the City Attorney. He arranged a meeting
for the City Attorney, S. Pollack, and the City
Librarian.
-~-
August 5, 1959 Conference anong S. Pollack, ti:e City Attorney, and
the Cit~r Librarian. `Phe issue could r_ot be resolved --
S. Pollack felt that a book should not be banned from
the Fublic Library solely because of the Lib-rariangs
opinion as to any idea or ideas contained therein.
The City Librarian felt that the contents of Lolita
made it an unsuita'ole book for the Public Library.
1`he City Attorney advised S. Pollack to request a
hearing before the Library Board.
August 5, 1959 Letter from S• Pollack to the Library Board request-
, ing permission to appear before them to discuss the
decision of the Librarian not to place Lolita on its
shelves.
August ?~, 1959 Letter from the Library Board to S. Pollack stating
that my presentation to the Library Board vrould be
at 4:30 p.m. on September 14, 1959•
Septerioer 14, 1859 Presentation by S. Pollack to the Library Board ask-
ing that the Library Board review decisions of the
Library Staff. where a citizen had specifically re-
quested a book and the Librarian had decided not to
purchase it.
iiove,~nber 12, 1959 Letter from the Library Board to S. Pollack advising
him that the Board met on i~iovember 9. The Board ap-
proved a statement which states in part sa . • no
action be taken on his suggestion that t're Libral^y
Board participate in the selection of boors pur-
chased, because the Board does not take on any ad-
ministrative activities, being strictly a policy-
making body, assigning all administrative activities
to t'r~e Library Staff under the direction of the Chief
Librarian. . s7
. d® t3~U~~9 G#~ G2e~I~
~~>