Roberto Saviano’s books banned from libraries in Northern Italy
Photo by altemark
Italian journalist Loredana Lipperini writes on her very influential blog Lipperatura:
Let’s call her “Em”.
I have erased and replaced her name also in previous comments by her and by other readers.
“Em” works in a public library of the Province of Treviso, I will not tell in which town. I want to protect her identity, and also to thank her for her courage.
“Em” has told here, and then privately, a story regarding libraries, once again. The day after the Speranzon Case (on which you can find an important article [in Italian] by Massimo Carlotto on Carmilla, by the way), a breach is opening: many librarians are contacting me and writer Michela Murgia, in order to denounce explicit or underlying forms of censorship.
Some episodes are already well-known: for instance when, in October 2009, the mayor of Musile di Piave asked the library of his town get rid of “politically-oriented” newspapers, namely “La Repubblica” and “Il manifesto”.
Here [in Italian] you can read the official reply from AIB [TN the National Association of Librarians], which has also taken an official stance [in Italian] on the “Speranzon case”. Another episode of censorship dates to May 2009, when a library in Genoa was requested to block the public initiative “Due regine due re” [“Two queens two kings"].
Back to “Em”, now. We are in the immediate aftermath of the broadcasting of “Vieni Via Con Me” [TN a popular TV show on the national channel RAI 3, featuring Roberto Saviano]. One of the library supervisors, vaguely embarrassed, tells his librarians about the criticisms he received from the Mayor (a member of the Northern League). More or less in the same days, the local Councillor for Culture has also expressed his concern: he has noted that one of the librarians is cataloguing works by Marco Paolini [TN a popular left-wing actor in Italy] and, as “Em” refers, “he has explicitly asked to be informed in advance of our new acquisitions, in order to give us his indisputable and binding advice”. The supervisor suggests opting for a soft line: to remove the books from shelf, just “until the dust settles”.
“Em” then asks for a written order, which will never come. Christmas comes, a New Year begins. Now, Saviano’s books are formally registered in the library catalogue: yet they are materially missing from shelf. Nobody answers those who ask why.
“Em” says: “I decided to write because I had to share my sadness with someone”.
I really thank her for this, and I invite more librarians to write, and tell us more stories. When the stories proliferate, and when they become a collective heritage, they also gain strength.
An update from “Il Corriere Veneto”: The Regional Councillor for Education, Donazzan, declares that she will write a letter (with the formal support of Governor Zaia) to all the Headmasters of the Region of Veneto (and through them, to all teachers), asking not to let the works of the blacklisted authors circulate among the youth. To those who denounce her act as a censorship, she replies that hers is not an imposition, but a “political address”.
English translation by V., Italian reader of Lipperatura living abroad.
If you can read Italian, check out this post on my Italian blog.
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