A U of T student has lodged a formal complaint against Robarts Library after finding an inflammatory magazine on its shelves that he said was disguised as a legitimate academic source.
The magazine, titled Zionism is Racism, was published in 1975 by the Communist Party of Canada, and features a collection of UN resolutions, newspaper articles and historical pictures. On the shelf, however, it looked like any other scholarly text, bound in hardcover and bearing the title Zionism and Racism on its spine.
Daniel Roth stopped short of calling the magazine hate literature, but did say that he was “rudely surprised” and “offended” by the magazine. Roth said the fact that the binding, implying a discussion of Zionism and racism rather than a claim, was deceptive and “there to fool people.”
“It’s a particular party with a particular agenda that’s not backed up” instead of a scholarly book, he said.
In an email sent to various campus organizations, Roth charged that the credibility of the university was called into question by the fact that the material was placed in the Robarts stacks and intended to be a legitimate academic source. Following this incident, he questioned whether students can “trust that everything [at Robarts Library] is an academic resource.”
Roth, describing himself as a Progressive Zionist, a movement for which “peace and justice is a good slogan,” stressed that his complaint was not motivated by his political beliefs.
Rather than ask for the magazine to be removed from circulation, Roth asked that the binding be removed so that library patrons can appraise the magazine for what it is. He also asked for an apology from the library directed to all students.
In response to Roth’s complaint, Gabriela Bravo, the assistant director of Public Affairs for U of T libraries, said that the problem was the result of a typo-namely, the substitution of the word “and” for “is” in the title. It may have occurred either at the bindery as a simple mistake, or it may have been the result of confusion with other titles. Regardless, she said the error will be corrected.
The hardcover binding was put in place to protect the magazine, which otherwise “would just get destroyed,” according to Anne Dondertman, the assistant director of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, where the magazine can also be found.
Dondertman stressed that a large research library such as Robarts has a mandate to “provide access to all points of view.”
“[There are] tens of thousands of things somebody might find offensive,” she said. Bravo echoed that statement, adding that “we don’t censor or condone any of the materials we acquire.”
The magazine itself is part of the Mark Gayn Collection at the Fisher Library, dealing with significant historical events of the twentieth century. According to Dondertman, the magazine will be returned to the collection so that it can be viewed in the proper context.
The library administration also plans to write a formal response to Roth informing him of its course of action.
