In Memoriam: Judith Krug (1940-2009)

The writing world is full of heroes. There's Salman Rushdie, the author who dared to question the veracity of the Quran in his dazzling 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, resulting in a fatwa from Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini calling for Rushdie's death. A bounty was placed on his head, and there were two failed attempts on his life by would-be assassins who were later declared martyrs.

Then there's maverick publisher Barney Rosset, former owner of Grove Press, who in the early 1960s led a landmark legal battle for the right to publish the uncensored version of D.H. Lawrence's classic novel Lady Chatterley's Lover in the United States. Another landmark Supreme Court decision granted Rosset the right to publish Henry Miller's celebrated 1934 novel Tropic Of Cancer for the first time in the U.S.

This past week, the writing world lost a different kind of hero. Judith Krug was neither a writer nor a publisher. She was a librarian. She was also a passionate defender of the First Amendment - an activist dedicated to defeating attempts at censoring books in school libraries, public libraries, and bookstores in the United States. She fought for inclusion of all books, even those she personally found offensive.

In 1967, Ms. Krug was appointed director of the American Library Association's (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom. Two years later, she was appointed as Executive Director of the ALA's Freedom To Read Foundation. (FTRF) The FTRF's charter lists four purposes: promoting and protecting the freedom of speech and of the press, protecting the public's right of access to information and materials stored in the nation's libraries, safeguarding libraries' right to disseminate all materials contained in their collections, and supporting libraries and librarians in their defense of First Amendment rights by supplying them with legal counsel or the means to secure it.

Ms. Krug served as the FTRF's Executive Director for forty years. Her most noted accomplishment was the founding of the ALA's famous Banned Books Week campaign in 1982. Taking place every year during the last week of September, Banned Books Week celebrates books that have been challenged and / or banned outright from school libraries, public libraries, and bookstores due to the efforts of disgruntled individuals or pressure groups. The ALA offers kits and guidelines for building displays exhibiting banned books and educating people as to why the books should be kept publicly available.

Some of the challenged and / or banned books appearing on the ALA's Most Frequently Challenged List include J.D. Salinger's Catcher In The Rye, John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men, Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, and more recently, J.K. Rowling's series of Harry Potter novels. Many other titles have made the list as well. The most challenged or banned children's book of all time? Katherine Paterson's celebrated, beloved, and controversial 1977 novel, Bridge To Terabithia - one of my all-time favorite books.

Among Ms. Krug's most recent accomplishments were her post 9-11 support of laws protecting the confidentiality of library patrons' use records and her vigorous opposition to the Bush administration's attempt to cut federal funding to libraries who refused to install filters on their computers or use other methods to block objectionable web sites. She strongly opposed the idea that libraries should censor any of the materials they provide to patrons.

Judith Krug was indeed a hero of the writing world. Her life's work was defending not only our right to freedom of expression, but the right of libraries and bookstores to carry our works, and the right of our readers to read them. She will be sorely missed.