Censorship by any other entity...

I was trying to find out some information on US Custom's Department policies regarding books coming in and out of the country...and instead I found this article by Sergo A. Mikoyan, entitled Studies in Intelligence | Eroding the Soviet "Culture of Secrecy".

The abstract explains the article pretty well:

The main purpose of this article is to examine the system that governed the flow of information to senior policymakers in the USSR. Fundamental cultural differences between the Soviet and Western worlds have impeded efforts by Westerners to fully understand this system. It is much easier for those who were born and educated in the Soviet Union, and have spent much of their lives there, to comprehend the main features that dominated the upward flow of information in that now-defunct nation.

So much of the article deals with libraries and books--here are some excerpts.

Access to Foreign Publications

The question of access to foreign literature—books, journals, and other writings—was a complex one during the Communist era. First of all, an applicant had to be able to read one or more foreign languages. Then he or she was required to obtain a pass to a spetskhran, a secured, restricted-access library room or section that carried foreign literature connected with politics, ideology, or news of the day.

In contrast, journals in non-political fields were open to everybody. Anyone could go to a library and read specialized magazines—Popular Mechanics was one notable example—that had been published in the West. Such publications were available elsewhere as well. Haute couture journals, for example, would be lying on tables in shops where dresses and suits were custom-tailored.

...

How Censorship Entities Really Worked

Pre-packaged lists seem to have been a central element in the modus operandi of the Glavlit and the Spetskhrans:

Glavlit: The censors in the Glavlit generally did not in fact read books, magazines, or newspapers very thoroughly—if they read them at all. Together with the Agitprop Department, the Glavlit simply maintained lists of foreign periodicals and book topics. The lists would determine whether a publication would be sent to a spetskhran.

Spetskhran: If a library housing a spetskhran was part of an academic institution, it had a list of scholars who were permitted to read the literature in that room. If a scholar was employed somewhere else, he had to bring a letter signed by his superior to the director of the institute to which the spetskhran belonged. The letter was supposed to specify exactly what topic the researcher planned to explore. But in reality, such rules did not mean much. Librarians generally restricted few if any researchers. There were two reasons for this:

* The librarians were not qualified to argue about what a researcher really needed.
* They did not care.

The main preoccupation of most of the librarians was to be sure not to let any book or magazine be carried out of the room. But the director of the Institute and his deputies—usually three or four people—were empowered to order that a particular book or books be brought to their offices. They could also take books and magazines home, and/or use them together with other researchers from their own or some other institute. This meant that more people interested in a topic could look at and use the publication. They could also make citations from a book, thus enabling other scholars to learn of its existence.

...

Constraint on Foreign Books: The Customs Hurdle

Books of fiction did not present any problems at Soviet Customs. But Customs officers could seize non-fiction political and economic books to have their content checked. The tourists would have to come back to Customs several days later to retrieve their books. The authorities, in the meantime, would determine whether any of the seized books or their authors were on any lists of forbidden publications. And they would decide whether the content of a suspect book was “undesirable.” I doubt that many tourists or others returning from abroad were inclined to take risks in their dealings with Soviet Customs.

And of course it goes on and on. I was interested to see the similar tactics and intent to what many well meaning censors in the US are currently trying in their local school and libraries. I'm not saying people who want to censor in the US are communists--what I am saying is that censors seem to use a lot of the same measures and logic, regardless of location.