The Impartiality of Public Library Collection in Japan: A Sample Selection of Books about the Right to Collective Defense

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the degree that controversial books are fairly held by public libraries in Japan. The samples of this study are 91 books on the subject of “the right to collective defense”, that had caused controversy in 2014-15. We investigated the numbers of collection of each sample in 5,003 libraries. As a result, we found the number of the collection of titles against the right is almost same to those in support. However, the former numbers held slightly more than the latter. According to multiple regression analysis, the result is influenced by publisherʼs reputation, demand in the book market, book reviews, and disapproval of the right. A quarter of the libraries have only books against the right, though such libraries are often small in scale. The larger the collection of a library is, the more neutral it tends to be.