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Dear LM_Netters: As a SLMS very close to endorsement, and currently working in an urban public school under control of a Governance Board due to non-AYP for 6 years, I would appreciate your thoughts on the importance of the Classics in a middle school library. Our school has over 400 middle school students, and zero library budget. With last fall's donation of $36,000 by a local university, I purchased around 2,000 new books, and had another 2,000 existing titles worth keeping. Of the 4,000 books on our shelves, 800 are new fiction which I selected with great care. Only 1 of those 800 is a "classic": The Old Man and the Sea, which I kept as a pair to Philbrick's The Young Man and the Sea. A member of our 12-person Governance Board is concerned that we do not have "classic" fiction, such as the works of Twain and Cervantes. While I, too, love the classics, I fail to see how urban middle schoolers can appreciate dead-white-man's literature, particularly since we have so many talented and diverse writers of fiction today. The classics that make a difference for urban children of color, in my view, are the works of and about the Harlem Renaissance writers, poets, intellectuals. But that is not what the Governance Board means by the "Classics". I am not being directly challenged on my fiction choices; nevertheless, I am deeply uneasy. Would you share your views on this issue on or offline? Dyanna L. Meekhof SLMS-to-be Burton Middle School Grand Rapids, MI meekhofd@grps.k12.mi.us _________________________________________________________________ News, entertainment and everything you care about at Live.com. Get it now! http://www.live.com/getstarted.aspx -------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. * LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://lm-net.info/ * LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html * LM_NET Wiki: http://lmnet.wikispaces.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------