TEACHER censorship

[Deborah Marie Collier <collie@TENET.EDU>]

  Fellow Librarians:
        Just today I had the following incident occur. Has this ever
happened to you & what, if anything, did you as a librarians do about it?
Maybe with your help I'll be better prepared next time.

        A first-grade teacher (has been here a number of years--10 or so)
brought her class in for checkout. After they chose their books, I began
to check them out. One little girl put "Scary Stories for Sleepovers" on
the counter. The teacher most emphatically told her to "Go put that back.
I don't want you checking out that book." I made some remark about was
the book too hard for her to read, & the teacher replied, "No, I don't
want them checking out those trashy books. There are plenty of "good"
books here for them to check out." Then she announced to the whole class
that if anyone had any more scary books to just put them back where they
came from, & find a "more appropriate" book. When I said, laughingly,
"Are you implying ALL my books arent' GOOD books?" --the teacher told me
she wanted her students checking out books she approved of & she didn't
certainly didn't approve of those types of books.
        This wouldn't have gotten under my skin so much if the VERY NEXT
BOY IN LINE hadn't had a "Power Rangers" book to read, & the teacher
smiled at him & his "good" choice! Well, if that's what the teacher
considers "good" literature"--I just don't know.
        I DO think the teachers should be available to "guide" their
students' book choices because they certainly are more familar with their
reading level than I am. And I have a number of 3rd & 4th grade teachers
who refuse to let the boys check out drawing books at all--since they're
not really "reading" books, they disrupt class by drawing, & they need to
have a reading book for DEAR time. But this was totally different in my
opinion--to tell an entire class (& there were probably 4 or 5 students
who had picked out books like "Scary Stories to Tell In The Dark", etc.)
they weren't allowed to read an entire sub-genre of fiction..... well, I
didn't know what to think.
        So what do my fellow collegues have to say about this? And what
would be your reaction if it was YOUR 1st grader who came home upset
because the teacher wouldn't allow her to check out a certain book? Just
wondering.....

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*   Debbie Collier          Orange Grove Elementary  *
*   Librarian &             Houston, Texas           *
*   "Resourceress"          COLLIE@TENET.EDU         *
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