Censorship or Selection

[Beth Pounds <pounds_b@popmail.firn.edu>]

We all need to remember several things: 1-none of us has enough money, room,
need, etc. to purchase everything published every year.  2-our collections
are designed to support the curriculum of our schools so we don't need to
purchase books which do not do this.  3-we do function in loco parentus to
some extent which can be different when you have widely differing needs
among you student body and/or great age differences.

Yes, selection can be considered censorship in a way, but most of us have
been trained to make sure that we cover all aspects of those things
supporting our curriculum so that our students can learn discernment and
critical thinking.  One of our charges is to make sure that our collection
reflects the curriculum without being biased.

I don't think we need to apologize for selecting materials we feel
appropriate and I don't think we should feel we are censoring-we are just
being good money managers by trying to get the most value for the bucks we
have available.

My personal and very humble opinion.

Beth Pounds, Librarian
Beasley Middle School
1100 South 18th Street
Palatka, FL  32177

pounds_b@popmail.firn.edu

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