Dear LM_Net,
Over a decade ago I had a Principal try to remove a book from the school
library. He was well intentioned, but he tried to remove the book without going
through the District's Challenge Policy (he even threatened me with
insubordination for not following his orders to remove the book). The District
upheld the right for students to read the book and severely reprimanded the
Principal for his actions.
Even if the book is not allowed on the shelves after an official review it is
very important that the District's policies are followed when a book is
challenged. A challenge is not an attack on the librarian, but is a legitimate
way for people to address their concerns about a book - even the principal's
concern. This principal should not be allowed to unilaterally decide what books
belong on the shelves - that action is dictatorial and undemocratic in our
society. If the Principal really believes the book shouldn't belong on the
shelf then they need to fill out a challenge on the book and let the process run
its course.
Also, by removing the book he is stealing public money from the District. This
is theft and they can be prosecuted in court if someone sued him on behalf of
the state (even though he is responsible for the school's budget).
Peter G. Mohn, LMS
Snohomish Freshman Campus
Snohomish, WA
pmohn@foxinternet.net
Earl Sande wrote:
> Most cases of questioned library books are well intentioned. Parents,
> teachers, administrators feel they have a responsibility to protect the
> children under their charge from items that inappropriate for the child's
> maturity/age level.
>
> While it is a real pain for the librarian, it can be used as a tool to
> educate the people involved and I'm happy to read that Katherine's school
> was wise enough to have a "censorship procedure" in place before the
> challenge came up.
>
> And it provides us with a quality time to examine and re-examine what kinds
> of materials are, indeed, appropriate to our particular clientelle.
>
> In most instances, however, approaching the challenge from the quantity of
> positive reviews point of view will, ultimately, doom you to failure.
>
> As a test, I asked a fundamentalist friend of mine to have a race for book
> reviews - any, of his choice. No matter what book he selected, we found
> very good reviews "for" and "against" it. (Remember that Quality reviews,
> as in Booklist, are to the public equally valid as those found in their
> home magazines or on air)
>
> Having review handy as proof of your intention to provide quality resources
> to your clientelle is, of course, impressive. But it will not overcome a
> challenge for serious reasons.
>
> The key is to approach the challenge positively - thank the individual for
> taking the time to point out materials that they thing might not be
> suitable. Take a cooperative approach - "let's YOU and I work on this
> problem and try to come to some resolution". And, I hate to write it but -
> realize that you might have to take a pragmatic approach and, despite the
> reviews, remove it from your collection.
>
> Why? Because school librarian's time is extremely valuable with tons of
> things to accomplish every minute of the day.
>
> Can you dedicate the amount of time that would be required to justify the
> challenged item? Especially, in my personal experience, that items is
> going to go "missing" in the first few days it is placed on the shelf anyway.
>
> Don't fear that one challenge will lead to a whole school of parents
> inundating you with further challenges, nor that your administrator will
> consider you too risky to have in his/her school librarian. Parents
> recognize the hard work that each school individual does for their children.
>
> Each Administrator should recognize that no one person can be perfect all
> the time. And if they do, perhaps you shouldn't continue working there.
>
> Earl Sande
> Semi-retired International School Librarian
> 10189 133 Street
> Surrey, BC
> V3T3Y8
>
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