It is amazing how librarians and our work seem to surprise me constantly.
Today I received a call from an elementary school librarian who asked for my
suggestions concerning a good book for a 5th grade girl to read. The girl's
mother had approached the librarian and told her about her son ( a 16yr high
school boy in the same district) who had just "come out" to her. She wanted
to find some books with positive gay male characters suitable for a 5th
grader.
I knew of many YA titles and some elementary titles but nothing came to mind
for a 5th grader. It is the mother's hope that this would generate
conversation between her and the daughter and she could then discuss the
brother's gayness in a positive manner. How weird ( or not so weird - God
has a great sense of humor) that this should occur during this thread.
I called the Gay Alliance and found the mother had already contacted them
about her son joining the Youth Group. I gave the Alliance the librarian's
phone number and the youth coordinator is going to suggest some titles for
her.
Allan
Dr. Allan O'Grady Cuseo (Brother Donogh Allan, MGC)
Bishop Kearney High School Library
125 Kings Highway South
Rochester, New York 14617
585-342 -4000 x231
585-342- 4694 (FAX)
acuseo@bkhs.org
Education in the tradition of the Christian Brothers
FAC OMNIA BENE (Do all things well)
Bless the work.
Bless the day.
Come to aid us.
Angels stay!
Irish blessing
----- Original Message -----
From: "Marilyn Johnson" <mjohns@HOLBROOK.K12.AZ.US>
To: <LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2004 2:27 PM
Subject: Re: Please Vote
> And I, Shannon, truly appreciate your response, understanding, and =
> acceptance of differing opinions. After I read the comment concerning =
> laughter and the 1950s time warp, my cheeks burned and I felt =
> humiliated. I am very liberal and accepting, but my comments to the =
> person who posted that message were that I think we do make mistakes =
> sometimes in book selection by review and that we are responsible to =
> provide appropriate materials for our schools. I said I think elementary =
> children should not have to think about sexuality. The other comments =
> pointing out that it was not about sexuality but about acceptance =
> reminded me that that is absolutely true. I appreciate that reminder. I =
> still think, however, that I must do my best to reflect the values of my =
> community in my collection, that the libraries I direct are not my =
> libraries but belong to the people in my community. I would never =
> ridicule or allow students to ridicule the shortcomings, lifestyles, =
> choices, orientations or physical and emotional differences of other =
> people. I do, however, make choices in selection of materials based on =
> what is appropriate for age and emotional level and for our community =
> values. Sometimes I make mistakes. I do my best to represent all views, =
> have a balanced collection and to promote acceptance. I personally =
> believe that someone who asks for opinions then ridicules the ones who =
> are different from hers has an acceptance problem herself.=20
>
>
> Marilyn Johnson
> District Library/Media Services Coordinator
> Holbrook Unified School District #3
> Holbrook, Arizona
> mjohns@husd3.holbrook.k12.az.us
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Shannon Miller [mailto:blm98j@CHARTER.NET]=20
> Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2004 11:34 PM
> To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> Subject: Please Vote
>
>
> I've truly appreciated everyone sharing their opinions and providing =
> helpful information for those of us who have not yet experienced this =
> controversy. I know it's been difficult for some to share their opinions =
> for fear of being labeled as biased, old-fashioned, or worse, identified =
> as prejudiced. As I've been reading, I was reminded of my job as a =
> librarian to not make judgments on issues and to simply provide =
> information on either side. Man, is that hard sometimes! I feel that it =
> would be beneficial to present some viewpoints of the more conservative =
> side and offer a way to respond to it productively as an elementary =
> school librarian. It is far more important for us to understand their =
> perspectives before disregarding their opinions or preaching against =
> censorship. I have no doubt that these books will be on our elementary =
> school library shelves shortly, if they're not already, so I view my job =
> as finding a way to productively address the concerns of these parents =
> without making their values out to be petty.
>
> These days we believe in being totally tolerant of anything and if you =
> have concerns about something then you, in turn, are bashed (ironic, =
> isn't it?). Although it's not always true, people in the more =
> conservative category are often Christians or otherwise God-fearing =
> citizens. They feel that h0mosexuality is wrong in the eyes of God and =
> fear that if these types of books make it to the school bookshelf, then =
> their child will learn to believe that these relationships are the way =
> God intended them to be. They feel that the penalties of practicing =
> h0mosexuality, in the Bible, are equal to or even worse than death (A =
> few are: Gen. 19:4-5, Lev. 18:22, Lev. 20:13, Romans 1:18-27, I Cor. =
> 6:9-10, Jude 1:7, 1 Tim. 1:9-10). They hear about the "g*y gene" that's =
> recently being debated amongst doctors and wonder why it's any different =
> from all of the other genes that make humankind desire unhealthy things =
> (for example: alcoholism, obesity, violence, etc.). For in all other =
> gene-related situations, there are a number of successful methods in our =
> society to work against inherent urges. This group believes that we have =
> free will, that we can make our own decisions despite bodily urges, and =
> that no inherited gene forces us to do something that God calls sinful. =
> They even have thousands among them who now consider themselves =
> "recovered homosexuals". Hearing of these books entering their child's =
> library that promote g*y/l*sbian lifestyles strikes fear in their hearts =
> because their belief is that this act leads to death. In their minds, =
> having such a book in the library is just one step away from having this =
> side being taught as truth to their child in the classroom. So when =
> considering the library books available to their child, they are looking =
> for consistency. In the library we claim to believe in presenting all =
> sides of an issue, no matter who is offended, and that we provide equal =
> reading materials so that our patrons can get an even amount of =
> knowledge and perspective. However, it is doubtful that any school =
> library will be allowing the other side to this issue in their =
> libraries. It's simply not the same to have a story about a =
> heterosexual family and call that equal representation because it is not =
> at the heart of this issue. In other words, it's not homosexuality vs. =
> heterosexuality, obviously. But can you imagine having a book =
> specifically about homosexuality from the conservative "Christian =
> family" perspective on the elementary library shelves? So, these =
> parents have logical fears that only one side will be represented, thus =
> encouraging their children to believe in its justification.
>
> As a librarian, I would be especially sensitive to this crowd. I am a =
> Christian and my husband is a Greek and Hebrew scholar. Therefore, I =
> feel that I could talk with the above-described parents easily. =
> Although not all Christians see everything the same way (in fact they =
> rarely do, LOL), I do understand the above-mentioned concerns and I =
> admit that I feel similarly. I sympathize with their fears about =
> parenting in the coming generations. That being said, I would encourage =
> them to check out the books in question, take them home and read them =
> with their children, and then discuss their own beliefs with their child =
> based on the Bible and their relationship with God. It seems that facing =
> this subject head-on would be better than hiding it from children. =
> Trust me, their children will be hearing about it at school regardless =
> of what books are on the shelves. Do they want their young children's =
> education to come from another student at school, who might be =
> name-calling, or from them? If they have this opportunity to share with =
> their child, then they can also share the Godly perspective about loving =
> others even if they don't agree with their actions-which I deem as the =
> most important lesson for a child to learn when dealing with such an =
> issue.
>
> Thank you for allowing yet another perspective. It's just a (very) =
> general overview of one side and my .02 on one possible way to address =
> this positions. (I inserted * and 0 in some words as I understand the =
> need for filters. At work we were getting hundreds of spam e-mails =
> daily asking us if we wanted to view porn and such. There was no way to =
> block them so they did the next best thing-added filters.)
>
> Shannon Miller
> Previous K-2nd Teacher
> Currently completing MLS degree
> DFW, Texas
>
>
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