"But, if our selection policy states something like 'librarian uses
review sources such as x journal, y book, and z's collection '
our choices may be limited by what those sources chose to review. If our policy
doesn't explicitly state that we are not limited to books from those sources or if
in the crunch of time we don't research areas we personally are not familiar with,
we could be
missing alternate points of view that provide balance."
If a selection policy limits the librarian to only certain reviews the selection
policy needs to be revised immediately. Better wording would be "the librarian
shall make use of available review sources, such as, but not limited to, ...."
"2. How do these magazines support the curriculum and raise student achievment?"
While not everything in the library has to support a specific class, I would
suggest that most items ought to relate somehow to the various classes offered in
the school. Yes, there is a place for materials that support only outside
interests, but that is not the primary purpose of a school library.
"6. The irate parent shows up that wants to know why this stuff is in a school
library --- their tax dollars shouldn't pay for this trash. What does this have to
do with reading, writing, and math -- that is what they are at school for."
Oh, to have such parents! All to many parents see the school as simply an
inexpensive baby-sitting service - but that's another day's rant.
"Or how much would our 'professional judgment' be swayed by 'concern about parent
complaints' by racy cover on a GN, a title such as _Godless_, or knowing that
Levithan's latest was the subject of a complaint, successful or not, a few towns
down the road?"
"7. The parent that shows up and says you disciplined my child for using bad
language but you have this stuff in the school library."
Our professional judgment ought to include consideration of how something will be
perceived by the community as a whole. One racy cover on one issue of a magazine
shouldn't be cause for alarm, but several in a row might be. The same can be said
about foul language. One word in a 250 page novel isn't a problem, but 10 per page
is.
We need to remember, too, that this thread originally was about whether or not a
particular magazine was appropriate for middle school. A magazine that is
appropriate for high school students may not be appropriate for middle school, and
what is appropriate for middle school might not be appropriate for high school.
Part of the selection process is deciding whether or not something is appropriate
for YOUR students and YOUR community. Something that wouldn't raise an eyebrow in a
NYC middle school might cause a riot in a high school here in rural Missouri.
Today's Farmer probably wouldn't get much use in NYC, but each copy here is worn
out before the next one arrives.
--
David Lininger, kb0zke,
MS/HS librarian
Hickory County R-1 Schools
Urbana, MO 65767
417-993-4226
tss003 at mail.connect.more.net
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