Your school's selection policy should be descriptive of what material
meets district guidelines. Which ties into the fact that WE are not the
only arbiter of taste and quality and WE cannot build our collections
by placing books only meeting our personal standards and interests.
Authors work hard to make their stories and characters ring true, to
make connections with their readers, and to give those readers something
to think about and compare to their own world. Every word serves a
purpose, and is there for a reason.
There is an implication (deal with) of books on the shelves with
problematical language. Read them through the lens of your selection
policy; If the book fits, it stays, foul words and all. Dr. Bowdler
wasn't a librarian, white-out isn't part of a selection policy.
See also: Chris Crutcher's letter
(http://www.chriscrutcher.com/index.2ts?page=alabama) and Holly
Hollman's article
(http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/050417/books.shtml) about
his book being challenged, primarily for language.
--
Robert Eiffert, Librarian
Pacific MS
Vancouver, WA
http://pac.egreen.wednet.edu/library
Librarian in the Middle blog @ http://beiffert.net
>
>I'm going to be a librarian at a middle school and was wondering how you
>deal with foul language in fiction books. I'm talking about more than mild
>cussing.
>
>
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