Aside from Jimmy Carter's book, did anyone find the books being suggested /
recommended by the professors? I don't remember reading what those where...only
the books that were recommended by the librarian.
As a former university librarian, I must also say that not all professors choose
"scholarly" books for their freshman reading assignments. To make the assumption
that all reading assignments are scholarly would be an expectation that just isn't
true. (Especially at the entry level in college---perhaps for graduate work, but
not for newbies at this level.) These professors stated that their book choices
were selected to provoke controversy (discussion), so I'd be interested in knowing
what controversial books they had suggested in comparison to the "non-scholarly"
titles that the librarian suggested.
Even as a high school librarian, I have recommend books for government teachers
that were a complete 180 degrees different from what was being used for classroom
reading--- in fact, one government teacher with a political opinion that was
different from mine, would visit the library only to find that I had created book
displays that contained HIS required readings along with ALL of the titles in the
library that presented the exact opposite view. We had great fun adjusting the
books on the shelves (books were placed lower or hid behind others while favorites
were displayed prominently and on the eye-level) because he knew that I was
offering a difference in opinion and outlook. And while I had not read most of the
titles, I had reviewed them and knew that they were best-sellers with valid points
to consider. When he mentioned anything about the display, I would respond with
"fair and balanced".....
I guess it's a good thing we were having "fun" with the experiment / display
because of our differences in viewpoints---and luckily, this teacher had a great
respect for the library and the freedom of choice---because if I were at Ohio State
University, I might also be one of the librarians being caught up in a lawsuit
because of my tendencies to share materials that contain the opposite viewpoints of
any idea being taught.
~Shonda
Shonda Brisco, MLIS
US / Technology Librarian
4200 Country Day Lane
Fort Worth Country Day School
Fort Worth, TX
817.732.7718 ext. 339
"We can't wait for somebody outside of ourselves to rescue us, because nobody is
coming to the rescue..."
~ Ross Todd, Professor
School of Communications, Information, and Library Studies, Rutgers University
sbrisco@fwcds.org
http://www.fwcds.org/campus/libraries/default.asp
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