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From one private school librarian's view: There is a huge difference between public libraries, public schools, and private schools - and their libraries reflect this difference. I get a lot of heat when I claim to read all the fiction that I put on the shelves - but I do. Now, a lot of times I am double-dipping - as I have to read them for my ALA/YALSA/PPYA committees - so many books are pre-read before they get on the shelf. Other titles I inter-library loan from the public library or one of the many public schools in the area. Coming out of the public schools and now in a private school, it was surprising to me the number of students who complained to me about language (especially) in some of the library books. They were honestly offended by "f bombs" and other famous curse words. I am also delighted, however, by the number of students who read the PPYA nominations with me - and offer suggestions - including language concerns. Also, with our limited budgets (my current total budget for everything including equipment is not even equal to my equipment budget when I was in the public sector), I have really honed my skills and become a very careful selector. Some would label it censorship - some would label it material selection - I would label it wise decision making. 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 and the School Sisters of Notre Dame FAC OMNIA BENE (Do all things well) PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION: The information contained in this electronic transmission, and any documents attached hereto, may contain confidential information that is legally privileged and confidential. The information is intended only for the use of the recipients (s) named above. If you have received this electronic message in error, please notify the sender and delete the electronic message. Any disclosure, copying, distribution or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents of the information received in error is strictly prohibited. ----- Original Message ----- From: Ria Faber To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2007 8:53 AM Subject: Re: [LM_NET] Erring on the side of caution Dear Marsha, I hope that you don't take too much heat for your position, because you are right. There is a big difference between what books and material public libraries should provide and school libraries (especially private schools). A public library needs to satisfy the tastes of many different people and parents usually accompany their children when they checkout books. We need to be more selective, understanding our audience (children, parents and teachers). Parents trust us to select appropriate books for their kids since they cannot be there. I checkout and preview many books from the public library before deciding if it's appropriate for our library. I have appreciated your opinions as expressed on LM_NET recently. Thanks,Ria Faber, Librarian Covenant Christian HS, Grand Rapids MI ria_faber@hotmail.com Library Website: http://www.covenantchristianhs.org/Library/ "Some books are so familiar that reading them is like being home again." Louisa May Alcott Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2007 15:57:54 -0500From: Marsha Redd <marsharedd@HOTMAIL.COM>Subject: Re: Erring on the side of caution I think that there is a big difference here between public libraries and school libraries. I may draw some heat for this, but here goes . . . censorship, in my opinion, does not apply to the same degree in schools as it does in public libraries because we are dealing with minor children. What parent is going to say that he/she has never censored anything that pertained to their own children. I wouldn't let my son read anything he wanted when he was 5 years old. Fortunately, this never came up for me, but if my son had wanted to read something that I thought was totally inappropriate, I would not have allowed it . . . the same way 10 year olds are not allowed to see R rated movies. It's easy to get carried away with this anticensorship cause because everything we believe and are taught tells us not to censor. In reality, where children are concerned, there is already censorship all of the time.And it is important to remember that the school board is an elected body whose job is to oversee the school. We can advocate for books all we want, but I think our responsibility ends there. If the school board says "no" I don't think the librarians should feel bad about just accepting the decision. Marsha ReddLibrarian, Kelloggsville High SchoolGrand Rapids, MImarsharedd@hotmail.comEducation is not a goal; it is a life-long process. Everyone is a student. Everyone is a teacher. _________________________________________________________________ Discover the new Windows Vista http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=windows+vista&mkt=en-US&form=QBRE -------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book. 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