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Gail K Dickinson wrote: >Lester Asheim said it best. Selectors look for what is good about a book. >Censors look for what is bad about a book. > If one only looks at the good, and never the bad, one will soon be unemployed and unemployable because of a reputation for bad judgment. If one looks only at the bad, and never the good, one will never buy anything. Purchasing books for any library is a balancing act - only so much money, only so much space, and so many books to choose from. We need to look at both the good and the bad for every book. What one person may consider good another may consider bad. This whole discussion started because one book has one word on the first page, and we've spent two weeks discussing whether or not the book ought to be included. Each one of us will make that decision based on our own situations. Just because a book has won an award doesn't automatically mean that a particular library ought to purchase it, just as the lack of awards doesn't keep us from buying other books. Perhaps an analogy will help. Many years ago my wife and I were looking for a house to buy. That community didn't have an MLS system, so we had to deal with several different agents. I always start looking at a house from the bottom up, so I insisted that we look at the basement first. That particular house has major problems with the foundation, and after less than two minutes I told the agent we could leave, because the house wasn't suitable. She couldn't understand why we wouldn't look at the rest of the wonderful old house. We did take a couple of additional minutes to look, just to see that yes, the upstairs was beautiful. Had we looked only at the good and ignored the crumbling foundation, we might have purchased a VERY expensive house. We deliberately looked for problems, not to reject the house, but to see what we would have to deal with if we bought the house. The house we eventually bought wasn't as nice in appearance, but the structure was sound, and we were able to renovate it to suit our wishes. I've not purchased Lucky, nor am I planning to. The kids I serve are older than Lucky's target audience, so it would be a waste of money for me to buy it. If someone donated a copy, I would probably put it out, just in case one of the younger kids, reading on a lower level, might want it. My budget won't allow me to buy books that aren't really intended for my students. -- David Lininger, kb0zke, MS/HS librarian Hickory County R-1 Schools Urbana, MO 65767 417-993-4226 tss003 at tnp dot more dot net -------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. * LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/sub/ * LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html --------------------------------------------------------------------