Re: [LM_NET] Richie Partington fired over the right to read

["Spielman, Kathy" <kspielman@PYLUSD.ORG>]

I posted this to CALIB list list morning in response to Richie's post (see below). 
This is something that I think everyone should be aware of. What a sad day for the 
"Right to Read".
How in the world could they fire such a great librarian and leader when he was 
standing up for what is right? So, so sad. I am devastated for Richie of course, 
but for his students and their right to choose what they read.
 
Here is my post:
Shocking, absolutely shocking. What a sad day to realize how little is done to 
protect our right to read. How sad that the very people we expect to stand up for 
children's rights, stomp them down instead. When our administrators are not willing 
to stand up for our rights, why are they administrators? Are they so afraid of a 
complaint that they are not willing to go through the process of a challenge, or 
could it be they have no idea how or that there even is a process? I'm quite sure 
they are ignorant to the fact that there is a process. 
The fact that the principal in question has not even read the book, shows that he 
is not interested in the right to read. How ironic is it that this book, The Last 
Book in the Universe, is being targeted. I loved it, and even more importantly, the 
students love it!
 
If someone has addresses we can send letters or e-mails to, I would love to send a 
letter or two. I would love to start spreading the news of this catastrophe!
Richie's Picks and his listserv are so important to me as a library media 
technician. I admire him and his commitment to the profession immensely.
 
Kathy
 
Kathy Spielman
Middle School Library Media Technician
Yorba Linda Middle School
4777 Casa Loma Ave.
Yorba Linda, CA 92886
(714)528-7090 ext.7062
kspielman@pylusd.org

________________________________

From: calibk12-bounces@lists.sjsu.edu on behalf of BudNotBuddy@aol.com
Sent: Thu 11/22/2007 4:38 AM
To: calibk12@listproc.sjsu.edu
Subject: [CALIBK12] High profile local librarian fired over opposition to book 
banning by principal


A day after informing the District Superintendent that he saw no reason to meet 
with the principal who had banned a highly-regarded children's book -- until the 
principal had actually read the book that he had banned -- Sebastopol librarian and 
author Richie Partington was fired from his position as Library Consultant to the 
Bellevue Union School District in Santa Rosa, California.  
 
Partington, a part-time member of the faculty in San Jose State University's School 
of Library and Information Science, and author of the popular children's book 
review website Richie's Picks, expressed his shock disappointment over what had 
happened.  "Last week I was booktalking at District schools and literally had 
students fighting over who would first get to read the books I was presenting.  The 
administrators must have thought that there must be something wrong with the books 
if the students wanted to read them so badly."
 
The book in question is, ironically, about a young hero in a society where nobody 
reads anymore.  Rodman Philbrick's The Last Book in the Universe has been selected 
for inclusion by the American Library Association on its list for adolescents of 
"100 Best of the Best Books for the 21st Century" and has been subsequently 
nominated for numerous state children's book awards.
 
Partington, who is active in the American Library Association, had recently been 
appointed as one of fifteen librarians in the country to serve on the committee 
that will read thousands of new 2008 picture books and determine the winner of the 
ALA's prestigious Caldecott Medal.
 
Partington is best known for his reviews of soon-to-be-published books for children 
and adolescents that are regularly distributed to more than 8,000 librarians, 
teachers, and publishing executives worldwide and archived on his website at 
http://richiespicks.com <http://richiespicks.com/> .  He is also known for having 
initiated in Sebastopol the nation's first No Name-Calling Week, which was based 
upon events in a children's book by James Howe titled The Misfits.  No Name-Calling 
Week subsequently became a nationally-commemorated annual event with nearly half a 
million school children across America participating in last year's observance.  
(See http://www.nonamecallingweek.org/cgi-bin/iowa/home.html) 
 
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.com <http://richiespicks.com/> 
Moderator, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_school_lit/
BudNotBuddy@aol.com
http://www.myspace.com/richiespicks
Caldecott '09



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