[LM_NET] HIT: Oklahoma - O is for Oil

[Sarah Loch <sloch@MID-DEL.NET>]

Thanks for everyone who responded! The general consensus was that the
book was a little too close to propaganda for most people's comfort.
Even those who had not yet read the book felt uneasy about it.
 
Original post:
 
I received a "children's book" from the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board
entitled O is for Oil. It is an alphabet book, with each letter being
something related to the oil and/or energy industry. The book has a high
production quality, but I'm hesitant to include it in my library. It is
technically a picture book, but the vocabulary used is more appropriate
to middle or high school. I just find some parts of the book rather
heavy-handed, including "Q is for Quality of Life....There's a good
chance someone in your family owes his or her job to the Oklahoma oil
and natural gas industry." and "Y is for Your Future in Oil and Natural
Gas. You could grow up to be one of more than 50,000 Oklahomans who work
in the oil and natural gas industry." 

If you are an Oklahoma librarian, have you received this book? What did
you do with it? 
 
Responses:
 
I received it, too.  Right now it is just sitting on the shelf in my
office!  I can't decide what to do with it either.
_____
 
Although I am not from Oklahoma I have received similar books from
electric companies etc. I figure it doesn't meet the standards of the
collection development policy and throw the book away.
_____
 
I got one. I haven't read it yet. It's been sitting in my mailbox since
I got it. :/ Hard for me to get excited about this free one.
_____
 

I received one too but can't get anyone to check it out.  It looks too
elementary I suppose for the sophisticated middle school student :)
_____
 

I haven't looked through mine yet.  Its been sitting on the shelf
waiting to be looked at.  I will probably not put it on the shelf.  It
does sting a bit of propoganda.
_____
 
I went ahead and put it into the teachers section of our library. I
felt that the grammar was above what an elementary child would
comprehend but that it was something that a classroom teacher might use
and would have the time to explain what the book was talking about. I
did read it to my kids and discussed it and the kids enjoyed it.
_____
 

I definitely did not put that book in my collection.  While a lot of it
is factually accurate and generally informative, it is just too close to
being propaganda from the OERB for me to include it. I could argue that
it fulfills the need to have representation from the local business
sector and economy and to balance the books on green energy and
conservation I do include in my collection.  But I would feel much more
comfortable purchasing something like that from a reputable publisher,
with input from other states or regions.
I am definitely curious, though—what did other local librarians say? 
 
 
Sarah Loch
Library Media Specialist
Carl Albert Middle School
Midwest City, OK
sloch@mid-del.net
See what I'm reading now:
http://www.shelfari.com/salamanders_scribe/shelf#firstBook=0&list=6&sort=dateadded

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