Thank you for all of your responses in how you handle your 6-12 collections.
I did my best to copy/paste the responses for those interested in the
results of my query.
Tiffany
Our school library serves grades 5-12. We have two separate fiction
sections. One for grades 9-12, which have the call number of F. Then we also
have a collection for grades 5-8, which have a call number of JF for
Juvenile Fiction or Junior Fiction. Our non-fiction is one large collection.
I don't know if that helps.
Claire Jones
Middle School Librarian
Hathaway Brown School
Hi,
I am in a 6-12 school. To manage the collection of variety of readers, we
have stickers on the fiction section. We have put red stickers on middle
school and yellow on high school. Students know what books they can check
out, and can read a higher level, if they give me a note signed by a parent.
Hope this helps.
-Elizabeth Jurkiewicz
Library Media Specialist
South Lewis Middle/High School
I will be facing the same situation soon. I want to adhere to all the
Intellectual Freedom guidelines about no restrictions by age, but I don't
want to put myself in the line of fire because I know where the
administration stands...and that is not on the side of IF.
I know of schools where younger kids have to bring a letter from home saying
they can or cannot access materials for more mature students. But that
seems it is putting the burden back on the library staff, when really
parents/guardians should have the final word. And besides, we all know kids
will forge notes. At some point, while looking reasonable at first glance,
this "rule" becomes silly.
I'm thinking about updating our Selection Policy, stressing that
parents/guardians are the final arbiters and that materials are selected by
the SLMS, who is a trained professional invested with authority by the
school board, for curricular reasons, based on reviews. I also want to
address the review procedure for challenged materials.
In the past, when these questions have come up, (not often), I have used the
example of the public library where kids are not restricted to a special
section. I have also made a practice of dealing with these matters face to
face with the parent/guardian listening calmly...avoiding a knee-jerk
reaction....which I am prone to sometimes....what has worked for me is
keeping these matters at the lowest level; in other words, not involving
administrators, although complaints are usually addressed to them and they
send the parent/guardian to me. In my experience, listening has been
enough.
I'd love to hear what others have to say on this matter.
The most valuable course I took in Library School was Intellectual Freedom.
I could never understand why it wasn't a required course. I think
guaranteeing IF is a librarian's sacred duty.
Have a good day,
Candace
Candace Broughton, Ph.D.
School Library Media Specialist
CLV M-H School
Cattaraugus, NY 14719
716 257-3483 ext. 5056
We have placed a yellow star label (available from highsmith or demco) next
to the barcode on our high school books. We also add a pop-up note in our
system (Destiny) to alert staff (in case the sticker is removed).
At orientation, I explain to my middle school students that yellow star
books are not “bad” (their word), rather they are high school level books
and if we did not have high school students, we would not have those books
in our library. The content is simply geared for older students.
I also tell students that if their parents want to tell me in person (no
notes or phone calls) that their child is allowed to check out any book, we
will make a note in our system and allow them to take those books. I have
only had 2 or 3 take me up on this, but those that did are voracious
readers.
When I ask the students what they would rather do if the were in my shoes -
defend why they are NOT allowing children to take those books, or explain
why they did to an upset parent -they always tell me they would do the same
thing.
Then, after Spring Break in 8th grade, I allow them to get those books. We
also have elementary students who are not allowed to select books from the
Young Adult section, so I think our Middle School students recognize that
there are a series of privileges to be earned.
Note: Of the thefts we incur, most are yellow star books, but we only have
a handful of losses due to theft. For the most part I think our system is
working. It is not perfect, but working. I try to read most of the books
we star. Occasionally I need to remove stars, sometimes I find books that
need to be added. Generally though, I go by the reviews and the suggested
audience.
Good luck – and let me know if you get any great suggestions. I’m open to
improving my system.
Cindy Rogers, MLS
Certified Media Specialist/Librarian
IDEA Academy
IDEA College Preparatory
401 South 1st Street
Donna, TX 78537
I have a 6-12 library also. The main part of the library is open to
everyone. However, I do have two special collections. I have a few series
that sixth graders can't have. Cirque Du Freak, Clique, Angus, Thongs,etc.
I have a large pink round sticker right by the bar code so I don't
accidentally check them out to a sixth grader. I have another collection of
fiction that you have to be in high school to check out. These have a YA
sticker right by the bar code. I don't have a problem restricting books. I
tell the kids that they will have to wait until they are in high school to
read the ones that have high school characters doing high school things.
Same for the 7th and 8th grade books. To decide where to put a book I ask
myself this question. If a parent came in and asked why her student should
be allowed to read a certain book, I try to justify it. If I'm not
comfortable telling a parent that her child should be able to read
something, I figure it needs to be moved up until I'm ready to defend it.
Only you can decide which books belong where in your library, but the
question can be the same. I actually have a K-5 library also. I sometimes
have to decide whether a book belongs in K-5 or 6-12. I use the same
question to decide where to put it. Good luck.
We're a 7-12 Library. When "orienting" the 7th grade, we make it clear
that the Library collection is available to all, but that their parents
may wish them to stick to books for junior high and wait for high school
book. We encourage them to discuss with their parents what they're
reading.
I don't find many younger students interested in the "older" books, as a
rule.
I have seen 6-12 and 7-12 libraries where the fiction and magazines are
separated, however. We made the choice not to do that, but it
may work for you.
Peggy Owens
School Library Media Specialist
Mattituck Jr. Sr. High School (Grades 7-12)
Mattituck, LI, NY
As a K-12 library we certainly run into this issue. One thing we do in the
6-12 section is label the books intended for middle schoolers with a YA
sticker. Now even with-in the YA there can be books that are too much for a
6th grader, but at least you've got an easier baseline. But after that we
do not take a hardline approach (perhaps because of my public library
background where we would never tell someone that they couldn't check
something out). Instead we might offer more appropriate alternatives or try
mother means of gentle discouragement. However, if a kid is determined to
check-out a certain book we'll let the kid do it. With the K-5 set, we do
take a more forceful approach in terms of limiting them, but this is also
helped because there is a physical seperation between the 6-12 and K-5
collections.
Lane Young
Lower School Librarian and Technology Coordinator
North Shore Country Day School
Winnetka, IL
I have 6-12 and a hands off policy. I'm not particularly recommending it.
When I started at this library 22 years ago, some books were marked inside
on the date due page with a restriction to "grade 8 and above" or some such
thing. I found it offensive. Although we have high school and adult books
with mature themes and swear words, etc., we select carefully. Over time I
have had two books challenged. "Inner City Mother Goose Rhymes" was
determined to be kept for teacher use only, and "Weetzie Bat" was put back
on the shelves. I see that some 4th and 5th graders are coming here from
elementary to check out YA books. They are being exposed to everything
earlier and earlier. I am not going to be the one to tell them what they can
read, but I am nearing retirement. I understand that you must balance any
stand you take with awareness of your community. Best of luck.
Jo Reinmiller MLIS
Country Day School
Costa Rica
I am in the same situation, only we have one librarian in the
main (middle school) library and one librarian (me) in the high
school satellite library. I order the high school materials and
place a red sticker on the books as well as have it flagged in the
notes section in our destiny catalog. Anytime someone checks out one
of those books, the system "flags" it with a beep sound and written
notation and/or the librarian will see the red dot sticker on the spine.
I would be interested in others' responses.
Thanks!
I worked as an aide in a 5-8 school library. We had YA stickers on books
that were for older readers (7/8 grade). If 5/6 students wanted to check
these out, they had to have a note or signed form from their parents. Some
of the books were designated YA8, meaning that 7th grade students also
needed parental permission.
YA and YA8 designations were based on School Library Journal and Booklist
suggested ages. Roughly, YA = grades 7+ and YA8 = grades 9+
It will be interesting to see the responses you receive!
Emily
Our school library serves 250 K-12 students. When I started here 8 years
ago, I created a middle school section so it would be easier for middle
school students to find appropriate books. Now I tell middle school
students that we try not to have any books in the middle school section with
language or situations that might make them (or their parents)
uncomfortable. I assure the students that they are also allowed to check
out from the high school section, but should be aware those books may
contain language or situations with which they or their parents might be
uncomfortable.
I don't know about other places, but this works well for us.
Elma Witty, Librarian
Adrian School Library
Adrian, OR
I am also in a 6-12 school, and this is what I do:
1. Label books with discreet stickers to let my assistant know when a book
may be too mature for a student
2. Tell younger students to bring a note of permission from a parent for a
book I consider mature
3. Keep the most mature books behind my desk and let older students ask for
them.
I am in a 7-12 school. I keep my fiction all in the same section. My
paperbacks are on racks in the front of the media center, and they are
mostly YA. When a student brings a book to check-out that I think is to
mature for them I simply tell the student that. Most of the time the
student will then check-out another book. If they take the book out
anyways, I'll comment that if at anytime they are uncomfortable with the
subject matter they should stop reading. This has been discussed before,
and I agree, that if you separate the mature books you are just drawing more
attention to them
Mary
I was in the section for almost 20 yrs. I rarely if ever had that problem.
How does your public library handle that issue? Do the say "no" u r not old
enough?
I always did a disclaimer at the start of the year that our collection
served a wide range of ages & readers. I would hold up a picture bk & a
lengthy tome to illustrate the point.
If the are old enough to read & understand the words & concepts they r
mature enough to read it. Immature readers just don't get throuh the book.
Just my opinion.
Rocco Staino
Contributing Editor
School Library Journal
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Who's to say what is too mature for a particular reader? We do reader's
advisory if we know that a particular title has more mature content to let
the student know what might be in the book, but ultimately it is the
reader's decision. And that decision is best left to the reader and
his/her parents/guardians. My 2 cents. Lisa
Lisa Nocita, Library Media Specialist
Prairie Star Middle School
14201 Mission Road
Leawood, KS 66224
Generally it isn't a real problem. Some kids will grab those books at first,
but since they generally don't hold the kids' attention, they bring them
back and gravitate back to the books that DO fit them. If a sixth-grader can
handle a young-adult book, then there really isn't a problem. It could well
be that the child has had some life experiences that make such titles
appropriate.
The bigger problem is the younger boys getting books that depict
"interesting" scenes, sharing those pages with their friends during class,
and causing classroom problems. There isn't much that can be done,
unfortunately. We just have to wait for them to grow up. The girls do the
same thing, but they are sneakier about it, so they generally don't cause
the disruptions in the classroom - they wait for recess, lunch, or go to the
bathroom together.
--
David Lininger, kb0zke
MS/HS Librarian
Skyline MS/HS
Urbana, MO 65767
We are 6-12 school and we have divided our fiction collection into
General and Advanced (general book spine labels are just F AAA; advanced
book spine labels are ADV F AAA and have big blue dots on the spines).
This arrangement has worked well for us. We tell our younger girls that
the general collection is where they need to be browsing and the upper
school girls need to browse in the advanced collection. However, we do
not restrict any girl from reading from either collection. We explain to
the younger girls that the advanced books are harder to read, have a
tougher vocabulary and are more like War and Peace! It's funny to see
some of our upper school students browsing in the general collection
because the books are quicker reads and more fun! Rarely do our middle
schoolers check out an advanced book.
Martha (Marty) Vaughn
Director, Holland Library
Girls Preparatory School
Chattanooga, TN
have a 7-12 student population, so I am familiar with the situation you
describe.
I don't limit students in any way with what they want to check out. All
fiction is interfiled -- no special collection for grade 7 or grade 8. If I
happen to notice a student taking out a book that might be too mature, I
remind them that they don't HAVE TO READ every book they check out -- if
they don't like it, bring it back and get something else. (I can usually
cite something I started but never finished as an example.) I've been in my
present position since August 1981 and have never had a problem along these
lines. I should say I am in a small district, with about 120 students in
grades 9-12 and another 50 in grades 7-12. (Enrollment was 2x these numbers
when I started in this job.)
"VAN"
________
Diane Van Gorden, Librarian
Baker Middle School / High School
Baker, MT
I put YA stickers on all the books that are upper grade interest levels.
I am a teacher-librarian at a middle/high school library. The first thing I
did was to combine the two separated collections. I do have an "Advanced
Fiction" section where I mark the books on the spine with yellow dots. My
6th graders are still free to check them out. If they choose to do so, I
always give them a brief spiel...something like "This title is an adult
title. There may be things in this book that aren't appropriate for 6th
graders...language, sex, violence, etc. Consider yourself warned." Then I
check out the book to them. I also make sure and tell them they can
exchange it for another book if it's not one they enjoy. I just don't feel
comfortable censoring the collection.
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