Comments on: Middle School Librarian – Closet Censor?

By: Ms. Yingling

Ms. Yingling — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 02:38:19 +0000

Authors make a conscious choice whether or not they are going to use profanity and situations inappropriate for middle school students to read. I make a conscious choice whether or not I will financially support their decision. I can’t buy every book published, so I will choose books that can be read by the largest number of students. I HAVE tried to read every book, and I still miss things.

By: What to do with weeded books « serious fun

What to do with weeded books « serious fun — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 09:26:30 +0000

[...] Jo Nelson whose blog is always full of good ideas. I found it as I was reading about censorship here. Another great post. I’m just heartily recommending Cathy Jo. Share [...]

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:36:36 +0000

As a middle school librarian, my most useful tool in knowing what’s on my shelf (content wise) is my students. They know that if they read a book that gives them pause, they are welcome to bring it to my attention. They also know that just because they tell me “this book has swear words in it” doesn’t mean it’s going to be “banned” (thank you banned books week lessons!).
And because of the lessons I do during Banned Books Week (6th grade: what does “appropriate” mean?, 7th grade: history of banned books week, 8th grade: intellectual freedom and you – at age 13) my students are pretty aware of what is/isn’t appropriate for them. I have some students who will say “Miss C, does this book have swear words in it? Because I don’t want to read books with swear words”.

By: Samantha McManus

Samantha McManus — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:36:26 +0000

Cathy, you did a great job covering all the bases. Over the weekend I read the Downside of Being Up (and now get the title). I posted my review on Goodreads at http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/317410560. No, it wasn’t flattering. Unless you are a middle school boy, I don’t predict getting much enjoyment from this one. Of course, I have to say middle school boys (maybe even high school boys) would totally love this novel. I’m just the wrong audience. I’ve decided I’ll keep it on my shelf, with my YA sticker and flag in the catalog. Boys will be boys, but I won’t be sending this one home with 10-year-olds!

By: Dan Kleinman of SafeLibraries

Dan Kleinman of SafeLibraries — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 06:35:48 +0000

“But do research your YA books beyond just the reviewing tools that fail IMHO almost every time to tell us the amount of promiscuity, profanity, and violence included in a book.” That aligns exactly with what a school super said in Kalida, OH: “School Excoriates Book Reviews that Fail to Disclose ‘Graphic Sexual Details’ in Books for Children; Lush by Natasha Friend is ‘Wildly Inappropriate’ for Certain Children”
http://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2010/12/school-excoriates-book-reviews-that.html
I think I’m going to add a link to this blog post of yours to the bottom of mine that I just linked.

Thanks so much.