A few days ago, Library Link of the Day sent a link for “Children’s book outrages parents,” a November 30, 2007, article, from The Morning Call, a Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, newspaper. The book to cause the outrage: King & King (2002, Tricycle Press) by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland.
If you aren’t already familiar with your library’s material selection process and its materials complaint process, that should be high on your to-do list. The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom offers Dealing with Challenges to Books and Other Library Materials, a very helpful resource whether you are dealing with a complaint or do not want to be overly surprised when/if a complaint arrives at your library.
My initial reaction to the article was, well, a little, shall we say, holier-than-thou. Good grief, I thought, it’s a library, it’s supposed to have materials for everyone. How hard is that to realize? Read the books yourself before you present them to your children. And then, I was reminded about one of my first jobs. The summer after I graduated from high school, I worked as a ride attendant at Cedar Point, an amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. You probably have been to an amusement park. Remember the yellow lines? The areas where you aren’t supposed to stand while a roller coaster train or ride car is in motion or out of the station? Many people forget. Many times a day, ride attendants have to remind people about the yellow line. In fact, sometimes it is easy, as a ride attendant, to forget that the person in front of you hasn’t heard about the yellow line or is so caught up in their own world that they have forgotten about where they are standing and the others around them.
I moved past my initial reaction to the article and a question came to mind. One that I want to share with you. When someone signs up for a library card, or even whenever they check out any children’s materials, should the library personnel and policy make more of an effort to offer a recommendation that a caregiver first review the material before sharing it with a child? Not to say that there is anything wrong with certain materials, but as a reminder that our libraries offer books that share many ideas, that represent all types of families. To help those people who forget where they are and that there others around them. Please share your thoughts.
angelaNS
I always make an effort when teaching child care provider & parent workshops to stress that it is they who have the wisdom (and the power) to choose what they share with the children they care for. I always include this line in any workshop I give: “If you leave here tonight with nothing else, please remember this: ALWAYS read through a book before you share it with a preschool child.”
So I agree– we need to put the choice of what to share in the hands of the adults doing the sharing– they do not HAVE to read that particular book to their child, and if they spend a few minutes with the book beforehand, they’ll know it is not something they are comfortable with.
How best to do this??
Teresa Walls Post author
Thanks for your comment, Angela. The child care provider and parent workshops are a great place to share that information.
I keep going back and forth in my own mind. Probably saying something every time someone borrows an item is an over-reaction. Making certain that all staff members are comfortable with possible complaints and that all staff members are trained to deal with said complaint in a professional and respectful manner are the keys. That is where I fell down professionally while reading the article. Granted, I was reading it online at home, but I must be careful not to overstep to where I am disrespectful to someone else. I must take the time to listen, to share the library’s mission and to offer steps that are available to them in the process.