Q: I’m struggling with how to explain why words or a scene or images in a book taken out of context should not be used to discount the book as a whole. Can you offer …
classrooms
Books with Racist Images
Q: What does the recent announcement from Seuss Enterprises that six Dr. Seuss books will no longer be published because of racist images mean for my library? We don’t have all of the books but …
Complainant and Review Committee Information and Roles
Q: Do I send school policies and reviews of a book to a complainant, or just to the review committee? And how do I make sure the Review Committee understands its role? Those are great questions. …
Preparing in Advance for a Complaint
Q: Are there some standard practices I should follow in order to be prepared for a book complaint? It’s great you’re thinking ahead regarding how to be prepared. Some people never face formal challenges in their …
Is a Selection Policy that Outlines “Acceptable” and “Unacceptable” Topics Promoting Censorship?
Q: My administrator wants to revise the policy for library selection and classroom reading choices in the middle school where I am a library media specialist. He is suggesting that we come up with very …
Does a Classroom Library Have the Same Standards as a School Library?
Q: Does a classroom library have the same standards as the school library? A first grade teacher came to me on Friday because a parent wants her to remove a book from the classroom collection. …
District Has No Selection/ Reconsideration Policy
Q: My district does not have a materials selection policy. Therefore, there are no official selection criteria, nor is there a process for reconsideration of challenged materials. What steps can I take to remedy this …
Cultural Inaccuracies in Books and Intellectual Freedom
Q: I’m unsure how to balance positive professional reviews with criticism elsewhere that points out stereotypes and cultural inaccuracies. It seems important to pay attention to those concerns, but also important not to limit access …
Censorship vs. Selection in the Curriculum
Q: The English department at my high school has been discussing removing several titles from the summer reading list and curriculum and replacing them with less controversial novels. Is there anything that can be done …
Collection Development by Committee?
Q: What do you think of collection development by committee? With the elimination of library media specialist positions in our district, the principal at my school wants book selection for each school to be done by …