My Reading Frenzy

You let my child check out what?

"Helping a parent find materials, while still holding them responsible for having a role in what their child brings home, keeps our own urge to censor, whether small or great, out of the equation."

This is the best line in this article, but the whole thing is great because it deals with the difference  between what children are able to check out of a library, which is usually everything and what a child should or is allowed to check out, which needs to be determined by parents. 

Harris Interactive: Harris Polls > Most Americans Opposed to Banning Any Books

I am always interested in information about book banning and intellectual freedom.  The results of this survey are interesting.  In the library trade magazines we always hear about book challanges and banning, yet the survey says most people are against both....does this mean the challengers are just a few loud people?

Most Americans Opposed to Banning Any Books

Large majorities, including most African Americans, oppose changing 'nigger' to 'slave' in "Huckleberry Finn"

NEW YORK, N.Y. - April 12, 2011 - Banning or censoring books has been debated for years. A new Harris Poll shows, however, that a majority of Americans think no books should be banned completely (56%) while fewer than one in five say there are books which should be banned (18%); a quarter are not at all sure (26%). The older and less educated people are, the more likely they are to say that there are some books which should be banned completely. Opinions on banning books are linked to political philosophy: almost three quarters of Liberals (73%) say no books should be banned, compared to six in ten Moderates (60%) but only two in five Conservatives (41%) who say no books should be banned.

Read the rest and see all the results here.

via www.harrisinteractive.com

Internet Filtering in the Public Library

Very interesting point-counterpoint discussion of the use of on-line filters in public libraries....yet another intellectual freedom issue. 

In the Library with the Lead Pipe welcomes Audrey Barbakoff, a librarian at the Milwaukee Public Library, and Ahniwa Ferrari, Virtual Experience Manager at the Pierce County Library System in Washington, for a point-counterpoint piece on filtering in libraries. The opinions expressed here are those of the authors, and are not endorsed by their employers.  We thank them for their time and energy in writing this piece!

via www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org

Freedom to Read Issue

These sorts of things always get me all fired up.  If you do not like a book, do not read it, do not allow your children to read it, but do not try to make those decisions for someone else by removing the book from the library....this is censorship!

Decision made on controversial kids' book

Case closed after weeks of review

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. - After weeks of a review process, the Hillsborough County Public Library System has ruled that a controversial kids book will stay on public library shelves.

The book is called My Mom's Having a Baby by an author named Dori Butler based in Iowa. The book was published in 2005. As the story line goes, a little girl named Elizabeth is curious about how her mother became pregnant and childbirth. Throughout the book's 30 pages, little Elizabeth learns about these topics in great detail.

Read All About It!

via www.abcactionnews.com