Book Bannings

[Archivist]

That's why you have the debate over individual books.

It seems the real issue here is NOT book banning but WHAT books should be banned. Cause it appears that we all agree that it is appropriate to ban books that are not appropriate for children.

The real debate is over if a book is appropriate or not for children.

Once again, you are not understanding the difference between collection development and book banning.

 

[rjs330]

Obviously you do not have an MLS. Removing a book from the collection or refusing to purchase a book based on political pressure is book banning. Collection development—developing a collection that meets specific purposes—is not book banning.

You can disguise this all you want. Collection development also incorporates the appropriatness of the book. It's not a blind function of purpose. In that purpose of collection you also discern the age appropriateness of the book.

Maybe a book is not chosen because of pressure of the parents. Parents do and should have some say on the appropriatness of a book. That's why the debate takes place. Regardless of what some democrats believe parents are ultimately in charge of their kids and I charge of what their kids should be exposed to in education. And I would sincerely hope that the educators themselves are cautious about what they expose kids to as well.

 

[SamanthaAnastasia]

You can disguise this all you want. Collection development also incorporates the appropriatness of the book. It's not a blind function of purpose. In that purpose of collection you also discern the age appropriateness of the book.

Maybe a book is not chosen because of pressure of the parents. Parents do and should have some say on the appropriatness of a book. That's why the debate takes place. Regardless of what some democrats believe parents are ultimately in charge of their kids and I charge of what their kids should be exposed to in education. And I would sincerely hope that the educators themselves are cautious about what they expose kids to as well.

Librarians are not the same thing as teachers in schools.

people request the books they want. They DO have a say.
That’s why conservative communities have zero to less LGBT books on selves. No one requests them.

You really don’t understand libraries.

 

[Archivist]

You can disguise this all you want. Collection development also incorporates the appropriatness of the book. It's not a blind function of purpose. In that purpose of collection you also discern the age appropriateness of the book.

Maybe a book is not chosen because of pressure of the parents. Parents do and should have some say on the appropriatness of a book. That's why the debate takes place. Regardless of what some democrats believe parents are ultimately in charge of their kids and I charge of what their kids should be exposed to in education. And I would sincerely hope that the educators themselves are cautious about what they expose kids to as well.

I am not disguising anything. You obviously don’t understand the difference between collection development and book banning. Two different things. Obviously you have not taken the time to read Pico. Perhaps this from findlaw.com might help you understand: Book Banning Efforts Are on the Rise. What Does the Law Say? - FindLaw

 

[rjs330]

Librarians are not the same thing as teachers in schools.

people request the books they want. They DO have a say.
That’s why conservative communities have zero to less LGBT books on selves. No one requests them.

You really don’t understand libraries.

We are talking about schools and not public libraries. What goes on in a school from the curriculum to the food to the discipline, medical care, teaching and the books in the schools library are under the scrutiny if the parents because their kids have access to it.

Please don't tell me it's none of my business as a parent what books my kids have access to in the school library.

 

[rjs330]

I am not disguising anything. You obviously don’t understand the difference between collection development and book banning. Two different things. Obviously you have not taken the time to read Pico. Perhaps this from findlaw.com might help you understand: Book Banning Efforts Are on the Rise. What Does the Law Say? - FindLaw

Does collection development take into consideration the age appropriateness of books in school libraries or not?

 

[Archivist]

We are talking about schools and not public libraries. What goes on in a school from the curriculum to the food to the discipline, medical care, teaching and the books in the schools library are under the scrutiny if the parents because their kids have access to it.

Please don't tell me it's none of my business as a parent what books my kids have access to in the school library.

Try reading the OP. It says “school and public libraries.”

You say that it is your business what books your kid has access to in the school library? What about the parent who wants their kid to have access to those same books? What about the kids who want access to those books? They have First Amendment rights.

 

[Archivist]

Does collection development take into consideration the age appropriateness of books in school libraries or not?

Have you not read the thread? Did you not read the Supreme Court case I referenced? Did you not read the findlaw link I provided? That question has been answered multiple times.

 

[SamanthaAnastasia]

Does collection development take into consideration the age appropriateness of books in school libraries or not?

Yes.

 

[SamanthaAnastasia]

We are talking about schools and not public libraries. What goes on in a school from the curriculum to the food to the discipline, medical care, teaching and the books in the schools library are under the scrutiny if the parents because their kids have access to it.

Please don't tell me it's none of my business as a parent what books my kids have access to in the school library.

Public school libraries and public libraries have an overlap in that they are both public.
You want more control, homeschool or take your kids to private school.

 

[Archivist]

Public school libraries and public libraries have an overlap in that they are both public.
You want more control, homeschool or take your kids to private school.

True. A private or parochial school library can do what it wants in terms of banning books.

 

[Ringo84]

We are talking about schools and not public libraries. What goes on in a school from the curriculum to the food to the discipline, medical care, teaching and the books in the schools library are under the scrutiny if the parents because their kids have access to it.

Please don't tell me it's none of my business as a parent what books my kids have access to in the school library.

It's not your business to police what others want to read because of your feelings about your children (if you even have them).

It's up to you to be a parent if there are certain books you don't want your kids to read; not the government (at any level).
Ringo

 

[Archivist]

I think those who support banning books in school and public libraries gave up in this thread!

 

[SamanthaAnastasia]

I think those who support banning books in school and public libraries gave up in this thread!

We win!

 

[Ringo84]

I wish they'd give up in real life too.
Ringo

 

[Archivist]

Librotraficante Caravan of Banned Books will be delivering a collection of Mexican-American banned books to the Texas state capitol. The delivery is in opposition to efforts by Texas legislators to ban books.

Remember that Texas once banned the book “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” The book was banned because a Texas board thought it was written by a socialist author. It was not. Apparently board members never even read the book.

'Librotraficante Caravan of Banned Books' Heads to Texas Capitol - Latino Rebels

 

[Katania]

Were my peers asleep in school? We literally learned about slavery, racism, MLK Jr, Rosa Parks, the South being evil, etc. every year again & again since 1st grade. Are they completely dumb it wasn't taught? My school was 99% white in a city 99% white . & that was 25 years ago!

This nonsense that white conservatives suppress knowledge about the country's history of slavery, racism, civil rights, etc. NEEDS to end now!

I STILL read opinion pieces that NONE of this is taught & it drives me bonkers.

Agreed. Almost 40 years I attended a private school with a very moderate Christian leaning (though there were some pupils from other faiths, who the school seemed to accommodate quite easily). I not only recall being taught about slavery, but getting a homework assignment that required us to imagine being caught, removed from our families and transported on a slave cargo ship.

I can't remember what I wrote, but I do recall the teacher commented "vivid and distressing". Which was exactly what my 11 year old self had been aiming for. It was round about the time everybody was watching "Roots" - so very much in the public consciousness, and I don't know anybody who didn't find the notion of slavery absolutely abhorrent. I think there was also a realisation, however, that this emerged at a time when life was short and brutal for many. Very young children were sent up chimneys to work as sweeps and had short, terrible lives as a consequence.

Other than for the privileged few, who had the luxury of disapprovingly judging the brutality of the lower orders (whose efforts/brutality/oppression they thrived from) life seems to have been pretty awful for most people. When we judge our ancestors, I think we're mimicking the behaviour of previous centuries' elite who had the luxury of sitting in disapproving judgement.

I don't think there's anything wrong with children being taught about slavery in the context of history. It's important to aid understanding of how our modern civilisation developed, how far it's come and why it's so important not to regress back to more brutal systems. Theories like critical race theory are not appropriate for young children however.

It's more than fine for these theories to be discussed critically in the context of sociology & law degrees - but young children already have lots on their plate in terms of learning about the world around them, without having to contend with being taught legal/sociological theories. Particularly if they're being taught them in a way that's designed to shape their political views. I think a firm, consistent and calmly persevering "this is not an appropriate approach to educating developing young minds and we're just not having it" response from parents is probably best.

I totally understand parents getting angry, but anger leads to drama...and when that drama involves furious censorship or book burning, it just results in people looking foolish and a bit backward, rather than persuasive. Unfortunately all too often, Christianity gets dragged into that particular fray.

 

[Tom 1]

We have seen an increase in the efforts by some to ban books in school and public libraries. These current efforts are largely led by conservatives who want to remove books that address such issues as LGBTQ and race.

The Central York School District banned such books as “Cece Loves Science” and “I am Rose Parks.” Fortunately public outcry led the school board to overturn its decision. The books are now back on the shelves.

The Nazis were famous for banning and burning books. Why do these parents want to follow in their footsteps?

US conservatives linked to rich donors wage campaign to ban books from schools | US news | The Guardian

How Students Fought a Book Ban and Won, for Now

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/05/24/handmaids-tale-burn-proof-auction/

 

[rjs330]

Have you not read the thread? Did you not read the Supreme Court case I referenced? Did you not read the findlaw link I provided? That question has been answered multiple times.

So then what's the issue if we think certain books are inappropriate for a school library? It seems that age appropriate choices are okay.