Is Using Accelerated Reader a form of censorship?

Dr. Lechner's question really led to some excellent posts-and some very interesting self-reflection. There are many challenges involved with selecting materials for our school libraries-but certainly we have to know ourselves and our own beliefs to ensure that we're living up to the principles of our profession. Here's one of my favorite quotes to call to mind when I start to think about the slippery slope of censorship:
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. ~John F. Kennedy

I thought we might close out our discussion by focusing on one of the most popular programs in many schools in our area: Accelerated Reader. I visited a school today where all of the books were shelved by AR levels and where shelves holding titles without AR tests were clearly labeled "These are not AR books." What does our profession have to say about the practice of labeling in general and AR in particular? Here's a quote from a longer Q & A document:

Is it okay to restrict certain sections of the collection based on the patron's age or grade level?

Restricting access to library materials based on age or grade level does not respect the individual needs, interests, and abilities of users and violates the Library Bill of Rights.

Pretend you're a new media specialist in a school like the one I visited-AR books are not only labeled, they are shelved by grade level AND students are only allowed to select books from their ZPD (zone of proximal development). Do you believe these practices violate the Library Bill of Rights? What are some short term and long term steps that you might try to address this issue?

Values and Beliefs

This week's topic comes from Dr. Lechner:

In her article “Four Questions to Ask Yourself” Knowledge Quest editor Debbie Abilock outlines four important points to consider when selecting materials. All four questions are of great importance in developing a balanced collection of print and online resources for schools. Question 4, however, is the hardest: Why must I confront my deeply held beliefs? Debbie Abilock brings up several issues – labeling by age/grade level – a practice made especially popular with computerized reading management programs; internet filtering; violence in children’s media, etc. Statistics collected by the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom suggest that far and away parents are most likely to initiate a challenge to materials in schools http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/Default3879.htm . Teachers (including school library media specialists) are listed as among the least likely to initiate a challenge. Then why concern about the questions posed by the article? For one thing, the statistics collected by ALA are based on reports sent to ALA or found in local newspapers. They statistics, therefore, probably underrepresented the true incidence of challenges initiated by teachers and media specialists. More importantly, when we do not confront our personal beliefs, when we let our own beliefs rather than principles, guide our actions, we may not even realize that we are censoring, rather than selecting. The articles in the online issue of KQ, Intellectual Freedom 101 (see link on Side Bar), provides reasons for considering our own deeply held beliefs. Debbie Abilock’s deals with this issue directly on pp. 10-11 of “Four Questions to Ask Yourself” but guest editor Helen Adams’s introduction, “Intellectual Freedom 101,” provides good background for the issues.

The question to comment on this week, then, is “what are some of your deeply held beliefs that you might need to wrestle with as you select materials for the school library or classroom collection (not materials that you would yourself teach directly)"?

Big Black Marker

Dr. Lechner and I have conferred about the next topic for our blog and she's kindly agreed to let me use a personal story as our starting point.

I'll begin by introducing your word of the day: bowdlerize
Way back when, Thomas Bowdler decided that all of the racy bits in Shakespeare's plays were just not appropriate for families. So Mr. Bowdler published his first edition of The Family Shakespeare in 1807, minus all of those bad words that could cause offense. This practice is still alive and well today. Occasionally when an edited anthology is published someone will examine it closely and discover that only certain kinds of content have been edited out before publication. Several companies supposedly sell "clean" versions of commercial movies, although they have been the subject of several copyright lawsuits. In school media centers we all too often hear about the media specialist taking out the BIG BLACK MARKER and marking through offending words and/or passages in books. Teachers and media specialists occasionally ask authors for permission to bowdlerize their work. I was recently making a site visit for one of my practicum students and her cooperating m.s. and I were discussing some new young adult titles. The media specialist told me about one book she'd been reading and that she KNEW that the language would cause a problem at her school. So, she was going to get out that marker and mark through the language. What should I have said to this media specialist?

Introductions

Using "Comments" tell us a little bit about yourself (one or two sentences).

Banned Books-Middle/High School Level Titles

Use "comments" to post your summaries of books challenged/banned at the elementary level here. Be sure you include information about the issues that caused your book to be banned or challenged.

Banned Books-Elementary Level Titles

Use "comments" to post brief summaries of books challenged/banned at the elementary level here. In your summary be sure to highlight the issues that resulted in the title being challenged.