Alternative Lifestyle Resources in the Media Center

Using the most conservative estimates of the percent of people in the U. S. population who consider themselves homosexual or bisexual, based on data collected by the U. S. Center for Disease Control , at least 6% of men and an equal percent of women between 15 and 44 fit this description. Another, approximately 4% said they considered themselves “something else” or did not answer the question. The fact is that approximately 6-10% of young people in middle school and high school may be gay. While in many schools today there are gay-straight alliances, and while many more young people are accepting of their gay peers than in the past, harassment is still a common experience for many gay students. One of the concerns expressed in several entries on this blog was that of “promoting homosexuality.” While given the findings of researchers for the past 30 years that one’s sexual orientation is not a chosen life-style but rather an orientation one is born with, thus suggesting that students would not choose to become gay based on anything they might read, the reluctance to include gay themed books in school libraries continues. The question is, are there reasons to include literature that either focuses on or includes gay characters and who else, besides gay young people, might benefit from such literature?

The article “Out and Ignored: Why are So Many School Libraries Reluctant to Embrace Gay Teens?” in the January 2006 issue of School Library Journal by Debra Lau Whelan might suggest some reasons. There are others the author does not discuss but that could also be important. One problem, however, might be simply finding quality materials. To that end, I am including a link to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table of the American Library Association, which includes bibliographies for young adults and for children: .

The Slippery Slope of Self-Censorship

Mirror Tunnel
(Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikedefiant/; Flickr Creative commons licensed image)

For the next two weeks of our discussion we're going to be using "A Dirty Little Secret: Self Censorship is Rampant and Lethal" (by Debra Lau Whelan, School Library Journal, Feb. 2009) and "The Never Before Published Diary of a Closet Censor" by Melissa Comer. Both articles discuss similar issues, focusing on the fear most of us have about providing students with books that 'somebody' will object to. Please read the articles before you respond to the post. The articles includes the voices of media specialists, teachers, and authors and raise many thought-provoking and challenging ideas.

You may encounter a new word your reading this week: 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. 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? Given what you've shared in your posts on your values and beliefs, how can you guard against heading down the slippery slope of self-censorship?

Values and Beliefs

Temple of Heaven, Beijing
(photo taken by Dr. Repman, May 2008)

This week's discussion topic come from Dr. Lechner. In addition to posting your personal response to the reading and issues Dr. Lechner raises, you should also respond to at least one other person's post. That response should try to extend the discussion by raising related issues. In other words" great post" is not the kind of response you should post!

In her article “Four Questions to Ask Yourself” Knowledge Quest
36(2), Dec. 2007, 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: 1) labeling by age/grade level - a practice made especially
popular with computerized reading management programs; 2) internet
filtering; and 3) violence in children’s media.

Statistics collected by the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom
suggest that far and away parents are the ones most likely to initiate a
challenge to materials in schools. Teachers (including school library media specialists) are listed as among the least likely to initiate a challenge. Then why concern
ourselves 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. These statistics, therefore, probably under
represented 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., Debbie Abilock deals with the issue of what happens
when we do not confront our deeply held beliefs in “Four Questions to
Ask Yourself” on pp. 10-11, but guest editor Helen Adams’s
introduction, “Intellectual Freedom 101,” Knowledge Quest 36(2):
12-15, Dec. 2007 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)"?

Banned Books-High School Level Titles

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

Banned books-Middle School Level Titles

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

Introductions

Using "Comments" introduce yourself to your fellow bloggers. Please limit your introduction to two-three sentences.