From: Jean Mendoza <jamendoz>
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 17:43:33 -0500

Sharon Lawrence's comments are very much on-topic, for they reflect an attitude that is quite common: the authentic stories by and about Native Americans are deemed unworthy of attention, which I presume is why Ms. Lawrence found the discussion here to be of little interest. Not all librarians (or teachers or parents or children) share her opinion of this small but vital body of literature. . . . Perhaps she would be willing to expand on her intriguing assessment of the worth of this discussion and the literature on which it focused. What about literature by and about African-Americans or Asian-Americans? Is it of more interest, and if so, why? Who are the high-quality authors/books in those categories? Are there high-quality Native authors or books that you have in your collection? Do other librarians base their selection solely on reviews? Reviews in which publications? Is there a ratio of positive to negative reviews that a book needs to have before you consider purchasing it? Do you ever fear that you might miss something high-quality if you only look at reviews? (I know I would.)
                                                Jean M.







________________________________ Jean Paine Mendoza, Doctoral Student
                                 Department of Curriculum and Instruction
                                 College of Education, UIUC
                                 Champaign, IL 61820

                                 Telephone: 217/244?86
                                 FAX: 217/244E72

                                 e-mail: jamendoz at uiuc.edu
Received on Thu 28 Oct 1999 05:43:33 PM CDT