CCBC-Net Archives
RE: Professional Responsibility
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: sully_at_sully-writer.com
Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2010 05:55:51 -0700
Maia,
In Jennifer Donovan's blog post, she writes:
"I told her
it was a good book that explained the real ities of race relations at that time in history through the eyes of one tee n who made a real stand, but that I was concerned about some of the content . She asked if it would be better in the Young Adult section, and I sa id definitely. That was the end of the discussion, and I think that we were both pleased with the outcome."
She also says: "I did not want the book removed from circulation, but I would not want a 4 th grader researching civil rights to c ome across it either."
It reads to me like having the book removed from the children's c ollection to the YA collection was exactly what she wanted.
Edward T. Sullivan, Rogue Librarian Author, The Ultimate Weapon : The Race to Develop the Atomic Bomb (Holiday House, 2007) Vi sit my web site, http://www.sully-w riter.com Visit my blog, Rogue Librarian: All About Books and Readin g http://sullywriter.wordpress .com Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/sullywriter
AMILY: verdana; COLOR: black; MARGIN-LEFT: 8px; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" id=reply
-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re:
Professi
onal Responsibilty From: Maia Cheli-Colando maia_at_littlefolktales.org Date: Sun, Septembe r 26, 2010 9:03 pm To: sully_at_s ully-writer.com Cc: CCBC Network ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
Ed, Ms. Donovan didn't m ake a decision for anyone else's children. She shared her opinion with the librarian. What the librarian then chose to do -- or why -- wasn't revealed in the post. So you probably can hold your stomach for now. :) Gods help our librarians if they are each supposed to read every bo ok and be alerted and sensitive to every issue sans input from their au dience.
I admit I am confused by what I sense beneath these conversa tions: an idea that (a) parents are dangers not to be trusted and (b) t eachers and librarians are astute, well-informed literary founts. Neith er absolute has held true in my experience as a child, as an adult, as a teacher, or as a parent. Generally, I would say that while I was grow ing up my parents were both better informed and more liberal than my te achers. It's a sad comment, but I can't reflect substantively on the li brarians of my youth - more often they were gatekeepers (you can't visi t *that* section yet) than the reverse. As an adult, I've now known fan tastic librarians and poor librarians, fantastic teachers and poor teac hers.
(Teachers in training I knew at university twelve years ago were largely opposed to examining children's literature with any critical ey e -- "you are ruining the story for me" was a common theme. They were d ecent people, and likely great at many teacherly things... but I wouldn 't want them to be choosing books for my classroom.)
And too, ed ucators are predominantly white, middle-class (what's left of it) folk. Many begin completely blind to the suffering of students whose experie nces don't match their own. Good teachers learn over time... but how ma ny 23 year olds have a strong grasp on their own identity, let alone th e experiences of others? And yet, we don't want the input of parents to enrich our teachers' (and librarians') understanding? This makes no se nse to me.
There is a very peculiar anti-teacher, anti-public school sentiment running through the country these days. Many things contribu te to this
(the Republican party talking points being the largest singl e donor)... but I wonder if some people are so easily swung against sch ools because of a sense of arrogance on the part of public educators? T he sense that
"behind these doors, you {families} hold no sway" while s imultaneously, the schools are encroaching into every hour of our child ren's waking lives?
My gut feeling is that until this most critical act -- the teaching of our children -- becomes a frank partnership fill ed with respect for all parties (and their cultures, religions, genders , ancestries) involved, parents are going to resent schools, capitalist s are going to exploit this resentment, educators are going to attempt to maintain control, and kids are going to get simultaneously burned ou t and ignored. It seems to me that every act of open conversation aroun d books is a bridge that needs to be built, a web-line that needs to be thrown.
If you had a choice between a book - any single given book - and a relationship between some of the most important people in a chi ld's life, how many books are so powerful and important that they shoul d absolutely override the chance for those important people to converse safely in the interests of the child? I'm not saying we should ban books (to this day I find that a vague and confusing term)... I'm saying that teachers and librarians need to get off any high horses they may be riding (those who are), and that parents need to meet them halfway wit h faith in their integrity and goodwill. We need to talk, and to believ e that everyone has something worth sharing, and that we will be heard. All of which is a bit beside the point of Megan's original question , but as we've crossed into the eternal arguments of censorship, I thou ght the ground should be addressed. (Hello ground, said she. g ) Cheers, Maia
Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2010 05:55:51 -0700
Maia,
In Jennifer Donovan's blog post, she writes:
"I told her
it was a good book that explained the real ities of race relations at that time in history through the eyes of one tee n who made a real stand, but that I was concerned about some of the content . She asked if it would be better in the Young Adult section, and I sa id definitely. That was the end of the discussion, and I think that we were both pleased with the outcome."
She also says: "I did not want the book removed from circulation, but I would not want a 4 th grader researching civil rights to c ome across it either."
It reads to me like having the book removed from the children's c ollection to the YA collection was exactly what she wanted.
Edward T. Sullivan, Rogue Librarian Author, The Ultimate Weapon : The Race to Develop the Atomic Bomb (Holiday House, 2007) Vi sit my web site, http://www.sully-w riter.com Visit my blog, Rogue Librarian: All About Books and Readin g http://sullywriter.wordpress .com Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/sullywriter
AMILY: verdana; COLOR: black; MARGIN-LEFT: 8px; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" id=reply
-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re:
Professi
onal Responsibilty From: Maia Cheli-Colando maia_at_littlefolktales.org Date: Sun, Septembe r 26, 2010 9:03 pm To: sully_at_s ully-writer.com Cc: CCBC Network ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
Ed, Ms. Donovan didn't m ake a decision for anyone else's children. She shared her opinion with the librarian. What the librarian then chose to do -- or why -- wasn't revealed in the post. So you probably can hold your stomach for now. :) Gods help our librarians if they are each supposed to read every bo ok and be alerted and sensitive to every issue sans input from their au dience.
I admit I am confused by what I sense beneath these conversa tions: an idea that (a) parents are dangers not to be trusted and (b) t eachers and librarians are astute, well-informed literary founts. Neith er absolute has held true in my experience as a child, as an adult, as a teacher, or as a parent. Generally, I would say that while I was grow ing up my parents were both better informed and more liberal than my te achers. It's a sad comment, but I can't reflect substantively on the li brarians of my youth - more often they were gatekeepers (you can't visi t *that* section yet) than the reverse. As an adult, I've now known fan tastic librarians and poor librarians, fantastic teachers and poor teac hers.
(Teachers in training I knew at university twelve years ago were largely opposed to examining children's literature with any critical ey e -- "you are ruining the story for me" was a common theme. They were d ecent people, and likely great at many teacherly things... but I wouldn 't want them to be choosing books for my classroom.)
And too, ed ucators are predominantly white, middle-class (what's left of it) folk. Many begin completely blind to the suffering of students whose experie nces don't match their own. Good teachers learn over time... but how ma ny 23 year olds have a strong grasp on their own identity, let alone th e experiences of others? And yet, we don't want the input of parents to enrich our teachers' (and librarians') understanding? This makes no se nse to me.
There is a very peculiar anti-teacher, anti-public school sentiment running through the country these days. Many things contribu te to this
(the Republican party talking points being the largest singl e donor)... but I wonder if some people are so easily swung against sch ools because of a sense of arrogance on the part of public educators? T he sense that
"behind these doors, you {families} hold no sway" while s imultaneously, the schools are encroaching into every hour of our child ren's waking lives?
My gut feeling is that until this most critical act -- the teaching of our children -- becomes a frank partnership fill ed with respect for all parties (and their cultures, religions, genders , ancestries) involved, parents are going to resent schools, capitalist s are going to exploit this resentment, educators are going to attempt to maintain control, and kids are going to get simultaneously burned ou t and ignored. It seems to me that every act of open conversation aroun d books is a bridge that needs to be built, a web-line that needs to be thrown.
If you had a choice between a book - any single given book - and a relationship between some of the most important people in a chi ld's life, how many books are so powerful and important that they shoul d absolutely override the chance for those important people to converse safely in the interests of the child? I'm not saying we should ban books (to this day I find that a vague and confusing term)... I'm saying that teachers and librarians need to get off any high horses they may be riding (those who are), and that parents need to meet them halfway wit h faith in their integrity and goodwill. We need to talk, and to believ e that everyone has something worth sharing, and that we will be heard. All of which is a bit beside the point of Megan's original question , but as we've crossed into the eternal arguments of censorship, I thou ght the ground should be addressed. (Hello ground, said she. g ) Cheers, Maia
-- Maia Cheli-Colando Arcata, Humbold t Bay, California -- blogging at http://www.littlefolktales.org/wordpress -- -- or drop in on Facebook! -- --- You are currently subscribed to ccbc- net as: sully_at_sully-writer.com . To receive messages in digest format, send a message to... ccbc-net-request_at_lists.wisc .edu ...and include only this command in the body of the message... set ccbc-net digest To unsubscribe click here: https://lists.wisc.edu/u?id249010.a or send a blank email to leave-11530653-19249010.a8Received on Mon 27 Sep 2010 05:55:51 AM CDT
