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Sex and Age Recommendations and Other Things
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From: Megan Schliesman <schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu>
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 10:06:14 -0500
Merri's post has me on the hunt for a book in which religion and sex happily coexist.It's today's challenge!
In the meantime, I love Maggie's post about the fact that kids raising questions with her about scenes in books, such as the masturbation scene in "Absolutely True Diary" is something she turns into an opportunity to talk to them about the library and intellectual freedom.That adage that
"we never assume every book in the library will be a good fit for every reader but work hard to make sure we have materials for everyone" is not only true but powerful, and, I think and hope, empowering.The flip side, of course, is that it doesn't mean anything goes, even though that's what an alarmed adult may think the first time they encounter material with sexual content THEY weren't ready for inbook their child is reading.
I also appreciate Sarah Dentons' question about books addressing sex or issues related to sex within an overtly religious framework that may promote misinformation. From an intellectual freedom perspective, the guidelines provided by library selection policies and procedures can be crucial in how such materials are handled.(And I agree with Maggie that there is a distinction between public libraries and public school libraries regarding whether even to purchase such books.)
Sarah's comment that "my thinking on religion in the collection has changed shape over my 20 years of doing this (in widely divergent communities)" also struck a chord with me, in my case regarding books with sexual content, even though I don't work directly with youth.Over the years, my age recommendations have generally skewed younger---just by a year or two, but it's a year or two that can make the difference on whether an age recommendation I put on a book is suggesting it's appropriate for middle school.For me, that shift has been in large part due to what I've learned as parent.
If I say 13 as a younger age, then I'm clearly saying yes to middle school.If I say 14 as a younger age, I'm suggesting it's really something for a librarian working with middle schoolers to weigh more carefully, alhtough they certainly have some 14-year-olds they are serving.(I'm always grateful there are a range of professional review sources that collectively provide a general idea of where reviewers think a particular book falls.)
And it's not just that I'm weighing sexual content.Case in point from the way-back machine (in terms of publishing 2004 feels like generations ago):Meg Rosoff's "how i live now."The book is not sexually explicit, although there is sex in it. But that had nothing to do with why I see it as a book more suited tohigh school rather than middle and high school. It's because I think the book is so psychologically complex.
Megan
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 10:06:14 -0500
Merri's post has me on the hunt for a book in which religion and sex happily coexist.It's today's challenge!
In the meantime, I love Maggie's post about the fact that kids raising questions with her about scenes in books, such as the masturbation scene in "Absolutely True Diary" is something she turns into an opportunity to talk to them about the library and intellectual freedom.That adage that
"we never assume every book in the library will be a good fit for every reader but work hard to make sure we have materials for everyone" is not only true but powerful, and, I think and hope, empowering.The flip side, of course, is that it doesn't mean anything goes, even though that's what an alarmed adult may think the first time they encounter material with sexual content THEY weren't ready for inbook their child is reading.
I also appreciate Sarah Dentons' question about books addressing sex or issues related to sex within an overtly religious framework that may promote misinformation. From an intellectual freedom perspective, the guidelines provided by library selection policies and procedures can be crucial in how such materials are handled.(And I agree with Maggie that there is a distinction between public libraries and public school libraries regarding whether even to purchase such books.)
Sarah's comment that "my thinking on religion in the collection has changed shape over my 20 years of doing this (in widely divergent communities)" also struck a chord with me, in my case regarding books with sexual content, even though I don't work directly with youth.Over the years, my age recommendations have generally skewed younger---just by a year or two, but it's a year or two that can make the difference on whether an age recommendation I put on a book is suggesting it's appropriate for middle school.For me, that shift has been in large part due to what I've learned as parent.
If I say 13 as a younger age, then I'm clearly saying yes to middle school.If I say 14 as a younger age, I'm suggesting it's really something for a librarian working with middle schoolers to weigh more carefully, alhtough they certainly have some 14-year-olds they are serving.(I'm always grateful there are a range of professional review sources that collectively provide a general idea of where reviewers think a particular book falls.)
And it's not just that I'm weighing sexual content.Case in point from the way-back machine (in terms of publishing 2004 feels like generations ago):Meg Rosoff's "how i live now."The book is not sexually explicit, although there is sex in it. But that had nothing to do with why I see it as a book more suited tohigh school rather than middle and high school. It's because I think the book is so psychologically complex.
Megan
--
Megan Schliesman, Librarian
Cooperative Children's Book Center
School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison
600 N. Park Street, Room 4290
Madison, WI 53706
608/262-9503
schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu
www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
My regular hours are T-F, 8-4:30.
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Received on Tue 11 Mar 2014 10:06:38 AM CDT
