when the content is innappropriate for certain age groups (i.e. The Joy of Sex in elementary school)
42% (8 votes)
when the content does not conform to current societal values (i.e. blatantly racist overtones)
0% (0 votes)
when the content is of a sensitive nature (i.e. suicide, date rape, etc)
0% (0 votes)
never
58% (11 votes)
Total votes: 19
I put NEVER but I was thinking about the innappropriate content one. I really think books on how to do certain things that are against the law ( i.e. date rape) should not really be written let alone kept in libraries. Overall though if you do not want to read something of any nature you chose then don't but please do not limit the options because everything can be learned (either positively or negatively) from .
There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic.~- Anais Nin
so u think that elementary kids and middle schoolers should have access to the joy of sex or some other book like that. since movies are rated according to age so should books. but the library should just seperate the books, not ban them.
No Not exactly. School Libraries should have appropriate material for their education purpose. I am not familiar with the 'Joy of Sex' so I do not know if it could be appropriate. Some parents may not believe sex is so taboo and believe it is something they would want to look over with their child which is why we chave public libraries.
I am against banning...organizing is a good idea, content warning is good.
Their is a children's book called 'Not in Room 204' that is about sex and is in the kids section and could be banned based on some people's criteria but is very useful for opening a door for discussion about somethings kids could face.
The biggest thing for concerned parent's is to remain involved in their child's life and communicate openly with teachers over such matters as they see fit for their child.
There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic.~- Anais Nin
I've wavered on this quite a bit, but I think I've decided now... Books should be age-appropriate. Just as schools are not allowed to show a PG-13 movie to a bunch of 7 year olds, neither should they make readily available books that are intended for a more mature audience. Something like The Joys of Sex should not be available in an elementary school (if it were a movie, it'd be NC-17). Of course, the debate then comes down to what do we consider appropriate for different age groups? Maybe all books should be rated just like movies are...
Public libraries should not make any distinction, other than separating out the books into different sections. At that point, it's up to the parents to decide what is and is not appropriate for their children.
~C
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Books are rated though. It's a code somewhere on the inside cover or on the page with the copyright information. And some chidren's/young adult books with have "Ages 7 and up" on the back cover in plain English.
But yeah, I agree. No "Joys of Sex" in elementary school. That's inappropriate no matter how you put it.
I guess I should have read the fist option more thoughly. Because yeah, certain books should not be available before a certain age. But mostly I think that certain books should not be in the children's section, and a parent has the right not to let his or own child read a book, but that's my limitations.
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I read the first option as if it is innappropriate for a certain age group then it should be banned from all libraries. If that were to happen what would be kept in a library? Surely 'Go Dog Go' is innappropriate for the college age ???
I did not know the question was refering to elementry libraries (as opposed to All libraries in the USA)
There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic.~- Anais Nin
Pretty sure I spelled inappropriate wrong. Whoops. At any rate, that's why we have comments, so you can expand upon your views :)
~C
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Well...I guess that is what i get for being lazy about spelling. I knew i was sure I would spell it wrong so with out looking I just copied and pasted what you had. LOL.
There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic.~- Anais Nin
There is NEVER a good reason to ban ANY book. Period. No exceptions.
TTFN,
Blackout
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Considering that I took the question to mean libraries in general (public and school), I chose never.
As far as school libraries, though, I wouldn't be opposed to a school library choosing to limit their selection to "age appropriate" books, since there are other reasons besides "what little Jimmy should be exposed to" for not having certain books. For one, they have a limited budget and therefore it wouldn't make monetary sense to have "The Joy of Sex" in an elementary school library, just as it wouldn't make sense for a high school or college library to have "See Spot Run" in their collection.
However, it comes down to the choice of the individual library. I don't believe there should be limitations imposed by, say, the government (even local or state) to ban any books. The decision should be left up to the libraries themselves. They have boards for purposes such as that, let them make use of those boards.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
Actually there could be a good reasone to have Go Dog Go in a college or high school library. Some schools may have a class on Children's literature and its required reading. A student who wants to be a kindergarten teacher will likely need a in depth knowledge of children's books.
My stance is that there should be limitations on what is in a school library. Input should be given by teachers, parents, and administrators. Admittedly since students take sex ed in fifth and sixth grade, there will be books about sex. And there are certain books that I don't think should be banned, especially if they are fiction. But if a parent wants their kid to read a book that is not deemed appropriate by the school, than the parent can get it from the public library and bookstores.
As for public libraries, I say anything goes. Just use logic about what goes where. Maybe a library card system like movie rentals where kids under 13 or whatever can't check out a book above a certain rating without parent approval.
Like what you've read? Well, then here's more:
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tricia0711
Actually there could be a good reasone to have Go Dog Go in a college or high school library. Some schools may have a class on Children's literature and its required reading. A student who wants to be a kindergarten teacher will likely need a in depth knowledge of children's books.
That falls within my point though. In a school that has children's literature classes that have such books as required reading, then certainly it makes sense to have them. It wouldn't however, make sense for a school like, say ITT Technical Institute to have them, as they don't offer such classes.
If "The Joy of Sex" falls within the scope of a class taught at even an elementary school, then by all means, have it. What I'm saying, though, is that books in school libraries will, logically, have books that relate to what is being taught in the classroom and what would be considered "appropriate" for the age group. It's not a ban so much as working with limited funds.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
I voted never. It shouldn't be up to libraries as to what is appropriate for a child to read. That should be up to the child and the parent's of said child. Besides which... how do we define what is inappropriate and what isn't and who does the defining? The Joys of Sex may be inappropriate for children, but there are people who would argue just as strongly that James and the Giant Peach is just as inappropriate.
Now, should the Joys of Sex sit on the shelf next to Go Dog Go? Probably not. But, there's a world of difference between categorizing and outright banning.
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"Fight for your opinions, but do not believe that they contain the whole truth, or the only truth." - Dana
"We live as if the world were as it should be to show others what it can be." -Angel
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Never. I assumed the poll refers to public libraries. In the case of school libraries, then yes, books should be age appropriate.
Books should never be banned from a public library for any reason because the mere presence of a controversial book on a shelf does not detrimentally affect a person. The same goes for children. Now if a child actually reads such a book, there's potentially a problem. But it's a parent's responsibility to watch what their own kids are reading, not a library's.
In the case of school libraries- specifically public school libraries- the rule in the above paragraph does not apply. A parent is unable to watch what their kids read at a public school library, so public schools have no choice but to heavily censor some books. That's what they get for stealing our kids.