Sarah CB Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 I was just reading this on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/22/wisconsin.book.row/index.html?iref=mpstoryview Apparently there are some sexually explicit books in the teen section at that library. I checked the online cataloge and found that my library carries the titles listed as well. I'm not really a fan of censorship, but I wonder exactly how they determine whether something is placed in the young adult section or the adult section. Is it only based on who the target audience of the book is? In that case, could someone publish something just as sexually excplicit and do it in the form of a picture book geared towards 3rd graders - and in that case would it be "censorship" to remove the book? I guess I just wonder where the line is or is there simply no line at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 I don't get riled up about having books about sex and homosexuality in the library but I don't always like where they are on the shelf or how they are presented to kids. Our library had a magazine called "Sex" on a shelf for kids to take for free. It didn't have to be checked out or seen by a parent. They had very explicit articles that even adults don't need to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 I hate teen fiction. The whole section is loaded with sex, drug use, multiple relationships w/opposite sex (or same), suicide, death, divorce...In short, it's the most depressing section in the whole library. I can certainly understand WHY, I just hate that it IS. I think teens need to explore these issues, but not in every stinkin' book that's offered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth S Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Our library has a system where you can challenge a book, and ask that it be moved up to the next age group. Juvenile book moved to Young Adult. Young Adult book moved up to the Adult section. Or you can do something subversive like hide the book inside the library somewhere where they will never find it. :ohmy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah CB Posted July 22, 2009 Author Share Posted July 22, 2009 Our library has a system where you can challenge a book, and ask that it be moved up to the next age group. Juvenile book moved to Young Adult. Young Adult book moved up to the Adult section. Or you can do something subversive like hide the book inside the library somewhere where they will never find it. :ohmy: This makes sense to me - although clearly from the article it offends a great many. I'm just wondering whether "age level" is determined soley by the author's intended audience. The article mentioned that librarians don't evaluate the content of the book in order to figure out where it should be shelved because that's censorship. I find that a bit of a strange view to take... I would think that the library should look at reading level, content, language, intended audience, etc. and then determine where to shelve the book. I'm not one who censors at all, really. I talk with my kids and equip them so that they read with their eyes wide open. Dd often brings me books and lets me know that they're inappropriate and she doesn't want to read them. My challenge right now is trying to teach her how to skim through short explicit descriptions so that she can finish a book that, as a whole, is worth reading but contains a few inappropriate passages. Anyway, I was just interested in what exactly librarians look at when determining where to shelve a book - and if they *only* look at who the author's intended audience is then I think that's a very incomplete idea of where to shelve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyhappypeople Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Asking a book to be moved to a different section of the library is NOT censorship. The title is still available to the general public. When it comes to "questionable" young adult books, why not just move the books to their own small area in the adult section? Then add a code to the call number (maybe SE for sexually explicit? or GV for Graphic Violence?). Then the parents of the under 18 crowd can let the librarian note that their child is or is not allowed to check out SE/GV young adult books. Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenS Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 I recall there were some very eye-opening books in the YA section back when I was a librarian ... WAY more information than any teen, even an 'active' one, needed to know about all sorts of things. I know I tend toward naivete ... but descriptions of exactly HOW to please your partner, and in great detail ... probably belongs in the adult section. It made me cringe every time I had to shelve them. (Though oddly, I never recall them being checked out. I expect people snuck them out and returned them later.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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