Our new elementary school principal, who comes from a fairly conservative private school, doesn’t want our library to have any banned titles. He recently told me that he’d personally check our catalog to make sure that there weren’t any titles on the banned books list. Since our district doesn’t have a library coordinator, I feel like I don’t have an advocate. Fortunately, our district has a selection policy and reconsideration guidelines. What should I do?
Perhaps the principal doesn’t realize that public schools have different standards and mission statements than many private schools. Give him a copy of your district’s policy so he can become familiar with the proper guidelines for dealing with book challenges. Explain to him that a challenge must be filed and brought before a committee before a book may be removed from the library, and that he’s welcome to register a challenge. He also needs to know that a separate form must be completed for each title that’s challenged. The idea of going through that time-consuming process may quickly change his mind.
I know it can be intimidating when you feel like you don’t have an advocate. But just remember to stick to your district’s policy. Your principal should be required to jump through the same hoops as anyone else who wishes to challenge materials. If he accuses you of insubordination, then go to the superintendent or your principal’s superior and simply let that person know that you’re following the district’s policy. That’s why we have policies. Let me know what happens.
In the last three years, we’ve had to deal with a number of challenges to novels that are used in our high school’s AP English class, including The Kite Runner, The Prince of Tides, The Bluest Eye, and Fahrenheit 451. Although all of these books have ultimately been retained, it’s time consuming to deal with these challenges year after year. Do you have any suggestions?
According to a person I spoke to at the National Council of Teachers of English, high school students enroll in AP English classes to earn college credit, so they must be held to the same expectations as college freshmen. If high school students or their parents don’t approve of the teacher’s literature choices, they can always drop the class. This option needs to be made perfectly clear to students and parents at the beginning of the school year. Include that message on the syllabus, explain it to students on the first day of class, and make sure that their parents understand this when you meet them during an open house. This gives kids plenty of time to opt out of the class before the grading period has begun.
A high school English teacher asked her students to pick a book on our summer reading list to read. This year, one of her students decided to read a title that wasn’t on the list, although another title by the same author was on it. The teacher accepted the student’s choice, since it was too late for her to read another book. The problem is that the student’s parent has lodged a complaint against the book because it contains some profanity. We have the title in our school library, and I’m worried that we’ll soon find ourselves faced with a full-blown book challenge. How should I prepare myself?
First, I think the student and parent should be grateful that the teacher accepted the student’s book choice. Not all teachers would be so accommodating. Next, I wouldn’t worry about a full-blown challenge until it happens. If the parent complains about the book being in your collection, I’d simply tell her that a library is all about choice. Let her know that the school has many types of readers, and that the school library’s mission is to serve all of them. If this doesn’t satisfy the parent, then let her go through the proper channels to file a challenge. I have a feeling that she won’t have the nerve to do it since it might come to light that that her daughter didn’t follow the assignment. Just hold tight.