In the article “A Dirty Little Secret”, the author talks about librarians censoring themselves when choosing what to buy (or not) for their library. I’m interested in how this self-censorship relates to reader’s advisory, especially for children. It seems like if a librarian is censoring what they select, they might also be careful about what they give a child to read.
I’ve been asked by many parents and grandparents, “Can you recommend a good book for my third (etc.) grader?” Sometimes it takes a lot of digging to get to what the child likes to read, but the most frustrating thing is when you recommend one book after another and they are all rejected for one reason or another. “We don’t read books with magic.” “Is it ‘clean’?” “That one looks too hard, is there something easier?” I like to think I don’t censor myself when I recommend books to kids, but I have found myself telling a parent, “It’s a great book, but…” It is infinitely easier to talk to a child directly, but after reading about all of these great books that have been challenged, it gets tougher. Do you give them a book you know has ‘objectionable’ material because it really is the perfect book for that child, or do you choose something else to recommend, just in case?
I hate the idea of having to censor myself in reader’s advisory. I don’t want to pre-screen books; if a book is really exceptional it isn’t enough to just keep the book on the shelf. I want to share it with kids, and I don’t want to worry about what their mom thinks. But at the same time, I don’t want to be personally attacked for my recommendations or put the library in a position where it has to defend its selection choices. I’m on the fence on this one.
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Becky,
ReplyDeleteThat is a very difficult situation to find one's self in, especially working in Reader's Advisory. I admire your personal insight, reflections, and questions concerning censoring and Reader's Advisory.
I've asked librarians many times for recommendations and/or have taken their "If-You-Like" lists they print out...but have never thought about how much self censoring being a reader's advisory librarian entails.
I definitely agree with you and feel the same way about this situation. It's a tough call to make and definitely one that is important for all librarians.
Nice reflections and comments!
Becky, you might like a Readers' Advisory course. I took it last semester and the thinking is that a librarian should never recommend a book to a patron. We can do that with friends and family, but to patron's we just suggest book titles. It leaves the door open for them to bring the book back if it isn't what they wanted.
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