As Banned Books Week comes to a close, I've collected some posts about parents and selecting books for children.
Over at Mommy Madness, the author says that banning books takes over her job as a parent.
From her post:
I think that am fully capable of discussing what my child reads with him. I am smart. I read a lot. I get paid to think on my feet and I am fully able to discuss these things with my child in a way that meshes with my parenting philosophy and my goals in raising him.
From Librarian Mom:
But what’s stayed with me is that parent’s rock-solid certainty that surely everyone knows what’s offensive, that it’s so obvious—or should be—as to go without saying. I think that’s an attitude that many would-be censors share, and in my experience it’s simply not the case.
From 5 Minutes for Books:
I think that by supporting the banning of books, we are in some way trying to pass off our parental charge. It is my responsibility to know what my daughter is reading and know about the books that her friends read and talk about. It is not the duty of the library system or bookstores to prevent these books from being circulated at all.
And I'd like to leave you with the link for the ALA's Challenge Support page. If you hear of a book being challenged, I urge you to support your local or school library and make your voice heard. Write letters to the editor, to the library board, to the school principal. And report it to the ALA on this site. If you're a librarian and a book is challenged at your library, this site provides some guidelines for how to deal with it.