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In the battle over books, who gets to decide what's age-appropriate at libraries? (www.npr.org)

submitted 9 months ago by Neighborhood339@alien.top to c/books@metacritics.zone

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Interesting article from NPR.

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[–] the_pedigree@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It is unfathomable that there is ever an actual case where this is appropriate. Unless the librarian is putting Madonna’s “Sex” in the children’s section nobody’s idiosyncrasies should rule the day. Those parents who have that inclination should reassess or at the least just focus on sheltering their own children rather than rabble-rousing

[–] Jynx_lucky_j@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

I agree, but the procedure is in place and they have a right to access it.

I'm the Library Director at my library, and if after talking to me about their issue they are still unhappy and want to take their complaint to the next level, I tell them the time and date of the next Board meeting and tell them that I will make sure they are on the agenda.

I've only had 1 person actually show up to the meeting. And in that case the Board determined that we had followed the library collection policy accurately, that the policy was sound, and that no further action would be taken. (It was Harry Potter btw, way back in the "These books promote witchcraft" days).

But honestly the vast majority of the time I'm able to resolve the issue just by talking to them. Most people just want to be heard and validated so telling them they we will be reevaluating the book, and if appropriate we will relabel it and move it to a more appropriate location is enough to put an end to it.