this post was submitted on 29 Nov 2023
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The librarians are responsible for curating books and assigning them to the appropriate sections. That said librarians are human and mistakes can happen, if you believe a book is inappropriately categorized speak to a librarian about it (in a respectful manner please) and they will reevaluate the book.
However, while a certain book may generally be appropriate for a certain age range, not every book is appropriate for every reader. While the librarians can offer guidelines, in the end it is the parents responsibility to ensure their child is only checking out materials appropriate for them. This duty cannot be off loaded onto the librarians.
And what then should parents do if they think librarians haven't been doing a good enough job? Convince them all one by one until the librarians all agree with the parents? Or simply pass a law making sure the librarians follow the guidelines the majority has agreed upon?
Then you can present your case to the Library Board of Directors, a group of local civilians appointed by the local government to oversee the library and it's operations, at one of their regularly scheduled public meetings.
Present your case and if they board believes that there may be validity to your case they will launch an investigation. If the investigation finds that the librarians are not properly following the library's collection polices, the librarians responsible will be reprimanded, or in extreme or repeat cases they can recommend the local government fire the offending librarian. Or if they find the librarians were following the library's collection policy correctly, but the policy is flawed then the board can rewrite the appropriate sections of the policy.
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
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.