Attention School Librarians!

In honor of School Library Month, Matthew over at Busy Librarian has issued a fun shelf challenge. Check it out over at his blog.

Prodigal Daughter

I've been away long enough!

I recently became an elementary & middle school librarian!! I found out I got the job a whopping FIVE days before school started, so I've been scrambling these last weeks to become comfortable in my new role.

After some growing pains the first couple of weeks, I've settled in quite nicely. I have kids from age 4 to 14, so I have the pleasure of experiencing the full gamut of children's and young adult literature on a daily basis. My upper elementary and middle school students are enjoying my read alouds right now.

We're reading The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo (5th grade), Loser by Jerry Spinelli (6th grade), Coraline by Neil Gaiman (7th grade), and City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (8th grade). 

Pictures of the library media center to come!

Library in the News - Censorship Watch

As a future librarian, I keep my ear to the ground about what's going on in libraries both in the US and the world at large. Here's an article that came to my attention earlier today about a case of censorship in a school library:

A popular young adult book in the Theisen Middle School Library in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, is being challenged as inappropriate. Ann Wentworth issued a formal complaint with the school district, objecting to “sexual content too mature for 11- to 14-years-olds” in the book One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones. The complaint lists some examples of the inappropriate content from the book, including references to “losing your virginity,” condoms, and a stepmother being called a “controlling bitch.”...

Source: Fond du Lac (Wis.) Reporter, Jan. 29


To all my school librarians out there, do you currently have a selection policy in place just in case a book in your library is challenged? To all my readers, have you ever challenged a book in your child's library? What are your thoughts on this?

Update March 1, 2010: The challenged book is to remain in the library, says the school district. Whoo hoo!