But a national policy of bullying parents interested in what their kids are reading hardly seems like the best way to encourage them. Indeed, from these numbers, the real scandal might be that so few books are ‘banned or challenged.’

Column: Banned Book Week is just hype, by Jonah Goldberg

A counterpoint to some of the celebrations going on at the moment. I’m torn by this bit of the argument in particular; yes, it’s good for parents to take an active role in helping their children select what they read. Lots more parents should be doing it—and don’t get me started on working at a library with no policy on R-rated movies, and having to hand over demon-possession movies to eight-year-olds. But I think by its very definition, challenging a book, particularly in its place in a library (rather than on a curriculum), means that parents are overstepping, and saying, “Not just for my child, but for no child.” That’s a move I think still needs questioning.

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  1. thecardiganlibrarian posted this