July 2000

Thank you so much for your heartbreaking yet extremely important focus on children living in poverty, and the importance of libraries in their lives ("An Unequal Education," May, pp. 46-49). I rank Jonathan Kozol's Savage Inequalities (HarperPerennial, 1992) among the most influential books in my life. Having grown up and lived most of my adult life in very homogeneous and fairly well- heeled communities, I had not really searched my own soul for the true possibility of my chosen career for making a difference to children who have so little. Savage Inequalities changed all that for me and I have become a staunch supporter for better funding for public schools, a strong and outspoken opponent of vouchers, and a true believer that libraries have a special role to play for "children at risk."

Now I live and work in Norfolk, VA, a city where 65 percent of our children are in the free or reduced lunch program. In this city, where social and economic apartheid is as real and seemingly inflexible as any law possibly could be, the Norfolk Public Library strives mightily to ensure that all children, especially those living in poverty, have access to libraries after school and on weekends, in a truly appreciable way. Everything from our "Unattended Children" policy (children under the age of six must be accompanied by a guardian who is at least 10, for example) to resource allocation, to good weekend and evening hours, is geared to ensuring that barriers to books and learning through libraries are reduced or eliminated.

Recently, our library was essentially level-funded despite a magnificent grassroots advocacy effort. I was feeling fairly dispirited about this fact, but reading the May editorial and Mr. Kozol's powerful essay on the importance of libraries for children has rekindled my commitment to ensure that, despite the shortsightedness of those who fund us, we will keep the window open for our kids. As Kozol says, "[The loss of library services is] the one form of theft that is too often irreversible. Children are children only once."

Sally G. Reed
Director, Norfolk Public Library
Norfolk, VA

Drawing the Line

I was looking at my tattered posters on reading and I decided to get some new ones from the American Library Association (ALA). Upon looking through [its] catalog I came upon the poster with professional wrestlers on it. I understand librarians go to great lengths to get kids to read, but where do you draw the line as far as role models are concerned? We review the materials we put in our libraries. Even with the cry of "no censorship" on librarians' lips we still will not buy materials that have poor reviews for whatever reasons. I think ALA should review their choice of role models.

Smack Down (a World Wrestling Foundation [WWF] sports game for PlayStation) has already drawn fire on such issues as violence against women and obscenity. The people on the WWF poster stand for violence, intimidation, and vulgarity. With this poster I feel ALA is saying that these people's actions are okay because they promote reading. I understand there are those who say that what is violent and vulgar to some is not to others. What I do not understand is that with all the books and articles and studies about how society is becoming ruder and more violent, why we allow this. I am not going to buy the poster.

In our library we do not allow name-calling or vulgarity. I believe other school libraries do the same. So why would ALA promote these people on a poster? Oh yes, to get kids to read. I think it is about time we not only worry about our children's reading, but worry about the child as a whole being. I think I speak for a lot of people who want our children to grow up as well-adjusted, caring adults, who will add something to their world and their children's world. We are all in this together. We can do things that make a difference. I am not going to buy that poster, I hope others do the same.

Sue Silander
Library Director
Marian Catholic High School
Chicago Heights, IL

"The" Problem

As a language consultant who specializes in the grammar of prejudice, I would like to bring a word to your attention--one of the simplest words in the English language, but also one of the most invidious. The word "the" as it appears on the front cover of the May issue of School Library Journal, as in "the poor."

America employed this simple word to create "the" Blacks, a stereotype that held for nearly two centuries. Hitler employed the same metaphor to create "the" Jews, "the" homosexuals (a metaphor that continues in America), "the" Sinti, and a great many other groups, whom the Nazis then annihilated. As with the above, "the poor" do not exist. There is as much variety among people whose income is low as among people of any other description. It is a label, not a descriptor. Much more preferable would have been "poor communities," which avoids labeling the person.

One can tell by examining contemporary metaphors the current prejudice of a society. One of the clearest indicators is the simple word "the" when it is employed to render a group as existing without individuality.

Harold A. Maio
Director
The Mental Health Clearing house
Fort Myers, FL

A Design Issue

I found it highly ironic that your March 2000 cover story about the new PBS show Between the Lions, promoting reading and libraries, was printed entirely in white print on a black background, making it nearly impossible to read. Although I find your publication very useful in a professional capacity (reviews, news, etc.), I am finding it less and less enjoyable to plow through as the design gets "hipper," the print gets smaller, and the ads get more plentiful. I assume these changes are a continuance of your major overall change of several years ago, but I must ask you, please consider the people who are reading your journal before you make any more such changes, and not just how "cool" the pages look. We are overworked, underpaid, and have a million things to do, so anything you can do to make our lives just a little easier would be much appreciated.

D. J. Lilly
Youth Services Librarian
Centre County Library
Bellefonte, PA