February 2001

Children's library programs should be free

I wonder if Inge Saczkowski ("The Buck Stops Here: Charging for Programs?," November 2000, p. 29) would also advocate charging businesses for the use of expensive directories and new technologies so that they, too, will appreciate where taxpayers' dollars have gone. Or are children and young families the only ones who must pay for library services in order to truly appreciate their worth?

Most of us who have chosen to work for children in public libraries do so because of a commitment we feel to opening up the world of books to all children, regardless of any economic barrier that families might face--especially in the light of such economic barriers. Storytimes and reading programs are core library services that introduce and promote a love of reading to children. Families should not have to submit to an embarrassing means test to access these services, and pride would prevent most from even asking. In our library, these core programs are offered free of charge and our attendance rate is also 90 percent. In the light of a growing population of young families, we, too, have waiting lists for many of our programs. I believe this is because our community appreciates the quality of our programs and the opportunities we provide for their children.

Pass the Source, Please

Editor's Note: The source for the information was the Filtering Survey discussed in "Filtered or Unfiltered" (January 2001, pp. 43-47). But, the percentage was reported erroneously. The actual figure is 53 percent.

Not a Religious Issue

'Unlisted' Is on Target

Walter Minkel's commentary in "Unlisted Numbers" (December 2000, p. 49) is right on the money. I have wasted hours trying to contact colleagues via their Web sites, or determine services offered by libraries. Please check out our site. We try to accomplish two primary things: "Who we are" and "what's out there on the Internet," and use our site www.tcpl.lib.in.us to provide direct patron services as they become technologically available. Missing presently are our new foundation pages. They have been "under development" for a couple of months and should be mounted shortly. I hope libraries take your admonitions to heart.

Joel M. Robinson, County Librarian
Tippecanoe County Library
Lafayette, In

A Nuclear Undertaking

Thank you for reviewing our book Nuclear Legacy: Students of Two Atomic Cities (edited by Tetyana Gavrysh and Maureen McQuerry; Battelle, 2000; Sept. 2000, p. 252).

This book initially started as a one-semester project for 13-year-old students in my gifted and talented middle-school class. Their enthusiasm and commitment ultimately resulted in an 18-month-long project involving 40 students from two countries. The students--all of whom are now in high school--dedicated endless hours, even through summer and Christmas vacations, to bring this book to completion.

While we greatly appreciate the review, there are several points I would hope your respected journal would consider relative to this particular book. We could not find any other book reviewed by School Library Journal that has any similarities with this book. There were no reviews of any book authored by13-15-year-old students, let alone 40 middle school students from two countries writing in two languages--Ukrainian and English. These students not only collaborated on writing, translation, photography, layout, and design; they also managed to find corporate assistance from Bechtel and Battelle to compile the book, translate it from English into Ukrainian, and from Ukrainian into English, and then find a publisher willing to invest $40,000 to print a book authored by young teenagers.

To our knowledge, there are no other books published in both Ukrainian and English. The Ukrainian language is more similar to Polish than to Russian. It has only been since the fall of the U.S.S.R. that Ukraine has begun reestablishing its own native language. Great care was taken to maintain the "voice" of the young student authors when translating from Ukrainian into English, and from English into Ukrainian. This is the reason you see the translation: "That day me and Daddy were learning a poem by heart," rather than the more correct English phrasing: "The day Daddy and I were learning a poem."

Students in both nuclear communities recognized that the primary possible effect of radiation around both nuclear sites is on the wildlife and the environment. This is the reason students included so many articles about the wildlife, and articles about the history of both locations before there were nuclear power plants located nearby.

The student authors were required to assemble a bibliography for their articles, and this bibliography would have been in the book had it not been for the advice of the publisher to leave it out, primarily because of the added cost of translating and printing.

We would be happy to provide the documentation and citations to support the research these students conducted in the preparation of their articles.

Our reviewer replies:

I agree with Ms. McQuerry that this book is very commendable in its conceptual originality and effort. While the intentions and talents of these young authors are not at question here, the relevance and practicality of this title for libraries with many demands on their material budgets are. There are other books and reference materials covering many of the subjects in this book that will be of greater use in libraries. The inclusion of articles on wildlife and local history are justified well in Ms. McQuerry's letter, but the intended audience does not have the benefit of this in the actual text. As to the decision--editorial, financial, or otherwise--to omit sources and bibliographic information, I find this, on a professional and educational basis, to be both irresponsible and inexcusable. Ms. McQuerry states in the text's "A Reader's Guide" that "this is not a technical document and it should not be read as one." Be that as it may, would the authors of Nuclear Legacy have been able to write their own book without the benefit of a bibliography in their sources? What grade would they receive on a report on any subject if they didn't include footnotes in the final product? As the review states, this is an impressive accomplishment that presents various cultural perspectives. My hat is off to the students and teachers who undoubtedly worked hard on, and care much about, this project. However, the best intentions don't necessarily make a successful and widely appealing book.

Gods and Monsters

In response to your review of my book Gods, Goddesses and Monsters (Scholastic Reference, 2000; Nov. p. 92), I wish to comment on what I feel are misrepresentations of my work.

1) African and Native American mythologies: Most general-interest world mythology books discuss mythic systems in terms of Africa, North America, Central America, and South America. This includes David Bellingham's Goddesses, Heroes and Shamans (Larousse, Kingfisher, Chambers, 1997), which Ms. MacMillan herself recommends. I clearly state in the second paragraph of my introduction to Africa that "Africa did not develop one overall myth system because Africa itself did not have one people, one history." I then go on to describe how, because of their complex diversity, African myths are generally categorized by geography, and I specifically name the countries that are grouped together as East Africa, West Africa, etc. I offer the same type of explanation and description of cultural areas in the North America, Central America, and South America sections of my book.

2) Language level: The difficult words, "heliopolis" and "ennead," highlighted by Ms. MacMillan, are explained in a sidebar on the same page from which she selected her sample sentence. I think the following sentences are far more indicative of the tone of my book: "It took four servants to lift the heavy eyelid of this Cyclops--and one glance from him was fatal. (Balor). Everyone hated him: gods, mortals, poets, even his own mother, Hera. (Ares). He was ornery and ugly and the only Olympian god who got thown out of heavenâ?¦twice!" (Hephaestus)

3) Cross-referencing: There are numerous cross-references in this book and an index that includes entries such as "animals," "first people," and "water deities" that will help children make the connections among the world's myths.

4) Omissions: When you're creating a book like this, you're not given limitless pages. As an author, you have to make difficult decisions about what to include, what to leave out. I wanted to give children a good cross-section of myth systems around the world, as well as a sense of ancient versus "living" mythologies. I think my choices are sound. I'd be happy to do another volume if I could. Personally, I love Russian and Slavic myths--as well as Finnish and Tibetan ones.

Our reviewer replies:

In response to Ms. Keenan's letter, I first wish to point out that there is much to recommend in her book, which I believe my review made clear.

While it is true that most encyclopedic mythology works treat myths geographically, any teacher or librarian knows that inadequate coverage of Native American and African tribes is a weakness of the genre (particularly in light of the number of assignments students receive on these topics). David Bellingham's Goddesses, Heroes, and Shamans attempts to draw out mythological patterns through longer overview sections (two to six pages per geographic region), which I believe is a strength of that work. While I agree that Ms. Keenan's book uses cross-references effectively, I maintain that the segmented structure hinders readers' grasp of overall connections.

As for language level, I agree that many entries contain simpler language than my example may indicate (alas, space constraints limit reviewers as well as authors). However, many others are phrased in ways that make it difficult for mythology newcomers to grasp meaning. For example, though the sidebar mentioned by Ms. Keenan does mention the terms from the entry in question, it does not actually explain their meaning. This is certainly not a work for beginners; indeed, my own library, which catalogued the book as adult nonfiction, would seem to agree.

Finally, in regard to the omissions: my job as a reviewer is to let my colleagues know both what a book contains and what it does not. There is much to recommend in Gods, Goddesses, and Monsters, and, indeed, most libraries and schools will want to purchase it. However, I still believe that Goddesses, Heroes, and Shamans better meets the needs of most students.