Letters

Clifford Stoll's article "Who Needs Computers ?" in the October SLJ represents how I have felt for the last 12 years as an elementary librarian. During this time, I have seen younger children become silent as they are glued to a television set and video presentation. They hardly know how to listen to a story read to them anymore, due to lack of practice in hearing an enjoyable story read aloud. They are used to CD-ROM versions of stories with background music and plenty of noise.

Their attention for a good old book talk is so limited and they don't care to know what even the brand-new books on the shelves are about. Waldo and I Spy are the most sought-after books in the library. Books to read seem to be out of style these days.

I have always felt that my views are those of an odd, old person. As technology is pushed on us daily, the books on the shelves continue to gather dust.

A new student came to our school from Russia. She has acquired not only a new language in just one year, but also an old-fashioned love of books. Our students love technology, Game Boys, videos, and Seek-and-Find books. Peer pressure has not yet altered this third grader's way of thinking. She is a gem whom I welcome to the library as often as possible. If only all of her American classmates could return to a love of books and realize the importance of reading, I would feel as if I were in librarian heaven.

Thanks for your insight into how our society is killing learning and the love of books.
Marcia Stoner
Librarian, R. K. Mellon Elementary School
Ligonier, PA

I simply could not let Clifford Stoll's "Who Needs Computers ?" feature pass without rebuttal.

The article is so filled with invalid arguments that it could be used as an example of faulty logic. Filmstrips vs. computers? Really. Nonetheless, as a student I can personally remember a scratchy Shakespeare filmstrip which certainly made an impact on me. At the time, I had never even seen an ocean, not to mention having crossed one, but on my first trip to London, I took a side trip to Stratford-on-Avon to take my own look at the thatched cottage where Shakespeare may have been born. And by the way, I don't remember the name of the teacher who showed my class the filmstrip. But filmstrips, unlike computers, never were a major part of our society. You wouldn't see want ads for Filmstrip Programmers. You wouldn't lose out on a job opportunity because you couldn't operate a projector. Computers, on the other hand, will continue to have a major impact on our students well into their adult lives. It is simply a disservice to leave them unprepared for a society dominated by technology.

It's apparent that Clifford Stoll hasn't had much time with students interacting with computers. I spend every day supervising, assisting, and monitoring students as they use computers to explore and learn about their world. A few recent examples: a grungy guy looking for a new tattoo to augment an already impressive collection becomes fascinated by Celtic mythology. Go figure. A young woman researching possible links between music and suicide is now thinking about selecting a college major in sociology or psychology. A kid who "hates books" does a library keyword search on "monsters" and has since taken out everything we have by Walter Dean Myers.

Books and computers are not mutually exclusive. Granted, our schools still function on an agrarian model dating from a couple of centuries ago, but that's no reason to push them further back into the dark ages of information access.

Ken Warchol
Library Media Specialist
Norwalk High School
Norwalk, CT

I read "Why we are kids' best Assets " with an enormous smile on my face (November 2001). I have been a high school library media specialist for the last 11 years, and I am thrilled that Patrick Jones so clearly articulated why I (and thousands more librarians) continue to work with teenagers.

I love to read, and I enjoy imparting this enthusiasm to my students. I love to research, and that, too, I find important to pass on. But far and above, my job is to connect with my students. Sometimes books help me do that; and sometimes it's research. Or just remembering a name or the last book that they read and liked means everything to them. Sometimes the biggest smile I get all day is from the student whom I track down to give the next book in the Katherine Applegate series that I know they've been reading.

As Jones said, mine is one of the simplest jobs in the entire career encyclopedia. My job is to offer respect, expect respect, and connect with my kids. All the research and shelving books in the world won't replace the joy I feel when my "library kids" graduate their senior year and give me a little wave as they accept their diplomas. That's the most important connection in the world.

Lynn Evarts
Sauk Prairie High School
Prairie du Sac, WI

I wish to comment on the article "Librarians Help Kids Cope, Understand " in your November 2001 issue. I fully agree with the comments [by Lynn Miller-Lachman, editor of MultiCultural Review ] "…we can't remain in ignorance and isolation [about the Moslem world]." I have a multicultural solution to help solve this problem. I implemented a program "Harmony Among Nations" by inviting ethnic speakers from the community to make presentations about their countries. The results were great. Children were fascinated by their foreign accents, music, food, dance, artifacts, costume, language, folktales, and accounts of their daily living. And the children learned to say "thank you" in 10 languages! I happen to be an Arab-American school librarian and have for many years made presentations on the Middle East and the Arab world to the students, faculty, staff, parents, and members of the community. My multicultural program "Celebrating Diversity, not Discriminating" has been well accepted locally, and at national and international conferences. Children and adults enjoyed learning the Arabic words shukrun (thank you) and salaam (peace). They also enjoyed solving math problems using Arabic numerals.

I am so proud that our children have learned that we are all members of a global society and we all live in a multicultural world. It does not matter where we live or what our citizenship is. Children must learn to adjust to classmates from different cultures. By encouraging, reading, and researching, they will learn that prejudice, discrimination, and stereotyping are most destructive and not accepted in our society. Living together in peace and harmony is a lesson every student must learn. As the saying goes, "When you love one another, you see NO color."

Madeleine Hoss, Librarian K–8 Illinois State University
Thomas Metcalf School
Normal, IL

I just had to respond to Jennifer Bromann's column "Too Many Journals, Too Little Time " in the "Up for Discussion" section (Sept. 2001). It is true that there are too many demands on most librarians' time. I certainly sympathize! But, regardless of the size of our budgets, we all owe it to our patrons to provide the best and most balanced collections that we possibly can. It is not enough to go on an author's reputation; even the best of them come up with occasional clinkers. Choosing a book because it is the only one available on a particular topic, regardless of its factual integrity and the quality of its writing, is also misguided. It is better to refer the user to a reference book or an online source.

SLJ reviews most books for teens and children, and does so in a timely fashion. As Bromann pointed out, other reviews are available on Amazon.com (and not just favorable ones). If one questions the reliability of a review, or finds two that are contradictory, it is essential to seek out other opinions (perhaps from colleagues) or, if it seems important enough, look at the book in a store. I think that she is doing a particular disservice to new or inexperienced librarians to suggest that materials can be selected on the basis of superficial examination of reviews or by relying on advertisements. If something else (paperwork, for instance) eats into collection development time, let it wait occasionally. If necessary, take journals home and set aside time to solicit opinions from others whose expertise you respect.

Susan Pope
Senior Children's Librarian
New York Public LIbrary

In your review of Gwyneth's Secret Grandpa (Field Stone, 2001; Oct., p. 175), you state the grade level as four through six. This will mislead librarians, since the appropriate level is grade six through eight.

While many fourth and fifth grade students can no doubt read the words in the book, the emotional and maturity level of the content is aimed at seventh graders, give or take a year. We are quite sure of this because we field-tested a draft of the manuscript with a large number of seventh graders, who loved the story.

We understand that you don't trust a publisher's word about a book's grade level. Okay, but if you are going to do that, it seems you should then be very sure to get it right for your subscribers.

John R. Dixon
Editor and Publisher
Field Stone Publishers
Conway, MA

SLJ 's Reviewers are Librarians working with children and teens in schools and public libraries around the country. They are well acquainted with children's reading tastes and abilities, and assign grade levels based on their direct experience. Reading difficulty, interest level, complexity of language and theme, and age of the main characters are all considered. As most people working with this audience are aware, youngsters prefer to read about protagonists who are their age or older, not younger. All of these factors were taken into account when assigning a grade level to this book.

Trevelyn E. Jones, Editor
SLJ Book Review

In answer to the four criticisms in the review of my book, Heroes of the Holocaust (21st Century, 2001; Aug., p. 196), I would like to make the following points:

Ms. Posner states that I failed to mention that Jews "were the only group targeted for eradication." However, Hitler categorized Gypsies and Slavs, among others, as untermenschen. The Nazis deliberately starved to death between two and three million Soviet POWs, as well as Poles and Serbs. Thousands of Gypsies were slaughtered in the death camps.

She faults me for not explaining why the Versailles Treaty was so harsh. To explain this, I would have had to go back to the Franco-Prussian War. The book is not about that; it is about heroism during the Holocaust.

Ms. Posner points out that Hitler used the word "racial," rather than "ethnic," in referring to Jews. That's true. However, I chose to use the more accurate designation.

In her review, Posner states that the Confessing Church "did not object to the removal of Jewish civil servants." However, that was specifically a goal when it was formed in May 1934, according to Hannah Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem and other sources.

Only the mistaken Confessing Church criticism refers to the subject matter of the book. Posner's examples apply only to the first two chapters on Germany. No inaccuracies are cited as to the other six chapters, or the afterword. Nevertheless, Posner's review opens by alluding to "misleading statements and important omissions" in the book, and closes by citing "far too many inaccuracies" for the book "to be considered for purchase." No evidence is offered.

That is a most serious judgment to appear in a publication relied upon by purchasing librarians. For an author of YA nonfiction for many years who is very concerned with "getting it right," it is devastating. Fortunately, other reviews of this book, as well as lavish praise for other books in the same series, mitigate Ms. Posner's draconian judgment. Still, her review reflects not only on me, but on Dr. Sandra Alfonsi, Chair of the Curriculum Watch of National Hadassah, who was the Expert Reader on the book, and on the fact-checker.

Ted Gottfried
New York, NY

Since children consider everything they read in textbooks and nonfiction to be factual, stringent criteria must be used to evaluate their authenticity.

Hitler may have categorized Gypsies and Slavs as untermenschen and deliberately starved to death millions of political enemies. The Nazi policy toward Gypsies, while tragic, was uneven and vacillated from time to time. So-called "pure gypsies" were often spared, while acculturated and intermarried Gypsies suffered more. Now here is the difference—it was only the Jews whom Hitler wanted to eradicate from the face of the earth. It was only for this reason that trains needed to transfer German citizens to safer locations and trains needed to resupply the German war effort were diverted to the more primary task (in Hitler's mind) of killing Jews.

After reading your objection to my remarks about your neglect to explain why the Versailles Treaty was so harsh, perhaps I can offer this sentence: owing to German Kaiser's being the aggressor in World War I, the Allied Forces punished Germany with a harsh treaty, the Versailles Treaty, which had the unfortunate result of causing….

I offered the criticism because children reading this book might assume that the Versailles Treaty had been unfair to Germany. Instead, although it expressed the Allies' outrage at Germany, it turned out to be unwise, a fact that was remembered after World War II and the Marshall Plan.

Had Hitler but used "ethnic" in describing the Jews, instead of "racial" there would not have been a Holocaust. The fact that he used "racial," inferred that in their very blood was such evil that they would have to be "exterminated."

As to the Confessing Church being formed in May 1934 to object to the removal of Jewish civil servants, according to Hannah Arendt's "Eichmann in Jerusalem and other sources," I am afraid that the information is incorrect. This is a most complicated subject that is fully traced and explained in Wolfgang Gerlach's And the Witnesses Were Silent: The Confessing Church and the Persecution of the Jews (Univ. of Nebraska Press, 2000). Bonhoeffer and Niemoller can be credited as heros, and also a little-known pastor, Georg Schultz of the Sydow Brotherhood in Barmen, who announced that "the civil service law and the Aryan paragraph [about the exclusion of non-Arayan pastors] did not stem from an ecclesiastical but from a political spirit...." Unfortunately, the church backed down from protesting about the civil service law. After the Nuremberg Laws, the church debated furiously as to what its course of action would be. Although nationalistic, the church also wanted to remain true to its ethical beliefs, but ultimately capitulated.

Marcia Posner
The Holocaust Memorial and Educational Center of Nassau County
Glen Cove, NY