Letters

A reader ponders the future status of school librarians

I am a High School, librarian in a very large school district with 250 schools. Many of us are concerned about the future of our role in the school environment. Our state standards have removed the research component from the K–8 programs of study and have transferred the research component in the high school library standards of learning to the English program of studies.

Teachers use the library but also have Internet resources in their classroom and Internet writing labs where they do research without the librarian. I am very fortunate to have an informed and supportive principal, but I am concerned about the general trend in the population of principals in our school district. I would like to share your survey, "What Does Your Boss Think About You? ," (September 2002, pp. 52–55) with other librarians and maybe send it out to our principals via the school board. Thank you for the wonderful article and your support.
--Lelah Sullivan, Librarian Centreville High School Clifton, VA

Thank you for your recent articles "New Library Grant Helps Immigrants" (November 6, 2002) and "RI Library Reaches Out " (November News, p. 20). Your readers may be interested to note that the Providence Public Library's program "A Cambodian Family Journey" is part of the MetLife Reading America program sponsored by Libraries for the Future. The Providence Public Library was one of 12 libraries nationwide that were selected through a request for proposal (RFP) process last year for a $5,000 cash grant to initiate their programs designed to use literature and film to stimulate intergenerational discussion, particularly in communities undergoing significant demographic change. As you point out, MetLife has refunded the program for 2003, and Libraries for the Future will select 20 new libraries through another RFP process. The RFP can be accessed on the LFF Web site at www.lff.org.
--Elissa Goldman, Program Officer Libraries for the Future New York, NY

I saw your story about the banning of Robie Harris's books in Texas (November 2002, "Book Ban Sparks Battle in TX ," p. 18), and I thought I'd let you know that we have more information on Harris and her books.

We interviewed Harris last year for one of our Authors Up-Close programs. There's a five-minute movie, as well as a movie transcript, in-depth interview, and many additional resources on her books at our Web site www.TeachingBooks.net.

In the interview, Harris says, "Our kids already know about 99.9% of this stuff. What concerns me is that they have a lot of misinformation, no matter how much they tell us, and I wanted them to get accurate information. So, I think the litmus test for me was what's in the best interest of the child, what's going to help a child stay healthy."

In order to access the full TeachingBooks Web site, you need to sign in, but it takes less than a minute and is completely free.
--Virginia Harrison General Manager TeachingBooks.net Madison, WI

There is a slight misunderstanding that can perhaps be corrected regarding the reviews of Alsonso Silva Lee's My Island and I: The Nature of the Caribbean and Mi isla y yo/My Island and I: La naturaleza de Puerto Rico/The Nature of Puerto Rico (both 2002, Pangaea, November, p. 152).

The texts are not "identical, except that for every appearance of the words 'Caribbean islands' in the English version, the bilingual Spanish-English text says 'Puerto Rico,'" as the review states. The animals and plants mentioned throughout the bilingual Puerto Rican edition are endemic only to Puerto Rico. The plants and animals listed in the English-only pan-Caribbean edition are a sampling of endemic species from throughout the Caribbean.

Because the islands of the Caribbean have a common derivation and the natural history of each is similar—as is the development of each island's own individual indigenous species–we are able to produce personalized editions over time for each in the native languages of the island. The Puerto Rican edition is the first of these. We also saw value in producing a pan-Caribbean edition for U.S. and European audiences, hence the different texts.

I realize this may be somewhat confusing. It is an innovative approach to producing reasonably priced books for a wide audience of children not only in the U.S., but throughout the Caribbean. We appreciate the kind words about both books and hope this sets the record straight.
--Bonnie Hayskar President PANGAEA Press Saint Paul, MN

I was surprised to read the tepid review of Esther Hautzig's A Picture of Grandmother (Farrar, 2002; Oct., p. 112). Your reviewer calls it a "slight story" featuring unrealistic emotions. I reviewed this book for the Association of Jewish Libraries' Sydney Taylor Book Award committee, and my reaction was almost the exact opposite. I thought it was a quiet gem, emphasizing the values of truth and forgiveness, and the joy of family bonding. Perhaps knowing the context of Hautzig's life (described in her award-winning The Endless Steppe) is what made the difference for me.

Most of Hautzig's family perished in the Holocaust, and she survived with her parents and grandmother only because they were exiled to Siberia as capitalists. I see this book as a remarkable tribute to the author's prewar childhood. She brings her beloved Vilna back to life, and breathes significance back into matters that the Nazis were soon to treat as inconsequential.

The story also examines the history of the family and the mending of broken connections. Although it takes place in 1939, the story has nothing to do with war and little to do directly with Judaism highlighting the normalcy that was soon to be destroyed, and making the story that much more poignant for those who know Hautzig's history.

Although young readers may not be aware of Hautzig's personal history, I believe that the honesty of the emotions portrayed will resonate with them, and that they will be drawn in by the mystery that baffles Sara. I believe that the book can also be used with older readers to add a humanizing touch to a Holocaust studies unit.
--Heidi Estrin, Librarian Feldman Children's Library Congregation B'nai Israel Boca Raton, FL

I respect your extensive knowledge of Esther Hautzig's background. However, the intended audience of this book is unlikely to know anything about her, and probably will have minimal knowledge of the Holocaust, at best. As adults we bring a lot of background information to our reading that young readers lack. I feel that the children for whom this book is intended will find it unfulfilling without greater knowledge of both the World's Fair and the Holocaust than is addressed in the text. While I applaud Hautzig's attempts to bring Jewish historical fiction to a younger audience, I felt that the writing in this book was not up to the quality of her previous works. Libraries with small budgets would be better off adding another copy of Hautzig's The Endless Steppe, a truly wonderful book, instead of this less effective effort.
--Amy Lilien-Harper Children's Librarian The Ferguson Library Stamford, CT

In SLJ's 2002 Rating of the Digital Encyclopedias in the November issue (pp. 58–68), the review did not mention that Encyclopedia Americana, New Book of Knowledge, Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, and Nueva Enciclopedia Cumbre en línea are component databases of Grolier Online, published by Grolier, an imprint of Scholastic Library Publishing. Further, those databases in Grolier Online are searchable globally (i.e., search results will be returned for all occurrences of the search term in all databases to which a school has subscribed). SLJ regrets any confusion caused by the omission.