Letters

SLJ welcomes letters up to 400 words. They may be edited for clarity and length. Please include a daytime telephone number. Write to the Editor, School Library Journal, 245 W. 17th St., New York, NY 10011; fax (212) 463-6689; e-mail slj@cahners.com.

As I was reading your March 2001 issue, I found myself re-reading the short piece entitled "Ad Nauseam," (News, p. 24). The line that caught my attention (and disbelief) reads, "When the 54-year -old librarian comes across a salacious image, he simply removes the offending page from the publication." No matter how many times I read that line, and no matter how many times I look at it from the perspective of a teacher and librarian (and volunteer School Library Journal book reviewer), or as the mother of three teenaged children, I see the same problem over and over again. Removing images from a publication—and I'm assuming Mr. Nizalowski is tearing out pages or cutting out pictures—is censorship, pure and simple. To be clear, I applaud his attempts to persuade the powers that be at Seventeenmagazine to treat their readership with respect. However, I'm absolutely astounded and appalled by the notion of a librarian removing material from a publication before it reaches its readers. So, please, explain to me how the removal of an "offending page" is justified. Has this become an acceptable practice in high school libraries? Does Mr. Nizalowski have guidelines which identify "a salacious image"? And how does he decide which images are acceptable for teenage viewing? As both an educator and a parent, I'm embarrassed by these actions, not impressed.

ALICIA EAMES

TEACHER

PUBLIC SCHOOL 33

QUEENS, NY

I found the article about librarian Ed Nizalowski objecting to the Candies advertisement in the March issue of Seventeen magazine interesting. As a high school librarian and the mother of teenagers, I am often concerned about the messages that the media send to our youth. Complaining to the magazine and to the advertiser is the correct course of action to take. But when Mr. Nizalowski "comes across a salacious image, he simply removes the offending page from the publication." This action concerns me just as much. Removing pages from magazines that he deems objectionable is not his job, nor should it be. What made him the expert on what is salacious and what is not? Doesn't this conflict with the American Library Association's statement on intellectual freedom? Does Mr. Nizalowski also remove articles from Timemagazine that he deems too liberal for his student readers? Does he remove editorials from the newspaper that criticize the president?

KIM TRAW

LIBRARIAN

CEDAR FALLS (IA) HIGH SCHOOL

I am writing in regards to your article in the February 2001 issue titled "Congress Approves Filtering Bill." The basics of this article state that if the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) passes through Congress, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and possibly the American Library Association (ALA), will file lawsuits. The CIPA will make it mandatory for public and school libraries [that receive federal funding] to install filters on their Internet connections.

I have been a senior high school librarian for 33 years and also coached varsity football for 30 years. I may be in the minority on this, and I may be creating heresy within my chosen profession, but I believe that all public and school libraries should have filters on their Internet connections and that the ACLU is wrong in fighting this bill.

There are many "adult" bookstores throughout the United States that supposedly permit entry only to patrons over 21 years of age. Why do I not hear of the ACLU beating the drums to permit 6 to 20-year-olds to enter these bookstores? It seems that there is a double standard here, plus the fact that there is much more pornography on the Internet than in any one "adult" bookstore.

As the father of three adult children, would I have wanted any of them to go into an "adult" bookstore while they were still under my care? My answer is no. Nor would I have wanted them to be able to view pornography on the Internet while they still lived with me. The decisions they make as adults is their business. I just hope the values my wife and I have tried to instill in them have stuck.

As a senior high school librarian, do I want to "patrol" the library to make sure that the students are not viewing pornographic sites? No. I have better things to do with my professional time. So that is why we have filters on all Internet connections within our school district. I would never want to see them removed. I would never want our society to "legally" allow our children and teenagers to have the "unofficial" right to view pornographic Web sites on the Internet while they were in our school or libraries.

DAVID PISCITELLI

LIBRARIAN

WILSON SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

WEST LAWN, PA

Julie Anderson ("Give Print A Chance," February 2001, p. 37) has the right idea. Print resources should still be the gateway for all student research. Once they get the obvious questions answered from print encyclopedias and other book sources, students can focus on the right question to use for electronic searching. I think that we should push, at least at the elementary level, the idea that Net research time is the final step—the icing on the cake. When the power goes down or your server connection cuts out, the books are waiting to give students the answer.

No, I'm not a Luddite—I'm just practical.

PAT CARSON

MEDIA ASSISTANT

SOUTH FREDERICK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

FREDERICK, MD

I agree with Walter Minkels concern about children under grade five using the Internet ("Back to the Wall," February 2001, p. 33). While I'm not saying that children shouldn't be exposed to computers, too often the Internet is seen as something more than it is. The lower grades are the best time for children to get a solid foundation in learning how to use books as a resource, and by middle school, I would like to see the Internet used as one of many resources rather than as the only one.

Perhaps it is the fault of parents who are too busy, who never learned good library skills, or who don't make the extra effort to take their children to the public library to do homework research. Perhaps libraries have to change the way they serve the community—being open seven days a week is one great way to increase public awareness that they are the place to use books, periodicals, and the Internet as part of one's overall research. I just visited a public library today, and they are beginning to catalog Web sites that will be included when patrons search for topics in their Web-based card catalog. I like this idea a lot.

LOUISE CAPIZZO

CHILDRENS LIBRARIAN

FALMOUTH MEMORIAL LIBRARY

FALMOUTH, ME

Thank you for the recent review of Sarah Stillman's Soul Searching: A Girl's Guide to Finding Herself (Beyond Words, 2000; January 2001, p. 156). Though we were pleased that the book was reviewed by School Library Journal, we were disheartened at the implication that Sarah did not write it.

The Beyond Words Children's Division believes in publishing books that encourage kids to pursue their dreams at any age. Our series "Girls Who Rocked the World" features biographies of famous women who achieved great things while they were still teenagers. Books in the " Boys Know It All" and "Girls Know Best" series are entirely written by kids under the age of 17. Most of our nonfiction children's books feature writing, advice, and quotes from kid authors.

When we first received Soul Searching as a proposal from Sarah, it was one of the best proposals we had ever read. Sarah's voice, described as "pretentious and stilted" in the review, is her own. She poured her heart and soul into this book. Throughout the editing process, we have been impressed with her skills as a writer, as well as her ability to rewrite and take criticism. Her final text was edited much less than most of our other children's books.

To be published at the age of 16 should be a wonderful experience for a young person. Sarah is an amazing girl. She is "sure of herself" and "worldly," as described in the review. There are amazing kids out there in the world. We should truly recognize their contributions, not doubt their capabilities.

Questioning the authorship of a book—"Stillman seems far too worldly and sure of herself for a 16-year-old"—is a serious charge. It is our hope that School Library Journal may reconsider this statement.

RICHARD COHN

PUBLISHER

BEYOND WORDS PUBLISHING, INC.

HILLSBORO, OR

OUR REVIEWER REPLIES: I MUST BEGIN WITH AN APOLOGY

If there was some confusion as to the meaning of my review of Soul Searching. It was never my intention to suggest that the author was anything other than a teenager. My comment, "Stillman seems far too worldly and sure of herself for a 16-year-old" meant just that: her style and authority in knowing the meaning of life are far beyond those of the average 16-year-old. As a children's librarian for the better part of a decade, I have had the opportunity to meet and observe a number of teenage girls, none of whom seemed as self-possessed and poised as Sarah Stillman. It is as if I'd said, "I can't believe Catherine Deneuve is almost 60." I am sure most would agree that the French actress possesses physical qualities not found in the average 60-year-old woman, just as Stillman "speaks" with a sophistication most 16-year-olds do not possess. While I may find it hard to believe, I still believe it.

While her text is well written and well thought out, her audience may be a select few. My guess is that this book will find an audience with teens who frequent the alternative and new-age bookshops rather than those who browse the library shelves. My fear is Stillman might be alienating a number of teens who would have benefited from her essentially good ideas and sound advice. Some readers may be put off by Stillman's seemingly "have-it-all-figured-out" tone.

To be published at 16 is a wonderful accomplishment, and I look forward to Sarah Stillman's future works. A formal and pretentious writing style is not necessarily a bad style to adopt—but it is a difficult tone to adopt and successfully pull off when writing for teens.

ELAINE BLACK

LIBRARIAN—PROGRAMMING AND OUTREACH

GWINNETT COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA