Letters

David Piscitelli's letter (IN FAVOR of Filters, May 2001, p. 11) did an excellent job of stating the case for filters on school library computers. I suspect many librarians agree with this "heresy" from the official ALA position.

ALA is hurting the profession by taking an extremist position on filters. Families need to be able to view the association as an advocate for them, promoting literacy of all kinds. Working in the courts to take away the protection CIPA is trying to promote makes ALA seem like an enemy of the family and, indeed, naive to the harm done to all people (not just children) by exploitive pornography.

Intellectual freedom does not exclude common sense, or the freedom to deviate from the official position of one's professional association.

STEVE LARSONLIBRARIAN, NEWARK CHRISTIAN SCHOOL, NEWARK, NJ

I have a special interest in recent discussions about the dilemma of still-needed books going out of print. I am often asked by both adults and teenagers where to find my out-of-print young adult novel, The Bigger Book of Lydia(Harper & Row, 1983), a book that deals with body image and the search for a real, not false, female identity.

For any author, having a book go out of print is hard, but for a book that still has social relevance and a hopeful message about a specific and ever-growing social ill—it's actually quite painful. Having the book appear over and over again on recommended lists for eating disorders added to my frustration. I strongly considered reprinting it myself, but the cost was prohibitive.

Now, good news: thanks to a new reprint service available to members of the Authors Guild, The Bigger Bookhas been reissued and is currently available from all major bookstores. I don't expect to sell lots, but now when anyone asks me for "the one about anorexia," I can connect a disappearing girl with a book that might help. And I must admit, I am every bit as excited about this rebirth as I am about new work, maybe even more.

MARGARET WILLEY GRAND HAVEN, MI

A March 2001 review (p. 84) misspelled the name of the producer and distributor of Harlynne Geisler's CD/audiocassette A Giant, an Imp, and Two Jacks: Children's Tales from Scotland, Ireland, and England. The producer is Story Bag of San Diego, CA.

A June 2001 book review (p. 130) misspelled the name of the author of I Love Trains! (HarperCollins, 2001). It is Philemon Sturges.