Letters

I just completed reading your editorial in the July issue plus the article “Charming the Next Generation (pp. 30–32. I am very happy to say that the state of Kentucky is on board with this wonderful and powerful technique and has been for a number of years.

I head a bustling inner-city children’s library in Covington, KY, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. We have worked for years with the James E. Biggs Early Childhood Education Center just seven blocks from my location. Dialogic reading was introduced there at least five years ago by a very dynamic teacher, Christine Kelley, who helped produce profound results among many families who were semi-illiterate or worse. Chris is now employed with Children Inc. and has taken her expertise on the road.

In September, 2004, the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives held a conference for public children’s librarians from across the state, which included Chris and her presentation on dialogic or shared reading. And in November, Chris will be bringing, at my behest, her presentation to the Ohio Kentucky Indiana Children’s Literature Conference, of which I am the chairperson. This conference is being held at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Saturday, November 12, 2005. The conference theme is “Literacy for Life.” For more information, visit www.gclc-lib.org/ce/viewevent.php?id=522.

As a new grandmother, I am also using this technique with my one-year-old granddaughter. Thank you for bringing this topic to the forefront of your national audience. There is so much to be gained by its use.

--Patricia A. Richards, Kent County Public Library Covington, KY

The victory proudly reported in “NY Library Says No to PG Ratings” (News, p. 17, July 2005) is an example of how blind allegiance to an ideal may be damaging, rather than enhancing, our ability to serve young people.

I struggle to maintain a collection that is appropriate for ten-year-olds but still appealing to young teens. Since I cannot read every work published for children, I rely on reviews to guide my selection. However, I am repeatedly frustrated to discover after I acquire a book that it contains material I consider unacceptable for middle schoolers of any age. How much more useful reviews would be if they openly reported on, say, sexual content, and let us, professionals who know our audience and community, make our own, fully informed, purchasing decisions.

I don’t accept the excuse that “kids these days know all about this stuff anyway.” Granted, standards are changing, but there is a great difference between acknowledging that something exists and providing it. We accept audience labeling on video games and movies. Why do we find it so threatening when applied to books? Are we afraid of looking “square?” Having fellow librarians see us as book burners? Let’s remember that, ideals notwithstanding, our anti-censorship stance is not protecting an artistic climate in our society as much as it is ensuring that publishers can continue to crank out what they know will sell.

I like to think of my media center as an inviting oasis, a refuge in confusing times, and myself as a role model. No matter how middle schoolers present themselves, they still need to be nurtured, and many experience more stability at school than they do at home. We should not let fear of censorship override our good judgment and parental instinct for the welfare of a very vulnerable audience.

--Nancy R. Preston, Librarian, Fayetteville, NY

Oscar Wilde said, “A poet can survive everything but a misprint.” Upon reading Margaret Bush’s review of my book zoo’s who (Harcourt, 2005; Apr., p. 122), I discovered two such misprints. First, the title of my book is zoo’s who, in lowercase. Second, the typography of the poem, “The Slugs,” is deliberately spaced out: “S l u g s a r e u g l y. / S l u g s a r e l o w l y . / S l u g s c l i m b m o u n t a i n s / V e r y s l o w l y .” To reprint the poem with standard spacing diminishes and detracts from the original.

--Douglas Florian, Jamaica, NY

Rachel Kamin’s letter criticizing two of Rosen Publishing Group’s books about the Middle East (May 2005), a Rosen editor’s rebuttal (July 2005), and Kathy Noble’s letter concurring with Ms. Kamin (July 2005) touch only the tip of an alarmingly large iceberg. Inaccuracies, bias, and misinterpretation in books for young people about the Middle East abound these days! As historian Bernard Lewis says, “…great efforts are being made to falsify the record of the past and to make history a tool of propaganda.” He is quoted by Andrea Rapp in an article by Ms. Rapp that no librarian should miss: “Lies in the Library” in the Summer 2005 issue of Reform Judaism magazine and on their Web site at www.reformjudaismmag.org.

--Linda R. Silver, Association of Jewish Libraries, Cleveland, OH