Who is responsible for what a child checks out? Two librarians here said they were fired for not letting 11 year old check out "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier" graphic novel(Has anyone read this?). Lewd, obscene and pornography are a few words being used. I have no opinion on the book because I haven't seen it. The library says it is the responsibility of the parent. Some want restriction on what under18 can check out and some want the GN section moved. Right now it's in the area of YA(young adult) which has comics it it.
How would it be restricted? Who decides what is lewd, obscene and/or pornography? Do book need a rating system like the movies?
I want to keep it the way it is. I don't want someone else deciding what is/isn't appropriate for my child. I know some in my family thinks Stephen reads books that are not appropriate for him(or anyone). Someone could think art books are pornography or Twilight books are lewd(not saying they are). My mom thinks pokemon and harry potter are evil.LOL
Hmmm. I think there are certain things if my child was at a library by themselves IDKW but wanted to check out kama sutra, I would hope the library wouldnt let them.
Having said that I dont think they should tell my child what they can cant read so Im on the fence.
Hmmm. I think there are certain things if my child was at a library by themselves IDKW but wanted to check out kama sutra, I would hope the library wouldnt let them.
Having said that I dont think they should tell my child what they can cant read so Im on the fence.
Eleven and up can be at the library alone so it's possible they can check out books without their parents knowing about it unless they check the receipt or online account.
It's the parent's responsibility. I agree with you that I don't want someone else deciding which books are appropriate for my children and which are not. I'm the one that teaches them values, not the librarian. I feel that if I don't want my child checking out certain books then I need to follow up on which books they check out and, if it becomes a problem, supervise them while at the library. The librarians have no way of knowing which set of values each person has been taught. It's impossible for them to judge that. For example, my stepmom thinks Harry Potter is evil (she's never read them) and refuses to let her children read them. What librarian could guess that?
Also, I don't think the librarian should be held responsible for which books people check out. It's the child who checked it out and the child is the one who should take the consequence, whether or not he knew he should have checked it out or not. And I believe it should be the parents of the child who dole out the punishment.
I do agree that it is the parent's responsibility but some of those graphic novels are completely inappropriate for that age and I think it is the library's responsibility to put them in a different section and (possibly) limit who can go into that section - and I mean for the ones that are really obscene because I do know that there are some that are SO not appropriate for kids. In this particular instance I am not familiar enough to say that this would be one of them.
I think the 11 year old who really wanted to see graphic material could simply hop on line. In fairness, I don't know the book referenced. But can it be as bad as hald the anime out there?
I'm against the library deciding. Where does one draw the line? When does it become too "dirty" for anyone? I just think it is a slippery slope. I think asking others to be the filter is how we end up with banned books from schools (soap box issue... I'll try not to word vomit).
i don't think the librarian should decide. i think it would be awesome if books had ratings like movies do and parents could set limits on what levels their kid could check out, but obviously that isn't going to happen.
i guess if a parent is worried about what a child is reading then they should accompany them to the library.
Now my DS wants to read this book.LOL He said the GN are rated and he has never seen nudity(where there was it was censored). He said they don't have the really adult ones. He's not a very good judge of this so I'm going to check into it myself.
The last two weeks the library has been running a full page info/ad in the local paper about the policy and what parents can do to monitor their child's library usage. They are also holding an open meeting where the public can speak.
