Censorship in a school library

When I first started in my role at this library, a teaching staff member went to the shelves, found a copy of Ben Elton's Post Mortem, opened it to an explicit scene and brought it to show me. She wasn't outraged or offended, but felt the text was unsuitable for students at the school.

I read the page as she watched. It was explicit, as she had said, and contained high level obscene language. I agreed to consider the place of the book in the collection, put it in my desk, read it again, put it back in my desk - eventually, the next time we weeded, I included it in the deselected items. We had other Ben Elton that students could read, I told myself. It was old, and dog-eared. It had to go.

What I was doing, in effect, new to my job, eager to please faculty, was placing myself in the position of censor, whatever rationale I was using to justify my actions to myself. I read a page of a popular novel, and judged it to be unsuitable for students using the library, and had thus withdrawn it from circulation.

Is that appropriate? In Kentucky, it was not appropriate for library staff to withhold The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen from an 11 year old library user who wanted to read it. My context is slightly different, as my salary, at a high-end private school, is paid by parents, not by county taxes; I work under Thai law, which has a different commitment to information than American law; most of my library users are adolescents, or younger; I was removing the text from circulation, rather than refusing to let a specific user borrow it.

My rule of thumb is to not purchase texts which will be offensive to users. This is reflected in the library purchasing policy. But I know that there are advanced students, leaving for Unversity later this year, who may benefit from reading American Psycho (they are studying sexuality in the American novel); the graphic novel collection would be richer, and probably better, if I was willing to select items that contained challenging content. I also feel that I am imposing my interpretation of 'social conscience' on the library and its users.

So what is the solution? I don't think it is to have a drawer of controversial texts that are issued to users signalled as mature enough to cope; or even to mark the due date sticker with 'Year 10 and above only'. It is not appropriate, to my mind, to extract a book from the collection because it has a passage of writing that may revolt or horrify or titillate the reader. But is it correct operating procedure to, alternatively, fill the shelves with mature content?

My compromise is to not buy every book I feel I should, and to take the middle-ground, motivated by the context of the library, and my perception of the requirements of the library stakeholders. If there are disputed texts, I now consult with those stakeholders before making a decision. However, if a student requests the library purchase a text, I will almost always approve that request.

But I still feel that my selection hand is too heavy, and that rather than facilitating straightforward access to information, my caution is in effect a form of defacto censorship - and that leaves me feeling just a little bit grubby.

The Bookless Library

Do libraries need books at all?

Cushing Academy, in Massachusetts, has made the decision that they don't, and that the future for school libraries is digital - ebooks, databases, portable devices, the web.

The result? Their new digital library is the hub of the school, with increased use and the need for more librarians to help students effectively navigate the digital world. Cushing hasn't thrown away its paper holdings - they have been redistributed to relevant departments within the school. But the library itself has been reborn, digital.

I admire them for so completely accepting the challenge of technology. One of my primary goals with Harrow students is to have them being information independent (and information authentic) by the time they leave school. I define this as their being able to access, interpret, present and acknowledge authoritative information - which increasingly means, electronic information. By exposing students so fully to digital information, and scaffolding that exposure with thorough, expert advice from information professionals, Cushing Academy is surely going to meet that goal in a way that is highly relevant to success in the 21st Century.

But I also agree with the dissenting voices in the debate. I believe in, and love, the stillness of the page. Reading a book is, I agree, a singleminded process - there is only one tab open. Books are not, thankfully, connected to the grid. Tactile, silent, pleasurable, lovable, dog-eared - books are the primary reason that I am a librarian.

They are not, however, the primary reason that all students come to the library. Some want to read The Hunger Games, or Bear Grylls, or Charlie and Lola. Some want to game. Some need to print last night's homework - now. Some want to watch Youtube, go on Facebook, browse car image sites. Some want to do research. Some want to talk to their friends. Some like the air-con. Some feel happy and safe sitting alone in a chair reading Asterix. Some read the papers, or Time magazine. Some need help. Some want to do Mathletics. Some want to....

Which I guess is my point. I think Cushing Academy, with an end-goal of information independence in the digital age, has done the right thing. But I want Harrow library to not just be about Electronica, with a capital E. I don't want it to just be for research, or even research and ebooks. I want it to be for research and reading and being social, or being alone, for surfing or lying prone in a beanbag, reading Meg Cabot or The Great Gatsby for the first time. I want you to come here and connect, charge up and fearlessly onwards. But I also want you to be able to come here and disconnect, to power down, to look, slowly, quietly, longingly - backwards, or sideways, or yes, even forwards.

Database Training

In the second term, library staff will be offering database training to teachers at Harrow. The main focus of the training will be on EBSCO, and how to use it effectively in the classroom. Other resources that we subscribe to, including Britannica Online, Issues Online and Netlibrary will also be demonstrated.

The training will take place one day a week during term 2A. Each week's training will be on a different day from the previous week, so that teachers with activities have the opportunity to attend.

An email, with dates and locations, will be sent out early in the new term. Teachers who are unable to attend but would like to learn more about the school's electronic resources can contact library staff - we will be happy to arrange a time that suits.

We are also happy to demonstrate the databases to Harrow parents.

Does 2 + 2 = 4?

Not always, according to the boffins at New Scientist.

The Last Word is a useful site hosted by that magazine, where you can search for answers to those scientific (and mathematical) questions that have always baffled you.

So, if you added two librarians to two insurance underwriters, would the answer be four? Or a quiet night in? Or chaos theory?

Japanese Films

The SF World Cinema at Central World is showing a retrospective of the master Japanese filmaker, Akira Kurosawa. The films run from January 6th - January 19th, and will be in the original Japanese with English subtitles. Entry is free, and made possible by the Japan Foundation of Bangkok.

Here is a link to the schedule.

Kurosawa was the pre-eminent Japanese filmaker of the 20th Century. He won the Palm d'Or in Cannes, and was awarded an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1990. The film he is perhaps best known for is the epic Seven Samurai.

Merry Christmas

Is Santa Claus real?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all the staff at Harrow Library!

Best Teen Books

Here is a link to a list of the best teen books, as voted by readers around the world.

The library holds many of the titles listed, so come and borrow them when the new term starts!

Remember, you can check which books are available by using Oliver.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Hope you have a great holiday and enjoy a well deserved break. Read lots of awesome books and we will look forward to seeing you again in Term 2. We probably won't write much on the blog over the holiday, so keep reading - we will update it again next term, promise!

The week of Christmas is nearly upon us!

This is the last week of term 1, and it has gone so fast.
This term we have had so many fun things to do in the library. We've had storytellers, creativity day, making stuff day, Guinness World Records day and many other activities.

We have a lot of things planned for next term, so make sure you come in and see us when you get back.

This week we have a festive theme at the library. For making stuff day (Wednesday, Primary lunch) we will be making mini cardboard Christmas trees. They are very cute, you should come and make one!

3 sleeps till the end of school, and 18 sleeps till Santa...

EBSCO... it's useful, not useless!

Recently I've shown some of our secondary school classes how to use databases that the school subscribes to. If you are a Harrow student or parent, you can use these resources from anywhere you have internet access. To get the login details, just visit the library.

You can find a link to the login page on the Harrow website electronic resources page.

What is this EBSCO database anyway?
Well, it is a service that we subscribe to, filled with useful and authoratitive* information. Lots of it is full text (that means you get to read the whole piece) but you may also find abstracts (you only get a blurb describing the content of an article).

The database contains items from magazines, journals and newspapers.
Most of the content is assessed by real people and assigned appropriate subjects so that it will come up when you search for it.

*What is authoritative? This means that you can trust the information inside to come from sources which have been verified and are more likely to provide accurate information. Please make sure you assess any information you find before you use it.
I'll write more about how to do that another day...

While you can use Google to find things, it's only one tool in your choice of many!
Using EBSCO will give you the edge over other students who don't. And you'll need to use other tools like this when you're at University, so it's great practice!

Creativity day

Today is creativity day. We have many students coming in to make chocolate truffles, create collage, write fantastic newspaper poems, do fun things with i-pod touch and make their own stories with Storybird. We're really looking forward to seeing all the great stuff that students can make and do!

Here is a poem I wrote because it is creativity day.
Can you guess what it is about?

Home of aliens, paperclips, a person and an octopus
A flock of cranes
Bulldog clips, Cookie Monster cup
A solitary poppy
Tissues
Books (and more books)
A stick with a pointing finger
A sprinkling of glitter
A computer is under there somewhere

Harrow fair, Loy Krathong... exciting weekend!

Tomorrow is the Harrow fair - there will be all kinds of fun stuff to see and do. You can even eat candy floss (delicious and sugary!) I'm not sure if there are toffee apples (or as some would say candy apples) but I really hope there are! That's my favourite thing to eat at a fair. Or anytime I can get one.

Sunday is Loy Krathong. And for those of you at Harrow, we've had a whole day of Loy Krathong celebrations. It was a fun day and everyone looked amazing.

If you have time over the weekend, why not sit down with your toffee apple or candy floss and read a book or e-book? The perfect thing to unwind after a busy weekend. Just be sure not to get it all sticky :)

Britannica Online trial

Right now we are trialling Britannica Online. So if you are doing some research and want to check it out, just ask us for the password. For those of you who haven't seen it before, Britannica is a well known and trusted encyclopaedia. A great authoratitative source for your school projects!

The Red Pyramid

I've been reading (again!) and have discovered another fantastic book for adventure lovers in the secondary/prep section.

The name of the book? The Red Pyramid.

This book is great for those of you who like Egyptian things/history/fantasy and Rick Riordan. Written by the author who bought you the Percy Jackson series, this is an exciting, action packed story. I had a lot of trouble putting it down, and finished it in only two days!

The story focuses on a brother and sister who have spent most of their lives living apart. They are reunited after their father (a world reknown Egyptologist) takes them to the British museum where he asks to see the Rosetta Stone. Things only get weirder, with the children's father unleashing several ancient Egyptian gods (some of whom have their mind set on world domination). After their father is imprisioned, it is up to the children to deal with the gods and save the world...

The Mysterious Benedict Society

I don't usually write blog posts about books that I'm reading, but I've just stumbled across a really good one in the Prep and Secondary library collection.

Have you heard of a book called The Mysterious Benedict Society? I started reading it the other day and I have been finding it really hard to stop reading and do other things I know I should be doing. It's an exciting adventure story with some fantasy elements - worth a read if you like spies and unexpected events.

The book follows the adventures of four children who are drawn together after answering a mysterious newspaper advertisment looking for brilliant and gifted children. All of the children have different talents which are essential for the dangerous mission they are asked to complete.

If you like CHERUB and H.I.V.E books then why not give it a try? If you like Harry Potter, Lemony Snicket and Spiderwick there are lots of similar elements (but I won't tell you what they are - it will spoil the story!) If you're looking for adventure give this book a try!