The American Library Association has posted their list of Most Frequently Chellenged Books of 2003.
This is a fascinating list. "Eclectic" is probably a good word for it -- how often do you see "Where's Waldo?" and "The New Joy of Gay Sex" on a list together. To me, though, the list brings home two points:
1. As has been said so many times, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
2. It's so important for parents to be involved in their kids' lives. I wouldn't object to any of these books being in the public library, but I would like some parental control over whether my 12-year-old daughters can access them. I don't think there should be any control over adults' access to any of them, but I do think that there's a critical role for parents to exercise control over what their own children do, see and read. It's my job to raise and educate my kids, and it's a responsibility that I take very seriously. Of course, I have no say whatsoever in what other people's kids should have access to; that's their parents' responsibility.
I realize that this puts schools and libraries in a difficult position in terms of managing access to books, but it's interesting to think of this as a GOOD use of DRM technologies; the infrastructure to give me as a parent the opportunity to have some measure of control over books that my daughters can access would be a great service -- and it wouldn't even be that difficult. In fact, it would make it nearly impossible to argue for blanket bans on any books, since individual parents could restrict access to any books that concern them.
2:10:49 PM  ; ;
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