Deep Thinking

Reading the new ALA Intellectual Freedom blog I would love to be a Pollyanna and believe that school librarians are able to protect Intellectual Freedom within the school, but we are armed with slingshots against a mighty army. If you ask us to go on record and detail all challenges, we will probably resist because we don’t want to raise visibility enough to engender more challenges and battles.

Let me give you an example of an incident that occurred before the holidays. I did not document this for the district, although I did alert my principal. Two parents rushed into the library to show me a “bad book” that a child was reading: Babies by Anna Sandeman, part of the Copper Beach set of Body Books and an accelerated reader book. I held the book in my hand and calmly discussed the facts about this title. Yes, it is on the shelf with all the body books. Yes, children read it. Yes, when it is checked out I do quietly and unobtrusively discuss with the child why this book should stay in their backpack until they get it home because other students might not be as mature on the bus, then they won’t be able to enjoy the book as much. I encourage them to share it with their families and to simply return it if they feel it is TMI - too much information. (Yes, two students have returned it before the end of school on the same day they checked it out.)

I explained that we have many students with new siblings and that we do have sexually active and aware students in third and fourth grade who are requesting information. I also reminded the parents that we provide resources for parents who are seeking information and ways to have “the talk” with their child. For example, I keep a copy in the professional collection just for parents of the book It’s so amazing! : a book about eggs, sperm, birth, babies, and families by Robie H. Harris and illustrated by Michael Emberley.

While I pulled out a copy of our district’s reconsideration policy, I asked the parents what their major concern about the book was and if they objected to their child learning about the development of babies before and after birth. The parents then said in shock, “Why, this wasn’t my child’s book. We saw this book on another child’s desk in the classroom when we walked in to leave a note on the teacher’s desk while they were at recess.”

Then I expressed my own surprise with the wonderful theatrical drama of an elementary school librarian. “My goodness! I hope you didn’t make a scene with this book when you violated this other child’s rights. We respect the rights of children in this building to read and would never tolerate someone else interfering with the intellectual freedom of another’s child. You don’t know this child or their parents and stole it from the child’s desk. I’m going to have to call the principal to notify him of this violation for that child and his/her parents’ sake.” Immediately the scenario changes.

While they were hastily reconsidering their own actions, I calmly showed them the form and reminded them that this library belongs to all students at Hickman. If they continued to have concerns about the title and they wanted to go through the proper legal formalities of reconsideration, they simply had to fill out this form while I called the principal to come and receive it (per district policy). Friendly smile. Oddly enough the parents decided that wasn’t necessary and that they would happily take it back to the classroom before the students returned. When their own child was ready for “the talk,” they would be sure to come by and check out both titles. In the meantime we should all have a wonderful vacation. I did immediately locate the classroom teacher to be sure this was calmly handled. Because it was handled calmly, the parents and I have remained in good standing. Cross off two more citizens on our list to educate about intellectual freedom.

In the past 3 years I have had problems with this title from the previous guidance counselor and a different teacher. They were never directly involved with the students who were reading the book until they happened to see it and would yank it out of a child’s hand and bring it back to the library for me to put on my “special shelf” - the professional shelf. As soon as they walked out, I would look up the name of the child who was reading it and return it apologetically to them with the reminder to keep it in their backpack to avoid problems like this with that counselor. I believe and I will fight for the rights of students to read. If a teacher or counselor disagrees with a title, they must also go through the reconsideration policy or I will refuse to censor the rights of my students to have access to these titles. You pick your battles. My principal knows that I am always prepared for this one. Do I want this heavily published and making headlines in the local newspaper? No, I prefer fighting this one on one.

ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom blog can be found at http://blogs.ala.org In their own words “Our blog will feature alerts, articles, commentary, links, news, and more, to expand our ability to fulfill our mission: to implement ALA policies concerning the concept of intellectual freedom as embodied in the Library Bill of Rights.” I hope they will discuss school libraries soon.

The rights of intellectual freedom, particularly in access to electronic resources, are under attack in our schools. Filters that cannot be easily bypassed by the school library staff, internet policies that restrict interactions with others for learning, and globally vague overly restrictive barriers face school librarians in every direction. This is a fight for which we need reinforcements from our library colleagues of all divisions. Where are the troops? And, can you tell I live in the Volunteer State?

While collaborating with third grade teachers, I reviewed the reading/writing/technology standards that drive instruction in our district. These standards are for classroom teachers to monitor and teach, not just the librarian; yet many teachers need training and support in implementing the standards. We walk a fine line between helping and taking over lessons. Sometimes during planning you can identify potential road blocks, but the teacher is still determined to drive 70 mph through it. Taking notes is one skill that seems to send teachers down the twisted roads instead of the interstate. If only we could be the GPS system as the teachers are planning. Instead I feel like the highway assistance hotline (HOT) operator that’s there when the lesson has gotten lost or broken down along the way. When we are planning together, I’m able to send up road signs and flash danger lights. I can even suggest alternate routes. When the teacher finds someone else’s lesson online that sounds perfect, begins to implement it with the students, discovers her student’s weren’t adequately prepared, then I am the highway assistance hotline operator.

There is a point for students when they see beyond the clicking of multiple sites of interest on the topic, to the bigger picture of reading for information. When the teacher witnesses students frantically clicking, but not writing down any information in their graphical organizers, their frustration level builds and they overheat. What to do? I can suggest to students that they actually read their organizer’s questions before they touch the computer. I have been known to take the mouse away and set it on top of the computer until the student actually reads what’s on the screen. (Put it in park and look where you are) When the entire class is lost, I will have everyone put their hands on top of their heads to begin massaging their head and jumpstarting their brains. When their eyes dart across the pages, but they can’t locate key words, I will print out the page, grab a highlighter and go back to teaching SQRRR. This is similar to trip planning - where is the Mapquest for Information skills? I wish more teachers were implementing this still!! As the teacher told me, her third graders have been accustomed to having the first question located near the beginning of an article, the second beneath that, etc. Suddenly she is providing questions that call for higher level thinking skills when the students don’t have a framework for understanding the web pages they are reading. She is asking them to become racecar drivers when they haven’t driven beyond the school 30 mph zone.

I have heard some of the studies by professors at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. They have studied how much reading actually occurs on the screen and the results are saddening. As part of our collaboration, we need more pre-travel directions. Which reading skills should the students have mastered before they travel the web? At what point will they run out of gas and will the teacher be able to go get them all to bring them back to a central location so they can travel together?