What can school librarians do about library and book censorship? First, ask questions. Find out what your principal and your district have put into policy and what your principal's expectations are for your school library. Then, communicate with your classroom teachers. For ourselves, school librarians should work with colleagues, especially other…

The Students' Right to Read provides resources that can be used to help discuss and ensure students' free access to all texts. The genesis of the Students' Right to Read was an original Council statement, "Request for Reconsideration of a Work," prepared by the Committee on the Right to Read of the National Council of Teachers of English…

Promoting student power in the choice of high school literature can prove uncomfortable, unruly, and contentious. Without enough preparation, research, and reading, teachers may find language, content, and themes to be more mature than initially anticipated. This essay explores one teacher's reflection of two instances when choice reading…

Book challenges have become more and more frequent in recent years. In particular, those books that address issues most relevant to preteens and teenagers seem to be the object of many challenges. Many of the hundreds of challenged works represent literary classics and high-quality writing for young audiences. Teachers, administrators and other…

School administrators and teachers need to recognize that most persons--including would-be censors of school-related media communications--simply do not understand the complexities germane to measuring the impact of the mass media and the specific messages transmitted to broader audiences via a variety of media channels. In particular, what most…

Describes censorship cases that have affected the author while he served on intellectual freedom committees of the International Reading Association and/or the National Council of Teachers of English. Recommends four books as valuable resources for protecting the freedom of teachers and students to have access to materials, and the freedom of all…

Relates the author's frustration with the idea that writers of young adult literature should avoid profanity and make the books unobjectionable. Discusses the need for truth in telling the stories of his characters, and asserts that making his books unobjectionable would be to lie about what it is to be human. (PRA)

This article presents an interview with Cassandra Barnett, a school library media specialist at Fayetteville (Arkansas) High School. She is also a member of the AASL Learning Standards Rewrite Task Force, which has been working on developing AASL's new National Learning Standards. Fayetteville schools experienced multiple challenges during…

Alleges misinterpretation by the media of school book selection policies. Criticizes the findings of the nationwide survey on censorship sponsored by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the Association of American Publishers, and the American Library Association. Details controversies in Montgomery County, MD, Merrimack,…

Asserts that assigning adolescent literature to students without first reading a review of the book is risky because the books may contain sexually explicit text. Argues that teachers should not assign books such as "Vision Quest" by Terry Davis, because they contain graphic language. (PRA)

Argues that teachers can ensure against the attacks of censors by instituting formal policies for material selection in English curricula. Gives information about those who actively seek to censor and what their arguments are in favor of censorship. Claims that yielding to censorship degrades the teaching profession. (HB)

This book presents an informal history of books and reading, beginning with the first clay tablets and continuing on to the latest novels. The history recounted in the book reveals the power books have always had to delight and entertain, and to enlighten, educate, and "raise possibilities." But the story of reading also contains many…

Cedar Rapids (Iowa) has had a written selection policy and a procedure for handling challenged instructional materials since 1971. An analysis of 112 formally submitted challenges reveals that far more challenged books were retained in the schools than were removed (61 retained, 22 removed). (Author/MLF)

Explains the author's views on writing for young adult readers, and tries to present the awkward realities of the modern world in a way that makes them explicable to the immature mind. Emphasizes that it is important that teachers, librarians, and academics continue selecting and discarding, discussing and analyzing, and making comparisons with…

Reveals the ways college curricula influence secondary school reading lists, and examines how and why definitions of "classic" literature change. (JL)