Required Readings

• Bishop 6
  

Standards

• 4.2A Develops and evaluates policies and procedures that support the mission of the school and address specific needs of the LMP, such as collection development and maintenance, challenged materials, and acceptable use policies
  

Supplemental Readings

• MAF's Commentary on Bishop in eLC 6340 Resources
• Adams' Censorship slides: in eLC Resources
• Kristie Michalowski's story of the Harry Potter challenges: eLC.  It's in EPIT Advisement/6340/Resources, packaged in a backpack filed alphabetically under "Michalowski."

Our expert on this topic is Kristie M.  She presents her story in class to illustrate the process.

Discussion Points

• Banned Books BookPass
  
• Usually, the "Challenge Procedure" or "Reconsideration Policy" is part of the Selection Policy
• Always interesting to look around for active SLM censorship cases for discussion
• Current examples of reconsideration policies and procedures
• Critical to have a step-by-step procedure ready and waiting in case a challenge walks in your door tomorrow.  A Reconsideration Form for the complainant to fill out is part of this procedure.
• Kristie describes a rather extreme case.  Few of you, if any, will need to grapple with the problem to this extent.  However, a significant minority of you will face some sort of challenge during your career.  Be prepared, but don't worry about it.
  

Relevant:

• AASL's Access to Resources and Services in the SLMP: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights  (IP pp. 153-154)
• ALA "Most Challenged Lists" : easy to find online
  

References

• American Association of School Librarians and Association for Educational Communications and Technology. (1998). Information power: Building partnerships for learning. Chicago: American Library Association.
• Bishop, K. (2007). The collection program in schools: Concepts, practices, and information scources (4th ed.). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
  
• Logo by CoolText
• Morris, B.J. (2004). Administering the school library media center (4th ed.). Westport, CN: Libraries Unlimited. ISBN 1-59158-183-4.

The content and opinions expressed on this Web page do not necessarily reflect the views of nor are they endorsed by the University of Georgia or the University System of Georgia.

Page history: content refreshed 1-20-10; 2-16-09. 3-2-10: added Michalowski.
transfer from content.html/structural work 1/6/09. 2-20-10: added Adams ref.
Refreshed 2-23-11