Chair of the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee Pat Scales responds to questions about book challenges, summer reading lists, and boundaries for school library parent volunteers.
Give Children a Choice: Advocating Open Access to Materials | Scales on Censorship
By on September 16, 2013 Leave a Comment
A Formal Challenge Process Provides Teaching Moments | Scales on Censorship
By on July 15, 2013 Leave a Comment
Chair of the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee Pat Scales tackles censorship questions about The Hunger Games, grammar in “Junie B. Jones” series, and why reporting materials challenges to the ALA OIF is so important.
Childproofed: When Your School Has Inflexible Filters | Scales on Censorship
By on April 23, 2013 Leave a Comment
Pat Scales, chair of the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee, answers readers’ questions about censorship. This month, Scales addresses what to do when your school has inflexible or strict Internet filters, including strategies for aiding students in completing research assignments and advice on instituting new policies for challenged materials.
Oh, Mama!: What to do when a parent wants to narrow her child’s reading choices | Scales on Censorship January 2013
By on January 1, 2013 Leave a Comment
As I was preparing a library card for a new student, she handed me a two-page list of books that her mother won’t allow her to read. Then later on, her mother called and told me she expected me to monitor what her daughter was reading. What should I do?
You need to tell the mother that it’s not your role to monitor students’ reading. If she has an issue with the titles that her daughter chooses, then she [...]
Mum’s the Word: What to do when a pushy principal has questionable principles | Scales on Censorship
By on November 1, 2012 Leave a Comment
In addition to reading your column, what’s the best way to keep up with news about censorship?
Start by checking out the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom (www.ala.org/offices/oif), which maintains a database of challenges to library materials. These challenges are reported in its Intellectual Freedom Newsletter ($50 a year), unless the person reporting the challenge asks ALA to keep the information confidential. Another helpful resource is Robert P. Doyle’s Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read [...]
What To Do When Kids Aren’t Allowed To Read Digital Books in School | Scales on Censorship
By on September 4, 2012
Parents who visit our library’s children’s room have told me that ereaders have encouraged their kids to read. My son is a struggling reader, and he was very excited when I bought him one. But then we found out that his reading teacher won’t allow her students to read ebooks—they can only read books from the school library. How do I handle this?
Separating Church & State: Is it legal to display religious brochures in public school libraries? | Scales on Censorship
By on July 1, 2012
A local church recently asked me to display a brochure about its vacation Bible school in our public school library. I refused because that would violate the separation between church and state. Our principal attends the church, and some of its members have complained to him. Now I’m on the hot seat.
