A responsible librarian and "Uncle Bobby's Wedding"


Controversial book and public ethics
I ran across a great bit from a librarian. You should really read the whole thing, but this stood out. Emphasis added.

You suggested that the book could be “placed in an area designating the subject matter,” or “labeled for parental guidance” by stating that “some material may be inappropriate for young children.” I have two responses. First, we tried the “parenting collection” approach a couple of times in my history here. And here's what we found: nobody uses them. They constitute a barrier to discovery and use. The books there – and some very fine ones -- just got lost. In the second case, I believe that every book in the children's area, particularly in the area where usually the parent is reading the book aloud, involves parental guidance. The labeling issue is tricky, too: is the topic just homosexuality? Where babies come from? Authority figures that can't be trusted? Stepmothers who abandon their children to die?

Ultimately, such labels make up a governmental determination of the moral value of the story. It seems to me – as a father who has done a lot of reading to his kids over the years – that that kind of decision is up to the parents, not the library. Because here's the truth of the matter: not every parent has the same value system.

This is dicey. I'm not a parent. But it seems to me that if we really live in a free society, parents must make the decisions for their kids until the kids can make the decisions themselves. There is no universal solution, we should stop pretending that there is. "Society" doesn't necessarily know better, it's just louder.

I've said it before, government has lousy ethics and worse morals. Officially, the politicos should take their moral cues from their constituents . Mala prohibita laws don't work precisely because those laws impose moral values that aren't universal.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Mon - July 28, 2008 at 01:13 PM  Tag


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