Like is this magical thinking: https://archive.ph/kRxHU
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Some would argue that these books are simply not appropriate for a public school environment with gradeschoolers, but the lengths these parents are taking to get their point across is unreasonable. Arguing that the children are harmed by exposure to them or that itâs simply âimmoralâ is not necessary. Arguing should be on how influential they can be towards those not capable of understanding or compartmentalizing things such as this, which can have a detrimental effect. It borders along maturity, but also content space and sub-cultures that could potentially open up children to exploitation by introducing them to communities that theyâre not ready to engage with.
I personally could go either way with regard to this type of thing since itâs just a school library, and libraries were never meant to be all-encompassing repositories of information, only that which is academic or historic by nature. The same couldnât be said enough about public school libraries, though, if libraries are going to stock things like manga or popular novels, then they should be more open and accommodating to all forms of expression.
What âacademicâ could mean is admittedly vague, as a copy of Comic LO (Japanese lolicon manga anthology) has about as much academic value as Fifty Shades of Grey, as both are valid in terms of having serious artistic and literary value (meaning that, objectively, like anything else, they both have it), but to expect a publicly-funded library to have either of them, let alone unfettered access to every work of art or literature under the sun is simply not ideal. Objectively, there is serious academic value in everything we see.
So the question as to what should libraries carry is admittedly a tough one, but one that I donât think we ought to take that seriously. When libraries begin offering material which is designed to entertain, rather than educate or inform, I think weâre opening a Pandoraâs box thatâs best left closed.
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As someone who respects your thoughtful commentary, even if I donât always agree, that has to be the most ridiculous thing you have ever said. During high school 50 years ago, I worked for two years before/after school (we were on double sessions) in the local public library. I can say that about half of our collection was reference books and the other half fiction. In other words, entertaining books and magazines. Are millennials and Gen-Z so used to the internet that they donât ever visit a library? Libraries exist to loan books for enjoyment as well as edification.
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I wan born in 1999, and up through high school, I only ever rented fiction books! Iâm also confused by this notion that school libraries shouldnât have books for entertainment valueâŚ
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âEntertainment valueâ is a fairly subjective term after-all. To some autistic savants (for example) the telephone directory has entertainment value.
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