Questions, Comments, or Concerns
Please post general questions, comments, or concerns here that you would like addressed by myself and the class.
posted by Sophie @ 3:22 PM
Please post general questions, comments, or concerns here that you would like addressed by myself and the class.
posted by Sophie @ 3:22 PM
21 Comments:
If you are reading this, I posted successfully!
I think my old Mac is dead, so I am on the new one and the blog works fine. I'll have to figure out how to use the camera soon and edit my profile.
See you in class tonight
Yeah! I'm in!
This must be working, see everyone tonight!
I'm in.
OK...it works! I had a small problem, but it is fixed and I am in.
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Yeah! I did it!:)
Stephanie
Hopefully this works.
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Hello everyone. I made it :)
Hooray! I'm here!
Better late than never, I guess!
I'm here, too!
I made it!
YIKES! I did not give you my finished journal response tonight. I came in a few minutes late, listened to Shannon and went straight to the lab. What would you like me to do? JulieH
Julie,
Turn it in on Monday. Not to worry.
Hi everyone!
In case anyone is interested, the last journal I read had a list of interview questions that administrators should ask us when we are interviewing for a library. Maybe a good idea to be prepared!
Here's the link:
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3748779
The questions are listed at the end of the article.
Here's the article info that was requested. I found it on EBSCO.
10 Best Digital Sources
by Shonda Brisco
School Library Journal
May 2008
Volume 54
Issue 5
pgs, 54-55
Suzanne
thanks for adding your article info.
I'd like to take a few minutes to make clear my stance on children's First Amendment rights as I see them pertaining to my profession as a librarian because I feel this to be among the most critical understandings a librarian must develop.
Children, by definition, have no ability to bring legal action without adult intervention in matters pertaining to the First Amendment. This, I believe, is why Moshman goes so far as to say that "First Amendment rights are more important to children than to adults". (See page 162 of Bishop). Without a parent, or adults in an organization such as the ACLU to represent them, children's First Amendment rights can be trampled upon with impunity and often are.
Librarians have a professional, moral and ethical obligation to uphold children's First Amendment rights. Moshman addresses these rights in our textbook as well. Not until relatively recently did the courts have anything to say about children's First Amendment rights in schools. Tinker v. Des Moines, 1969, set a precedent on this topic. As we well understand from the current debate surrounding gay marriages, one court case does not tradition make. Gay marriage is by no means a settled and widely accepted condition in our society. Neither, I believe, is a child's First Amendment rights. One court case alone does not reverse centuries of social tradition. This is why I feel that librarians must be especially vigilant in protecting children's rights in libraries.
So, when I say that "legally speaking, children have no First Amendment rights" I am making a critical statement about our society's lack of advocacy for children's rights. Children can very rarely advocate for their own rights. Parents are typically accepted to be the child's first line of defense against any abrogation of their child's rights and this I feel, is as it should be.
There is a lot of concern I think about the broad gray areas within the topics of collection development and accessibility for young people. Librarians can become too narrowly focused on where and in what situations they will become legally liable. They fear for their jobs and worry about parent objections, school board approval and administrator backing. The librarian's arsenal against these types of issues is 1. Know your professional legal, moral and ethical duties and responsibilities. 2. Sort out your own personal stance with your professional obligations in mind. 3. Make a point of securing your administrators support and backing. 4. Know your tools of recourse in the event of a challenge and have them readily at hand.
Those who cannot commit to upholding the First Amendment rights of every citizen should not take on the duties and responsibilities of a librarian. Librarians are on the front lines as agents of democracy. For me, its the only place to be.
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