I have a daughter who is at the age where she is starting to read material from the teen area of the library. I go to the library with her and help her find appropriate reading material. That’s my job, not the job of the tax-paid library system and it only takes a few minutes a week. We also look on-line and read reviews before choosing books. I don’t understand why parents don’t take responsibiliy for their own childen and what they are reading.

The key is in the name of this article, parental control. The library should not be playing the role of censor. We are not in a totalitarian state (yet).

People like loadkins scare me. They are just one step away from the Taliban. MY RELIGION, MY BELIEFS, or you can leave. With the Taliban, you don’t get to leave. They just slaughter you.

I suspect loadkins is a delegate to the Republican National Convention! She’d certainly fit in with that crowd, which is terrifying…..

But in seriousness, if your child is getting books from the library - GREAT. If you’re concerned about what they read - don’t abdicate your responsibility as a parent; review what it is they ARE reading. It takes all of two minutes to google anything ever written; if you haven’t got the time for that, then you shouldn’t be a parent. Citizens groups are NOT the ones to determine what should be read!

I guess after reading all of the articles and responses, I’m having a hard time understanding how some people define “censorship.” While the news stories do mention this watch-dog group suggesting pulling books as one option, they also suggest special sections to put some questionable books. I guess I have to ask: Is any kind of rating system, designated areas for books that address designated behavior or topics “censorship”? Am I to understand that any kind of regulatory behavior by a library is to be absolutely shunned? I get the outrage if what was being suggested was outright book bans, but that really isn’t what seems to be suggested (despite the histrionic and extreme point-of-view replies seem to suggest.) My bottom line? I’ll reserve for myself what my children do and don’t read, but I also desire and welcome a little “heads-up” on certain books they might bring home. Banning books…no. Labeling books to help me make the best decision…yes.

I think this is a decision that should definately be left up to parents. Like Jenniferwhatnot said below, if your kid is hanging out in a library, and picks up on some steamy lines or cursing, I don’t think you have too much to worry about. All literature should be available to everyone. If you’re that uncomfortable with the books in your local library then follow your kid around and censor what THEY read, don’t make the decision for evey parent and child, not every parent shares your views.

This last Superbowl I had to explain to my 3 year old son why one man shot another man on a CSI commercial. That was not something I enjoyed doing. I would much rather my son see a naked women than have to explain that! and ten bucks says he would not even question seeing that.
So with that said…why are these people not out there fighting to remove violent and or war books from the “teen” library section?!?! Funny how that works…

Oh and for the ignorant fellow below by the name of “loadkins3506″. Please educate yourself on John Adams, he was more of a deist than anything:

“God is an essence that we know nothing of. Until this awful blasphemy is got rid of, there never will be any liberal science in the world”

“As I understand the Christian religion, it was, and is, a revelation. But how has it happened that millions of fables, tales, legends, have been blended with both Jewish and Christian revelation that have made them the most bloody religion that ever existed?”

and last but not least…(Very fitting on the subject at hand.)

“I shall have liberty to think for myself without molesting others or being molested myself.”

and we will not even get into Jefferson…

I cannot believe anybody in their right minds would want pornographic books exposed to children. I think our kids today need to grow up too quickly already, why encourage this with inappropriate books. I will decide what my children read but if I were to let them browse books in the childrens section of the library, I would expect there are only CHILDRENS books there!!! Pornographic or explicit books are not for children.

I think the libraries are doing wonderful work and should continue to resist attempts at censorship. Many people have censored libraries before, a couple of them even burned books.

Labeling books is already being done in a manner that satisfies me. Many books from classics to mysteries to romances have steamy sections. Many of the books this group objects to are not pornographic, but rather have a description of sexual activity as a small piece of a larger work. Separating such books does an injustice to all the patrons who are not bothered by such material. The library cannot ban books (or label them and shelve them in a corner) to suit the whims of small groups or it would shortly have no material left. There is someone out there who objects to just about anything.

The library has my full support on this one.

I’m sitting in a County library right now with my three-year-old. I’ve probably seen every single title in their children’s section over the years. I’ve never found porn sandwiched between Chicken Little and Dora the Explorer. Momof4, where do you guys get your books????