Project-Int.+Freedom

= Intellectual Freedom =

1. Reconsideration Process
**CHALLENGED MATERIALS** Despite the care taken by library media specialists to select and provide library media center materials in the widest range of subjects and viewpoints possible, any item may be challenged at any time by an offended citizen. The endorsement of the Library Bill of Rights in selection policies provides a vital link to library policy on censorship and intellectual freedom. Library media specialists must be able to capably manage the challenge of censorship rather than merely react to it in a defensive and ineffective manner. Rights of the reader as well as the content of the work must be taken into consideration. When a work is challenged, follow the procedures outlined in the Norfolk Public Schools Regulation 6-49. They are as follows:


 * 1) Be courteous, but make no commitments. - **Library Media Specialist** or **Teacher**
 * 2) Invite the **complainant** to file his objections in writing on form A-162 Request for Reconsideration of a Work (see page 3-21). A quantity of this form is kept in the principal's office and it can be ordered through the Warehouse. The stock number for this form is 61582-162 and there are 5 forms per pack. (Go to Intranet site http://sbo.nps.k12k.va.us then click on “Forms.” Select “NPS Forms” from the dropdown menu to find form A-162 on the list. Click on the “Warehouse” hyperlink on the right, fill out the provided requisition form, print & fax to Purchasing at 628-3871. )- **LMS** or **Teacher** informs **Complainant**
 * 3) Inform the **principal** of the anticipated inquiry and the conversations with the complainant. **LMS** or **Teacher** tells **Principal**
 * 4) Upon receipt of the completed form from the complainant, the **principal** will form a **committee**to consider or hear the complaint.
 * 5) In the elementary schools, the committee should be composed of a **classroom teacher**, the **library media specialist**, a **parent**, and the **principal**.
 * 6) In the secondary schools, the committee should be composed of a **teacher**, the **library media specialist**, **head of the department**, a **parent**, a **student**, and the **principal**.
 * 7) Materials under consideration will remain in use until a decision has been rendered.
 * 8) Within a __ten-day period__, the appointed **committee** will reevaluate the material, make a recommendation, and inform the complainant of the decision. A report of the committee's work should be filed in the principal's office, and a copy sent to the assistant superintendent for instructional support services and the superintendent of schools.
 * 9) All appeals, whether from the **complainant** or **members of the committee**, should be referred to the **superintendent of schools** or his **designee**.
 * 10) On receipt of an appeal, the **principal** will notify the **superintendent** and/or his **designee**, who will convene a **committee**, which will consider and/or hear the complaint. The committee will be composed of the **assistant superintenden**t for instructional support services, the **senior coordinator of media services**, the a**ppropriate subject area coordinator**, and **the assistant superintendent for local school governance**.
 * 11) Within a period of __ten days__ of its convening, the **committee** will reevaluate the material, make a recommendation, and inform, in writing, the superintendent of schools. The **superintendent** will inform the **complainant** and the **committee** of his decision.
 * 12) In the event of an appeal of the superintendent's decision to the school board, the **complainant** must make the appeal within __ten days__ through the **superintendent**. This appeal is to be made on the appropriate form (Challenged Materials Appeal to the School Board of the Superintendent's Decision). See page 3-22 for a copy of this form. The recommendation of the superintendent of schools in appeal cases will be submitted to the **school board** for a decision regarding the retention, modification, or withdrawal of challenged materials.

Source: Norfolk Public Schools, Norfolk, VA: "Norfolk Public Schools Library Media Center Handbook" @http://www.nps.k12.va.us/aaa/media/manual/PDF/CollectionDevelopment.pdf Specifically- "Collection Development" @http://www.nps.k12.va.us/aaa/media/manual/PDF/CollectionDevelopment.pdf

__Note__- I tried to boldface the "who" is involved with each step without distracting the reader or the flow of the process. I also assume by step 10, the final resolution is made by the school board, even though it is not specifically stated.

2. __Organizations who will support the librarian:__

 * American Civil Liberties Union** – http://www.aclu.org
 * Their philosophy is, "The ACLU is our nation's guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country."
 * In my opinion if the ACLU is strongly defending individual rights such as the First Amendment Rights, particularity freedom of press, then the ACLU would want all books available to all students. They would not want a book to be censored.
 * The Web site gives current event articles written in their point of view of how organizations are taking away people's rights. In some articles, ACLU posts a link to "Take Action Now" or fill in the blank e-mails to send to Congressmen. I found this organization to be a little extreme, but glad there are people out there who are taking the time make sure our rights are being protected.


 * American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom** – @http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/index.cfm
 * Their mission is, " Established December 1, 1967, the Office for Intellectual Freedom is charged with implementing ALA policies concerning the concept of intellectual freedom as embodied in the Library Bill of Rights, the Association’s basic policy on free access to libraries and library materials."
 * Since ALA's mission is to protect intellectual freedom and wants its patrons to have "free access to libraries and library material," they would support any librarian to //The Higher Power of Lucky// by Susan Patron, regardless of the language. ALA would not want any student to be censored.
 * In my opinion this Web site is kind of plain. It was not full of flashy articles changing every few seconds or videos to click on. Nothing really grabbed my attention until I click on "Latest Posts from the OIF Blog",You let my child check out THAT? //Posted on July 8th, 2011 by Joyce McIntosh//. I found this easy to read blog helpful and something I will try to remember as I have a future parent upset about allowing their child to check out books in the library. Joyce puts the responsibility on the parent while leaving the librarian out of censorship issues. This Web site is full of information that is helpful for librarians, it is just presented in a very straight forward way.


 * Electronic Frontier Foundation** - @http://www.eff.org/
 * Electronic Frontier Foundation "continues to confront cutting-edge issues defending free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights today."
 * EFF has a focus on digital technology and protecting peoples' rights on the Internet, however if they were called upon, they would want to keep //The Higher Power of Lucky// by Susan Patron on the shelves because they protect peoples' right to free speech.
 * I liked this Web site and was surprised to read they were founded in 1990 right at the beginning of the Internet world. I thought their Web site was easy to read and I liked the technology focus such as a live Twitter feed, and the numerous blogs you can follow. I especially liked on the left hand side towards the bottom, under Projects, the link to Teaching Copyright. There you will find an overview, about, curriculum and resources. This can be very helpful for a teacher or librarian.


 * National Coalition Against Censorship** – @http://www.ncac.org/
 * "NCAC’s mission is to promote freedom of thought, inquiry and expression and oppose censorship in all its forms."
 * Since NCAC's mission is to oppose all forms of censorship, they would be against parents wanting to take books off the shelves.
 * At the bottom of the main page, there was a link to Kid's Right to Read project. Here they also state give advice and assistance to all teachers, students, staff members opposing banning books. I liked their Web site. It wasn't too flashy, but it did have pictures and was easy to navigate to find information. If I was the librarian in our scenario, I would probably come here first to get my information.


 * People for the American Way** – http://www.pfaw.org
 * "People For the American Way is dedicated to making the promise of America real for every American: Equality. Freedom of speech. Freedom of religion. The right to seek justice in a court of law. The right to cast a vote that counts. The American Way."
 * Since People for the American Way believe in Equality and Freedom of speech, they would side with the librarian and want to keep any and all books on the bookshelves.
 * Their Web site is a flashier one with changing news stories, videos and many boxes of information the user to choose to read about. You can see from their home page the issues they are for and against. It seems they stand for a while variety of issues and do not have a single focus like other organizations do. I do think if they showed up to the reconsideration meeting, they would side with the librarian.

__Organizations who will take issue:__

 * American Family Association** – http://www.afa.net
 * "The mission of the American Family Association is to inform, equip, and activate individuals to strengthen the moral foundations of American culture, and give aid to the church here and abroad in its task of fulfilling the Great Commission."
 * If the American Family Association is pro-Christian and on their agenda is to 'restrain evil by exposing the works of darkness' as well as 'strengthen the moral foundation of American culture', they would want //The Higher Power of Lucky// by Susan Patron off the shelves because of its controversial language. In my opinion they would view questionable words as evil and not want children to be exposed to such words.
 * Their Web site not only has articles written from a religious view point, but also many videos and programs. They have two channels on Internet Television to help prompt their agenda, to change the American culture so it strong supports God and His works. I found it interesting their original name was, "National Federation for Decency". That title in my opinion states their purpose better than the one they have now.


 * ClassKC.org** - @http://www.classkc.org/index.html
 * ClassKC.org says, "In short, we do not want our minor children required to read sexually-stimulating and vulgar books."
 * This parent organization would be irate about //The Higher Power of Lucky// by Susan Patron and would demand it to be taken off the shelves. I also found this on their Web site, "...we have also come to the realization that many Blue Valley teachers, administrators, and Board Members simply do not have the same concerns about the influences of sexually-charged and vulgar required reading assignments imposed on our minor-aged children." If this organization was against my school/library, I believe they would simply replace the school's name with the one in question.
 * This Web site was about parents who were against the required reading list students had while attending Blue Valley. I thought these parents were very convincing as to why other parents and community members should join their cause. I found it interesting before you could look at a book review, you had to read a warning, and acknowledge you were 18 or older, understood the content was questionable and would not hold ClassKC.org responsible if anything bad that might happen while reading the review. I also noticed at the bottom of the page when there where the comments, if it was a school board member, the font was in red; and if it was a concerned parent, the font was in blue. This site also had book reviews that pulled out one sentence as a time. Isn't that considered taking things out of context? I know, I would not want to be the librarian or teacher that is on the receiving end of this group of parents. They might attack you professionally as well as personally.


 * The Eagle Forum** – http://www.eagleforum.org
 * The Eagle Forum states, "//We// support parents’ rights to guide the education of their own children, to protect their children against immoral instruction and materials, and to home-school without oppressive government regulations." They also uphold  the Eagle Forum's Mission which "is to enable conservative and pro-family..."
 * Because The Eagle Forum is against immoral materials, I would suppose they are against controversial language in a children's chapter book.
 * On other sites I can predict which category the organization will go under fairly quickly, either by title or by glancing at the home page. The Eagle Forum for me was different. I found myself reading and reading and still unsure which side of the issue they would support. Deciding to put this group on the 'take issue' list, became easier when I started reading articles in the Education Reporter. Articles titled //Mothers Challenge Assignment of Bad Books//, //Is the School Library Safe?//, by Dr. R. Albert Mohler and //Parents Demand Better Books in Schools//. They even had an article congratulating ClassKC.org. This Web site is definitely a flasher one then some of the other organizations.


 * Focus on the Family** – http://www.family.org
 * Focus on the Family says, "We support families as they seek to teach their children about God and His beautiful design for the family, __protect themselves from the harmful influences of culture__ and equip themselves to make a greater difference in the lives of those around them."
 * Because of the underline statement of protecting families from harmful influences and because they are religious, valuing family life, I chose to put them on the taking issue side. If they had a listener on their radio show call and say there were immoral books in their child's school library, I would assume they would side with the parents not the school.
 * This organization focuses on faith, families, marriages and life challenges. The only article I found on education was on school choices, not books or curriculum. I liked their Web site and found myself clicking through their articles even if they weren't library and book related. I think this group would be reasonable to work with.


 * PABBIS** - @http://www.pabbis.com/whattodo.html
 * Parents Against Bad Books in Schools says, "You might be shocked at the sensitive, controversial and inappropriate material that can be found in books in K-12 schools. Both in the classroom and library. Parents should be aware of what their children can or must read in school to decide whether it is appropriate for them or not. Bad is not for us to determine. Bad is what you determine is bad. Bad is what you think is bad for your child. What each parent considers bad varies and depends on their unique situation, family and values "
 * Their title clearly states this organization would side with the parents opposing //The Higher Power of Lucky// by Susan Patron.
 * I found it interesting this group clearly states bad is what you determine bad to be. Then they go on and provide parents with a list of 'bad' books. This group wants to have a "minimum standard of decency"- even that is controversial. Their Web site was pretty simplistic, but they did have a nice PowerPoint to show what they stood for. I can envision upset parents rallying other parents to join their organization as they presented their PowerPoint. I would not want to be on the receiving end of this angry mob.


 * Parents Protecting the Minds of Children** - http://www.teachclean.com
 * Parents Protecting the Minds of Children state, "PPMC is trying to reach an equitable solution with school officials from all perspectives. Our objective is not to remove any books from the library, it is simply to enforce our parental rights to choose for our children."
 * While this group is not for removing books, in our scenario, they would side with the parents. They are wanting parents to have a voice to choose for their children.
 * When I looked at their Web site's home page, I thought this is it? When i clicked on other links, there was less organization and it was harder to read. It has only black, red, or blue font with some links mixed in. When I read PPMC's mission statement I thought, they seem calm, collected and willing to negotiate. However, once I started digging into their Web site, they seemed more angry, especially with Arkansas schools. They gave the list of 'shocking books' in elementary school and provided a link to sign a petition. I think this groups' home page of the Web site is misleading, both in organization and in content (being calm and reasonable).

3. Fayetteville, Arkansas
> > > >
 * //The school library media program plays a unique role in __promoting intellectual freedom__. It serves as a point of __voluntary__ access to information and ideas and as a learning laboratory for students as they acquire critical thinking and problem-solving skills needed in a pluralistic society.//
 * This statement is important for two reasons. First, a school library media program main role is to promote intellectual freedom, not impose censorship. The second part of these statement that clearly stood out to me was the phrase voluntary access to information and ideas. Libraries provide the information, but we don't force anyone to read it. A parent has every right at home to tell their child 'don't read this'. A parent does not have the right to come in and take the book off the shelf. I had never thought of it this way until I read voluntary. This feels like an aha moment.
 * //Major barriers between students and resources include but are not limited to __imposing age or grade level restrictions__ on the use of resources; limiting the use of interlibrary loan and access to electronic information; charging fees for information in specific formats; __requiring permission from parents or teachers__; establishing restricted shelves or closed collections; and labeling. Policies, procedures, and rules related to the use of resources and services __support free and open access to information.__//
 * I liked how it said the school will not put __barriers__ between students and information and listed examples of what barriers were. Information is free and open to all students regardless of their age, grade level or parental permission.
 * //School library media specialists resist efforts by individuals or groups to define what is appropriate for all students or teachers to read, view, hear, or access via electronic means.//
 * I like how this publicly states the SLMS will resists all efforts of censorship that does not come from the school's policy. Therefore no matter how loud or large an individual or group is, the LMS will keep anything on the shelves unless told otherwise by the district.
 * //Although the educational level and program of the school necessarily shapes the resources and services of a school library media program, the principles of the Library Bill of Rights apply equally to all libraries, including school library media programs.//
 * I like how this reminds anyone who is reading the policy, the school libraries are following the law. The Library Bill of Rights includes all libraries, not just the public community libraries.
 * //School library media specialists implement district policies and procedures in the school.//
 * Personally, I am a rule follower and I like how this statement says all school library media specialists are implementing and following the rules. So when the principal in our scenario asks why does the librarian have such controversial books in the library; the LMS can politely say, she is following the rules by promoting intellectual freedom and not putting a barrier between students and books. I know this is easier said then done; but when it comes down to it,//The Higher Power of Lucky// by Susan Patron is allowed on the shelves according to the school district's policy.

Blue Valley, Kansas
> > > //Learning Resources-School Level, (2) the Learning Resource in question, (3) Board Policy 4600, Selection of Learning Resources, (4) Board Policy 4610, Challenges To and Reconsideration of Learning Resources, (5) Intellectual Freedom Documents, [Library Bill of Rights (ALA), the Student’s Right to Read (NCTE), Freedom to View (ALA), The Freedom to Read (ALA, AAP), Access to Resources and Services in the School Library Media Program (ALA)], and any other relevant materials.// > >
 * //The Board of Education desires to give students, their parents, residents of the school district and school district staff the opportunity to challenge the quality and suitability of materials used in the district’s educational programs. The school district subscribes to the principles of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.//
 * What I like about this is, Blue Valley is saying everyone has the right to challenge a book or any material, but keep in mind we uphold the principles of the First Amendment. By having any materials in the library, it is protected by the freedom of speech. It's like they are saying, we are following the law.
 * //The committee shall include two teachers, the library media specialist, two parents, and two students if the compliant is at the high school. The principal shall be the non-voting chair of the committee.//
 * I liked how there were specific people needed for the committee. This committee is on the school level. I like how it included two students. I think this list has a good representation of all members who is/could be involved. I also liked how the principal is a non-voting, therefore a judge who could hear all sides of the story.
 * //School review committee members will be provided with copies of: (1) the completed Request for Reconsideration of//
 * All committees should be well informed of the rules and policies. I liked how this states what information everyone will receive.
 * //AGENDA FOR REVIEW COMMITTEE. The agenda for a Learning Resource review hearing will include://
 * 1) //Introduction and review of the hearing agenda;//
 * 2) //Presentation of relevant materials and argument by complainant (the chairperson may limit the time available for this presentation if necessary and appropriate);//
 * 3) //Presentation of relevant materials and argument by school representative (the school representative shall have the same time limit as the complainant)://
 * 4) //Rebuttal comments by complainant (appropriate time limit may be imposed)://
 * 5) //Additional questions//
 * I found this agenda to be extremely useful because when people are under pressure because of conflict, it can be hard to know what to do next. Most policies state make a review committee, then what do they do? I like how this specifically states each step.
 * //A person shall be deemed to have a conflict of interest when the person’s personal or financial interests may influence, or appear to others to influence, the person’s ability to review learning resources objectively or to otherwise participate in the review process.//
 * This statement keeps people on the review committee honest. A person cannot have an unbias opinion if they have a conflict of interest or if they will financially profit from the decision. This statement reminded me of selecting people for a jury.

Sources: Fayetteville, Arkansas Library Materials Selection Policy #6.15 @http://www.fayar.net/images/6.15.pdf Administration Regulations for Policy #6.15 @http://www.fayar.net/images/6.15AR.pdf

Blue Valley, Kansas Selection of Learning Resources @http://www2.bluevalleyk12.org/policies/documents/4600policy.pdf Selection of Learning Resources (Guidelines for Policy 4600) @http://www2.bluevalleyk12.org/policies/documents/4600guidelines.pdf Challenges to and Reconsideration of Learning Resources @http://www2.bluevalleyk12.org/policies/documents/4610policy.pdf Challenges to and Reconsideration of Learning Resources (Guidelines for Policy 4610) @http://www2.bluevalleyk12.org/policies/documents/4610guidelines.pdf