This is my opinion about censorship. As a parent, it is my responsibility to decide what my child is allowed to be exposed to. Books. TV. Movies. Food. Whatever. I can tell others my opinion, but usually only do so if asked. It is not my place to tell anyone else what they, or their child should not read, nor would I welcome anyone to tell me what I, or my child should not read. In fact my first reaction when told not to read or watch something is to find out more about it, and probably read/watch it. That is just me.
As for our public library I can say this. The library is set up in sections. JE is for our youngest patrons, J is for middle grades, YA for older kids, teens, and Young Adults, and the adult section is pretty general. Your 5th grader may find some interesting books in any of these sections. Mine does. Children old enough to have a library card (Kindergarten or 6 yrs. old) may check out any book in the library. (They may not check out DVDs.) Should they check out any book in the library? I personally don't think so. However, it is not up to the library staff to decide, it is up to the parent. This something parents might want to talk to their children about. We also have a policy here at OCPL that a child under the age of 10 must be accompanied by someone 14 or older, therefore we should never have a case of "my 7 year old checked out this offensive book". Hopefully.
If you have any questions about censorship, or Banned Books Week, please feel free to ask here in the comments, contact me here at the library, via the library's Facebook page or send an e-mail to booksrusowenco@live.com. Thanks for reading. I would love to hear from you!
~Jennifer
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