So, last year my boy was in third grade, eight years old and a decent reader, not to the level I’d like but better than his classmates. Early in the year I tell him to stop bringing home graphic novels from school and explain that we’ll get those for him if he’s interested but the library is an opportunity to explore new literary worlds, and we would like if he stopped with picking out picture books and the like. I emailed the librarian nd asked her to work with him on finding good books to read.
Everything was going great until one night in the van my wife and I are talking about WWII and he pipes in. “I’m surprised Germany didn’t win with all of those inferi.” My wife was confused but I immediately knew what had happened and asked what book he had gotten from the library. Turns out he managed to check out a massive volume on WWII that was a picture book telling about the war exclusively using images. I turn through and eventually find the concentration camps, trains and piles of corpses.
I emailed his librarian and explained the situation, never in my life have I felt dirtier than asking if they could move this book to the middle/high school and out of the elementary school system. I hate being a voice to stop learning and engagement but I’m not sure eight is the right age to take away stuffed animals and replace them with the Holocaust. I spent paragraphs lamenting my request and hoping she wouldn’t view it as me trying to ban anything. I get nauseous just thinking about the stupidity of banning literature.
In the end she consoled me, apologized for letting my son check it out and for it even being in their library. She called the head of the librarians for our school system and found it had been delivered to them on accident and they sent it off to the high school immediately.
I’m genuinely happy my son’s librarian is so willing to help and be part of his education and I want to thank any and all Librarians here for their work. It’s a largely under-appreciated profession, I feel.
by turkeyburpin