[Publib] On scrota or scrotum or whatever

[Mary Browder]

Thanks Joe for increasing my vocabulary.  However rarely I may  need to 
express myself on it, at least, I will havejust the right word.

The book is a Newbery winner.  As a public library we will get it, 
because a public library is inclusive of any number of books, tasteless 
or tasty.  Yes, we will get complaints.  I have been through this 
before. I still get complaints about Harry Potter because to some it 
promotes witchcraft.

Parents in a public library are free to choose books for their children 
based on their idea how how to raise a child.  I can understand how some 
parents would not like to have a discussion on scrotum with their 
preschool child, and other parents would welcome it as a way to discuss 
body parts with children. It is my job to present information for both 
groups, but it is not my job to force either group to accept  my opinion 
on what their child should read.

I can also understand that in a public school this could be another one 
of  those wonderful  fireballs that light up parents, school 
administrators, teachers and politicians.  Regardless of how much you 
may love the book or see yourself as a fearless defender of censorship, 
some librarians may have other fights on their hands, such as, getting 
funding or convincing politician that we still need libraries even with 
the internet, and they may prefer to pick their battles. Flaming someone 
with a different opinion than than yours does not change minds.  There 
are things for which, I would fight.  I would fight to retain the book, 
but I would not judge someone else who did not fight for it until I knew 
that person's circumstances.

On Shakespeare. As far as I know, he wrote very few plays for children. 
 He suited his language to his audience, and if the audience did not 
like it, they could and did through things.  That same audience awaits 
us.  Sometimes they don't like what we do and they throw words. 
 Sometimes the words are "You are fired."

M. Browder