My dilemma

Student’s Name

Professor

Course

Date

My dilemma: A library patron has a list of books from his minister that he wants to have removed from the library because they are inappropriate and dangerous for children.

Removal of books which are inappropriate and dangerous for children from the library.

It is the responsibility of adults to ensure that children are not exposed to materials that may jeopardize their morals and expose them to engage in unwarranted behavior. However, it is important to note that every person is entitled to access reading materials unless they are pervasively inappropriate. Although book stores and libraries have the power to ban books from their shelves, this can be done if there is a complaint from an individual or a parent challenging their removal. Librarians may oblige to their removal or decline the invitation if they feel that the book is not pervasively inappropriate (Pray and Lee, 417).

Library Bill of Rights.

According to the American Library Association, libraries should be a source of information and ideas and it should be guided by policies outlined in the Library Bill of Rights. Libraries are required to provide all materials present information that is of interest to readers and library users. Libraries are also entitled to challenge censorship that may affect how they discharge their responsibility of providing information to the library users. One of the most important policy outlined in the Library Bill of Rights is the person’s right to use libraries. No one should be denied the opportunity to use the materials in the library because of the background, origin, age or views (Berninghausen and David, 1970). Another important interpretation presented in the Library Bill of Rights is the issue of challenging resource. The interpretation stipulates that every library should provide a clearly defined policy that guides the selection of the materials stocked on its shelves (American Library Association, 2016).

Access to library resources and services for minors.

According to article V of the Library Bill of Rights, every person is entitled to access information or materials in the library and they should not be discriminated on the account of their background, origin, age or views. Therefore, minors have the right to access materials in the library. Libraries are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that members of the community they serve have access of reading materials and information in different stages of their development and therefore, it is inappropriate to deny people this right on the account of age. Further, removing materials from the shelves of the library with the pretext of protecting children amounts to denying other people the right the access this materials (Chapin and Betty, 21).

One of the ALA code of ethics mentions that “we uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library resources.”

Members of ALA are committed to ensure that no one is denied the chance to access reading materials irrespective of their age and their social background. The body is committed to ensure that all libraries conform to the Library Bill of Rights (American Library Association, 2016).

Solution to the challenge of managing the materials that can be exposed to minors.

The Library Bill of Rights requires that libraries allow readers to access reading materials and other information that interests them without any discrimination. The librarian cannot make a decision of withdrawing reading materials from the shelves with the pretext that they are protect the children from dangerous and inappropriate materials. The best solution to achieve protect children is to initiate a process of challenging the materials or banning them all together. This will bring on board all the stakeholders who are interested with the matter to find and common ground for the best interest of the children. If the stakeholders agree that the materials are not appropriate for the consumption of children, they will have the liberty to remove them from the shelves (Wiegand and Shirley, 1996).

Annotated Bibliography.

American Library Association. “Library bill of rights.” (2016).

The American Library Association is a body that deals with all the issues related with libraries in the United States. The Body has regulations that guide how libraries should contact themselves and they should treat the people seeking the information from the libraries. The association also interprets the rights that have been stipulated in article V. The Association has also ensured that the rights of all the people have been taken care. This includes people living with disabilities and children. The American Library Association in a body with constitutional powers and therefore, they have the authority to interpret the Library Bills of Right.

American Library Association. “ALA code of ethics.” (2016).

One of the code of ethics stipulated in the ALA code of ethics intimate that the body upholds the right of every citizen in the country to access information and reading materials in the library. No citizen who is interested in getting information should be denied a chance to access information on the account of the age or origin. Equally, every person who is interested in accessing any material available in the library should have a chance to access the information. Anyone who is not interested in any material available in the library have the autonomy to challenge them without any restriction. This can be solved through a due process and if the materials are found to pervasively inappropriate, they can be removed from the library. American Library Association is a body that deals with matters that relate to the libraries in the country and have the ethics that guide how the members conducted themselves.

Berninghausen, David K. “The librarian’s commitment to the library bill of rights.” (1970).

Librarians must be committed to ensure that the rights of readers and other people who are interested in using the library materials have access without any huddle. People should not be discriminated on the account of age or their backgrounds. The law provides that the rights of people person should be respected including young children and people living with disabilities. In many states, librarians have shown their commitment to ensure that all the rights that have been prescribed in the Library Bill of Rights are observed.

Chapin, Betty. “Access to electronic information, services, and networks: An interpretation of the library Bill of Rights.” Teacher Librarian 26.5 (1999): 21.

According to article V of the Library Bill of Rights, all people are allowed to access information and other materials of their interest in the library without discrimination. The law stipulates that people should not be discriminated on the account of age, origin, and their background. Chapin and Betty in their document preview interpret what this section of the law means and what are the rights of the people who are allowed to access information and other reading materials in the library. On the account of age, Chapin and Betty mention that children should not be discriminated and that they should have equal rights just like adults to access materials and other information in the library. The law presupposes that if materials will be removed from a library with the pretext of protecting children from inappropriate materials, then other people who may be interested in those materials will be denied their right of accessing information and this is against the law. Chapin and Betty are people who work in a learning environment and the have the authority of interpreting what the law stipulates on the account of the right to access materials and information in a library.

Pray, Lee. “What Are the Limits to a School Board’s Authority to Remove Books from School Library Shelves.” Wis. L. Rev. (1982): 417.

The article “What Are the Limits to a School Board’s Authority to Remove Books from School Library Shelves” is a product of Hein-Online which is a resource center that contains scholarly and journals the touch on legal matters that have been determine in court regarding various issues. In this article, Pray talks about the limitation that librarians can have in making decision on the books or reading materials to be removed from the shelf of a library. Pray cites the first amendment which gives all the people the right to read and get all the information of interest from libraries without discrimination.

Wiegand, Shirley A. “Reality bites: The collision of rhetoric, rights, and reality and the library bill of rights.” (1996).

Wiegand and Shirley confronts the reality that most librararians grapple with from time to time. In most cases, there could be materials that are deemed inappropriate for the consumption of young children and librarians may be tempted to remove them from the shelves but the law stipulates that every person who was to access reading materials have the right to access them irrespective of the age. Therefore, it is an issue that librarians have little control but they can use another means to ensure that children do not get exposed to obscene materials. This can be achieved by involving all the stakeholders and challenging the materials or initiating ban which must be supported by all the stakeholders to succeed.