Censorship and the ALA

I finally read the article that Lippy Libby posted in her recent post "Flaunting It." I normally don't think of the ALA as an "extreme advocate" of banned books. I think Kinzie school acted abominably, but is the ALA to blame? Doesn't the ALA argue for a review board so that librarians and teachers can deal with parental complaints fairly? Maybe having a "banned books" week is enough to make Byrne call the ALA "extreme," but I thought he could have done a better job educating the reader about the proper procedures schools should take when a book is challenged.

I'll be sharing Byrne with a sophomore English teacher who does an annual banned books project. Each student reads a banned book and then uses the ALA's Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom to research each challenge. This year, these students will not be writing a paper. Instead, they'll be debating this question: "should this book be taught in middle school?" This article is perfect for them!