Posh Place Public Library: Board Meeting

1. Posh Place Public Library: Board Meeting Courtney Remington Karen Semprevivo Kristen Wirtz Color of Earth Controversy rocks PPPL! Freedom to read for some or all?

2. Welcome! • Our mission: • Posh Place Public Library strives to serve its community with the best collection it can develop and distribute, to follow the library’s principles of offering materials for educational, informational, and recreational purposes to all.

3. Today’s Agenda • Kim Dong HwaThe Color of Earth • Posh Place Public Library and Intellectual Freedom

4. Examples of Indecency in The Color of Earth: • Obscene drawings (boys and girls) showing their privates in public • Lewd adult behavior (e.g., a man staying all night with Ehwah’s mother); dirty talking by men in the tavern in Ehwah’s presence • Boy trying to get girl interested in having sex with him • Constant references to sexuality in the descriptions of flowers/flowering • Boy ‘s “wet dream” experience is explicitly described

5. The Value of The Color of Earth: • Coming of age story • Highlights a strong mother-daughter relationship • Graphic form gives Kim’s metaphors and dialogue more meaning than words alone. • Contains information on: • Korean culture • Romance • Sexuality (Mostly pertaining to the physical body; what makes a boy a boy and a girl a girl)

6. Questions • Why does the library promote the reading of graphic novels, which are little more than comic books, when really good books (e.g., classic and clean) are available? • Why does the library have a book like this at all?

7. Questions • Why don’t libraries restrict certain materials based on age like movie theaters or video stores?

8. Questions • Why does the library has inappropriate reading materials for teens, especially younger teens, 13-15?

9. Questions • What is Intellectual Freedom?

10. Intellectual Freedom Defined: • The “freedom to think or believe what one will, freedom to express one’s thoughts and beliefs in unrestricted manners and means, and freedom to access information and ideas regardless of the content or viewpoints of the author(s) or the age, background, or beliefs of the receiver” (Rubin, 2010, p. 375).

11. Collection Development Policy: Intellectual Freedom Statement • First Amendment of the United States Constitution • American Library Association’s (ALA) Library Bill of Rights • ALA’s Freedom to Read statement • ALA’s Freedom to View statement • ALA’s Free Access to Libraries for Minors statement

12. Intellectual Freedom Statement Continued… • The Library supports that it is the responsibility of the individuals to determine what materials are appropriate for themselves and for their children.

13. Questions • What can parents do to ensure that lewd materials are not available to those teens who are not ready for them?

14. Questions • Can just anyone request materials? • Do parents or anyone not get any say in the selection or de-selection of materials?

15. Questions • Why does the teen librarian have all the say in what is best for our teens?

16. Community Needs Analysis • Conduct every 3 years • Collect U.S. Census Data • Gather new historical information • Gather information on new (and old) organizations • We talk to people: • Interview/survey the school teachers • Conduct focus groups for teen and adult patrons • Place our survey(s) on our website and in our newsletter • Conduct “at the desk” surveys for children, teen, and adult patrons

17. Questions • Can you tell us about the library’s selection criteria for materials?

18. Collection Development Policy: Selection Criteria • Library materials are selected with the purpose of carrying out the goals of the library. • Current and future relevance to community needs • Demand • Accuracy • Style, clarity, presentation • Literary merit, significance • Importance of author or artist (authority and reputation) • Price • Format • Availability

19. Questions • What can I do if there is another book, or other material, I don’t approve of in the library?

20. Questions for the Public • Is there another book on this topic, or a similar topic, that you would feel more comfortable with your child reading? • We are always looking to improve the way we conduct our Community Needs Analysis; are there any suggestions you have that could help the library gather more information and perspectives from the community to help further develop our collections, particularly the teen collection?

21. Questions?

22. References Code of Ethics of the American Library Association (1997). http://www.ala.org/advocacy/proethics/codeofethics/codeethics Freedom to Read statement http://www.ala.org/offices/oif/statementspols/ftrstatement/freedomreadstatement Gregory, V. (2011).Collection Development and Management for 21st Century Library Collections. New York: Neal-Schuman. Hood River County Library District (2012). Collection Development Policy. Retrieved from http://www.hoodriver.plinkit.org/files/policies/Collection%20development%20policy.pdf Office of Intellectual Freedom http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom

23. References (Continued) Hwa, Kim Dong. (2009). The Color of Earth. New York: New York. Rubin, R.E. (2010). Foundations of Library and Information Science (3rd ed.). New York,: Neal-Schuman Publishers. Southern Oregon University, Lenn and Dixie Hannon Library (2006). Collection Development Policy. Retrieved from http://www.sou.edu/policies/Library-collection-development.pdf Young Adult Library Services (YALSA) http://www.ala.org/yalsa/sites/ala.org.yalsa/files/content/professionaltools/Handouts/ParentFlyer.pdf

24. Images References The Color of Earth slides 1, 4, and 5 : http://highlowcomics.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html The Color of Earth slides 6, 15, and 18: http://highlowcomics.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html The Color of Earth slides 7 and 14: http://warren-peace.blogspot.com/2009_06_01_archive.html The Color of Earth slides 11, 13, and 19: http://www.cleveland.com/books/index.ssf/2009/07/the_color_of_earth_the_color_o.html The Color of Earth slide20: http://www.vulture.com/2009/05/the_color_of_earth_comic.html