Comments on: This YA Title is Not Yet Rated (Yet)

By: Warnings on Teen Books: Helpful Tips or Censorship? « Proper Noun Blog

Warnings on Teen Books: Helpful Tips or Censorship? « Proper Noun Blog — Thu, 31 May 2012 04:04:31 +0000

[...] kind of consensus. That’s understandable. It’s a nuanced topic, as many librarians have said. What stood out to me in the show was the host’s apparent surprise at the passion of those [...]

By: Andy

Andy — Sun, 27 May 2012 02:14:47 +0000

This pretty much sums up my position as well. A rating system would be hell on wheels as a security blanket for a minority while being a giant pain in the ass for the rest. That being said, it’s not impossible. It would be unreasonable, inconsistent, and a bureaucratic amalgamation, but it’s not impossible.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 25 May 2012 00:55:52 +0000

Honestly, the idea of rating systems makes my head explode, not because of censorship (although I think that *would* be censorship), but because I believe it is unsustainable. You would have to agree on what YA is, what the rating system should be, *and apply it absolutely consistently, every time*. Given community standards, rating would almost certainly have to be inconsistent between library markets. Even different neighborhoods in the same city could, and probably do, have different standards. Moreover, if joint and several liability applies, scanning books for swears could be a pretty lucrative pasttime, if whatever standards were missed, even once. What about ILL? If rating comes about, does that affect how items are displayed? Do we have to create different categories of library cards to access different level of ebooks? What effect will this have on reconsiderations, if there is a particular “rule” by which one could be initiated? I could go on. And so will the debate.

By: Sarah Mae

Sarah Mae — Thu, 24 May 2012 07:37:59 +0000

If they are going to rate YA books then they need to rate all books and I don’t want to have any part of that. There is common sense media that gives pretty good overviews of books and movies for kids and teens. I recommend it to parents who are looking for guidance. I don’t always agree with their ratings but they give their rationale and they are pretty consistent.

By: kellyts

kellyts — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:38:18 +0000

I hate the idea of labeling books for all the reasons you mention. I believe it would create a shortcut for parents but also for potential censors who already seem incapable of reading a book and considering context.

Personally I find Beth Yoke’s statement to be spot on. Any rating system is censorship. Granted the reality is not so black and white and librarians may be tempted to create a rating system to respond to demands from community members. HOWEVER librarians are government representatives. If we create a labeling system it is government censorship. As much as I care about the teens and larger community that I serve, I am ultimately a government employee. I am happy to provide information to parents who inquire about content, but I have no right to rate a book as “appropriate” for a particular age group based on profanity, sexual content, or violence as that decision is the parent’s alone.