Round robin of Bermudez

The Examiner-Enterprise ran a community piece on the Bermudez Triangle controversy in Bartlesville. The mother who issued the challenge is quoted as saying

“I am so ecstatic that the parents have control over what goes into their children’s eyes,” Rader says. “I’m proud of the superintendent and the committee.

“I’m glad that I accomplished what I set out to do.”

What's that? Point out the inability of the Bartlesville school board to handle a book challenge? If so huzzah to you Ms. Rader. She continues...

Because of her success with this book, Rader says she wants to get the Bible back into schools in a history and literature class.

“And I’m working on that because I think it’s important for our kids to know where they came from,” Rader says. “I think the Bible’s a good foundation for our school. I think we’re way far from it and our kids are suffering.

And to her I ask which Bible will you be teaching? And will there be room for my Tanakh? The other thing -- I took a History of Christian Thought class in college -- let me tell you it's amusing watching an Irish Catholic try to explain to Southern Baptists the history of "The Church" thought and not have it turn into to a theology debate. If they do this in Bartlesville I suggest bringing popcorn it's a great show.

Maureen is quoted in the article as well

“I certainly don’t think the committee members are bad people — I think they’re just trying to do their jobs. But I also think that this decision was a bad one, and that the entire issue was mishandled. It seems, for example, that they violated policy by not informing the public of their actions. It was only because the librarians spoke up, and that I started the online campaign, that the public was ever notified. That’s what’s scary to me. A lot of these kinds of things happen and no one ever knows.”

and adds additional commentary on her blog as well

Now, as to what can be done . . .

In looking more into this matter (including speaking to anti-censorship king Chris Crutcher), really, Bartlesville has to fix Bartlesville. But nothing prevents me from talking about it and making the issues known. Or dancing about it, for that matter.

And she provides informative links for locals to get involved -- such as school board, ALA's rights to students and the Oklahoma ACLU.

So if you live, spend money, or anything else in or near Bartlesville drop the above folks a line and weigh in on the issue. And if you are a librarian double check your local policies on challenges -- use the ALA site on Dealing with Challenges to help you.

Here she comes to save the day...

Yeah yeah - read her post here. Don't worry Bartlesville - you can't help yourself so Maureen will show you how.

I need to go bathe a baby -- later.

Okie libraries to be mentioned on XM radio

Well there's good and bad press to every side of a story -- looks like Maureen is getting soom good press off of this still and Bartlesville is making the bad press. Maureen is going to be on "The Agenda with Joe Solmonese" XM Satellite Radio show

If any of you have XM radio give this a listen:

...Author Maureen Johnson, whose latest book for teens was banned by an Oklahoma school library because it features a lesbian relationship, will also appear on the show ...

Hmmmmm, has it actually been banned now? I thought it had been challenged but retained in the collection and placed on reserve shelving. But perhaps I missed a news story somewhere.

The Agenda airs live at 6 pm EST on XM's Channel 120

Let sleeping blogs lie?

As always - these thoughts are my own. No institutions or persons living or dead will or would ever necessarily agree with me.

As I linked to before Bartlesville has come to a conclusion regarding the Bermudez Triangle -- and it is reminiscent of another book controversy in Oklahoma.

Well the crusade to save the people of Bartlesville from themselves hasn't stopped. In fact Neil Gaiman has posted a letter from Maureen . For those not in the know Neil is a literary genius (seriously):

Bestselling author Neil Gaiman has long been one of the top writers in comics, and also writes books for readers of all ages. He is listed in the Dictionary of Literary Biography as one of the top ten living post-modern writers, and is a prolific creator of works of prose, poetry, film, journalism, comics, song lyrics, and drama.

And to have him comment on a challenge situation on his blog is tantamount to having Oprah add your product to her list of favorite things -- it will get noticed by a lot of folks. You can read the letter at his blog.

Something in particular that bothers me with Maureen's letter is the last two lines -- which reads:

I’ll probably go on trying to needle these idiots for a while yet. I can at least try to shame them some more.

Calling the decision makers idiots and trying to shame them isn't going to help get the book back on to open shelves. First off they have power and the ultimate authority and (even if they are idiots) only the tax payers and voters of Bartlesville can remove them from their positions of power. Secondly to be shamed you have to have the consciousness that you've done something improper -- the group that made this decision will probably never feel that because, I'm guessing, the vocal of the community does not believe that discussion of homosexuality (no matter how light and especially among students) is acceptable. The committee won't be shamed anymore than Maureen will be. If anything making this statement available in a public forum will probably push certain individuals try even harder to pull the book completely off the shelf -- by either changing curriculum, the collection development policy for the library, and or the process by which a book can be removed from the collection. After all -- this is an area with a southern state mentality and they don't liken to carpetbaggers telling them what to do (well unless it's certain circles and TABOR) ;-)

Instead of resorting to base instinct to attack the people who hold different thoughts -- what should be done, by open library stack proponents, is an education campaign. Perhaps start by tackling the myth as to the ability of teens to handle complex social situations (such as others have pointed out). Find the like minded people in Bartlesville who feel passionately about it and give them the tools they need to start an education campaign. This is exactly what the opposition groups of Maureen's do and they have a lot of success at it.

Remember -- similar topics are still on the public library shelves and it's important to keep them there because the public library serves a wider population than the school. Well -- at least I went to the public and local university library in mid/high school than I did the school library.

Go ahead tell me what you think -- I know you want to. :-)

Latest on Bermudez

Read the Porcelain Librarian's post on Bermudez and I'll post my comments later. :)

Update: Bartlesville & Maureen Johnson

From author Maureen Johnson's blog (please be sure to click through and read the entire post)

...The second is that Ninja Librarian Susan Hunt was called in for a meeting. It was fairly clear that this was not going to be the best meeting, and that there would not be hugs and sloppy kisses all around. She decided that rather than back down, she would resign her position. And I quote:

“I have taught for 33 years and have now gone out doing what I know was right. I continue to stand by my original statement to you, Maureen. The committee headed by Vernon voted to remove your book without having read it. I did not lack patience in the process in revealing this. I have no doubt that had we not made this information public that the book would have been immediately removed.”

So there you have it. One book advocate punished, another leaves because she refuses to go along with this insane situation.

This afternoon, I called Janet Vernon yet again, but got no answer. So let me put my message here....

Longtime Bartlesville librarian, Gene Winn, dead at age 86

News Examiner-Enterprise | Longtime Bartlesville librarian, Gene Winn, dead at age 86

Former Bartlesville Public Library Director Herbert Eugene “Gene” Winn died Tuesday at Jane Phillips Medical Center. He was 86.

Winn began his long career with the Bartlesville Public Library in 1953 and served as director and head librarian until he retired in January 1984 following 31 years of service.

From 1984 until 1986, he worked as a contract consultant for the City of Bartlesville, Public Library Building Program and from November of 1986 until April 1987, he was a library consultant in the cataloging of the Woolaroc Museum Book Collection.

Winn was a member of the Bartlesville-Washington County Metropolitan Area Planning Commission for 19 years. He and his wife, Sarah Winn, resided in the Ochelata area and operated Media Futures Used Book Store....

ALA asks about Bartlesville and Ms. Johnson

Where Is Bartlesville High School’s Bermudez Triangle?

Where Is Bartlesville High School’s Bermudez Triangle?
A series of blog posts by author Maureen Johnson claiming that her novel The Bermudez Triangle has been banned by the Bartlesville (Okla.) Mid-High has resulted in a May 10 Bartlesville Community Examiner-Enterprise story clarifying that the book is being reconsidered and not withdrawn. Johnson told the newspaper that a committee member had returned one of her phone inquiries May 4 to explain. “To be honest, I couldn’t get a lot of information about what was going on,” Johnson said.

Johnson began blogging about the controversy April 27, ... The Bermudez Triangle tells how the relationship between three high-school girlfriends shifts one summer as two of them begin to explore a romantic attraction to each other.

...

The final determination on the book will be made by Bartlesville Public Schools Superintendent Gary W. Quinn, who will take the committee’s recommendation into consideration after he reads the novel.

Update on Bartlesville and Bermudez

Porcelain Librarian has an update on the B&B.

The Bartlesville Mid-High has yet to actually ban Bermudez…it is still in the process of being reviewed...

Author John Green stopped by the above post to give his input and insight on the situation via the comments -- it's an interesting post and I encourage everyone to trek over there and add your thoughts.

Of course you can also follow the author's perspective on Maureen Johnson's webpage.

Bartlesville in the Bermudez Triangle

It's interesting to see the massive anti-banning blog campaign surrounding the Bermudez Triangle and Bartlesville Mid-High. This isn't the first book in Oklahoma to be challenged recently -- but it is the first one, that I've seen, that has prompted so many bloggers to weigh in so aggressively. Yeah sure the book that shall not be named got some press and so did the 6 happy feet-- but did they get a youtube post by an author.

Book challenge in Bartlesville

Author Maureen Johnson talks about having one of her books challenged in Bartlesville.

...For the past several weeks a committee headed by Mrs. Janet Vernon, Executive Director of Secondary Instruction for Bartlesville Public Schools, has been reconsidering the YA novel The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson. A challenge to the book was submitted to the school board on March 4, 2007. Yesterday, the Mid-High Principal and I appeared before the committee at 10:45. By 2:00 this afternoon, I was informed by [a BHS librarian and committee member] that the decision has been made to pull the book from the Mid-High library.

Well, well, well. Looks like I went and got myself banned! Apparently I have written something so dangerous that it can’t be contained on the shelf of a high school library.
...
One parent saw the book, and this is what she had to say in a letter to the school. I’ve reprinted the entire text as it was given to me, removing only the names:

I’m shocked and appalled at the lack of discretion, and moral decline in the selection of books at the Mid-High library. Homosexual content, unprotected sex, underage drinking, and reckless promiscuity are not values that belong in a school library. I understand there are parents or teens who are dealing with these issues, but not all parents want their kids exposed to this material. Personally, I would not endorse any of these types of book as “14-and-15-year-old-friendly.” Giving teenagers knowledge without guidance is irresponsible and dangerous. As a parent, I screen my 15-year-old’s television, Internet, video game, magazines, and books. There are things she’s not mature enough to handle, or are simply wrong for her. Parents are a child’s best line of defense in a world that rushes to grow them up too soon. This book, “The Bermudez Triangle” has no moral fiber, and wrongly promotes a “do whomever you want to discover yourself” mentality. There’s no mention of the myriad of diseases, pregnancy, destruction of friendships and lives that are very real consequences of a “sexual free-for-all” decision. I ask that his material be removed at once. You have a responsibility to the children at school to protect them and educate them. Let’s raise the bar a little higher, respect moral values and a parent’s right to guard that which has been entrusted to their care....

Be sure to read her entire post. It's always interesting to see an author's reaction to having a book attacked. And if it interests you -- Amazon shows the book with 4 1/2 stars.

Ruth Brown unveiling by Gene Winn on youtube

Unveiling of Ruth Brown bust. Former Bartlesville, Oklahoma, USA librarian for 31 years who was fired "for being a communist" because she supported the civil rights movement. Quote from fomer Bartian: "It was ok to have blacks in the town, and it was ok to be nice to them, but do not bring them home, or become friends with them." The railroad tracks still divide the PARTS of the town.

Bartlesville to show Bette

"Storm Center", a 1956 movie starring Bette Davis, will be shown at the Bartlesville Public Library on Wednesday, March 7 at 7:00 p.m. The film is loosely based on the firing of Miss Ruth Brown here in Bartlesville in 1951. The screening is free and open to the public.