Am I right to be angry..........(warning images are horrid)

Should be burn them too?

I think sitting down and talking with him and deciding not to read is the right approach. I think holding the school responsible for your sons choices is the wrong approach.

Yes. Very wise on your part.

No, of course I don't think those images and probably not those books are appropriate for a seven-year-old. However, I don't think there's anything wrong with them for, say, 10-11 year olds. We were reading Stephen King and watching Freddie by that age.

Your elementary school library just doesn't have the resources to patrol what age each kid is and what they can and can't and should or shouldn't be checking out.

not quite into burning books....

So you think the educators of my child, the guardians of my child through times that are very influential in his life, should not be held accountable for the material he is allowed to select......so, no restrictions on web sites he browses from the school IT room?    I'm sorry, I think the school have the responsibility to guide a child away from inappropriate material.  and in my mind this isn't close to appropriate.

On a practical level, how would you propose that be accomplished?

I am very liberal with how I talk and what I discuss with my 6 yr old son.  I feel it has really helped with his remarkable grasp of the English Language, at the age of 3 it was like argueing with a teenager.  So the sit down talk was perferct.

I actually agree with Dewybuck on his son shouldn't have been allowed to check out the book.  I don't really know and don't want to argue if the book should even be in an elemetry school, I have no problem with an 11-12 yr old reading it.  But, should a 6 yr old be able to check out the book, what about the kindergarden class that goes to the library?  Can they also check out the book?  You don't just walk into a library take a book and walk out, an adult has to physically check you out.  I wouldn't get into an uproar about it, but I would have a nice conversation with teacher.

Wow, I never thought I would be the conservative one :-)

No. It's the responsibility of the PARENTS to teach right and wrong AT HOME such that the child makes appropriate choices when they're elsewhere.

First of all we are talking books not computers and you should know as well as I do you had to sign a release to allow your child to use the internet at school AND the restrictions on those computers are very tight - I know at our elementary school the kids can't even use Google. We are talking books and it is YOUR job, not the schools job to make sure your son makes the right choices and when he doesn't (because children don't often make the best choices which is good and healthy and where they learn lessons) it is your job to sit with him just like you did and discuss why this is not a good choice.

Do you really expect the teacher to go through every single child's book choices? Or would you rather they get back to the classroom to learn something? It would take a while to go through everyones books page by page to check for pictures that may not been age appropriate. You certainly can't expect the teacher to know the contents of every book in the library.

Yes.

And again, what are the standards this adult should be following? Is the checkout system computerized? What kind of information should it have on each child? How is this all supposed to get established and followed?

You're not. That's the liberal viewpoint.

Really? Because that would be appropriate for 5th and 6th graders? The book in question seems like it would be fine for a child in 5th or 6th grade.

Some school libraries break the room down by appropriate ages/grades and some do not. Some are broken down K-2 and 3-5 or 6. However, I can see how not every library has this option. Maybe they have limited space.

There are going to be a lot of things that happen at school parents do not agree with. We can only control what we can control holding the teacher responsible for a childs every action is keeping them from teaching which is a HUGE problem in most schools.

Of course. But several in this thread have noted those books might be age-appropriate for older elementary-school children. And that's just a few examples of the possibly tens of thousands of books in the library.

Who's going to go through them all, make the calls, how, and again, how would it be implemented?

I really can't argue this on an ethical level; I just don't know. [Aside: as insanely socially liberal as I am, I don't think, for example, The Lion King movie is appropriate for young children].

However, on a practical level, I don't see any way to get it done.

And if the child is supposed to be reading said book in school and not taking it home?  The concept of parents being responsible is all well and good but there needs to be a partnership with the school.  Either sided abdicating responsibility is not the way to have a partnership.

Is this not what a librarian is for?

OK, at what point did I say Teacher?  I said School, I know my sons teacher does not have the time to check every book all the children get, that is why they have a permanent staff of 2 in the library, they have a very nice, computerized check out system where the children hand the books to the staff to be scanned and added to their accounts.  If they had no adult involvement, I would just have discussed his choices as I did and perhaps mentioned it to the school, but the fact that they have adult interaction for every book that leaves the library....I am very annoyed.

ETA: Just so we're clear, I have huge respect for any person involved in the education system, especially the teaching staff, they do probably one of the most important roles in any community and do not get half the kudos for doing so......

I'm in complete agreement that there's a range, and an upper limit to which books should be in an elementary school library. But that is a huge range encompassing children from 5-12 years old, and I personally wouldn't know how to determine that upper limit, much less implement it by groups.

Well ... again, neither you nor anyone else has proposed what I'd consider practical standards (how to be determined?) and, practically, how to implement those standards in a library that serves a very diverse range of ages and backgrounds.

What do you suggest these 2 staffers do, and how should this work with the computer system?

How does the libarian know what you are OK with?

I just had a discussion with my 15 year old son, reading him some of the responses.

He says he knows lots of kids who read books/watch movies/play video games he was not allowed to play/read/watch but their parents are OK with it. My XH has a 2nd grader that is allowed to play Mature video games.

So.... how is the librarian supposed to know what is OK with you? Maybe you need to make a list.

Different people have different opinions on what is appropriate.

And 2 librarians for an entire school isn't really a full staff. You might want to find out if determining appropriateness of childrens choices is in their job description.

Totally agree, Keri - frankly the school is in a no-win situation.  Let's say another child tries to check out the book but is refused.  The child tells his parents. Their reaction is different and insists that it's their child's discretion and their parenting to decide what he should or shouldn't be reading.  Then the librarian is in trouble for censoring. Totally no win.

I know one summer when i babysat i would take the kids to the library.  The boy was not a reader at all but letting him check out books on bats, snakes, scary stories got him interested in reading ... not what I would prefer but I wanted him to read something!

I have to wonder what is educational about "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark"?

Why is it in the school library to begin with? Regardless of the age of the child I doubt there is a lot of educational value in this book.