CENSORSHIP ASSIGNMENT

LIS 618: Materials for Adolescents

Tanya Conklin

Gerri Hawkins

JUNE 1, 2018
 Gerri Hawkins
1234 Anywhere Street
Raleigh, NC 27613

May 31, 2018

Tanya Conklin, Youth Services Librarian

Leesville Road Middle School
8406 Pride Way
Raleigh, NC 27613

Dear Ms. Conklin:

I am a resident of Raleigh, NC and my daughter, Anna, is a student in the Wake County, NC Public
Schools. I am concerned that the book Iqbal by Francesco D’Adamo contains questionable content and
should be banned from the libraries of Wake County Public Schools. The targeted age group for the
book is 8-12, and the target grade level is 3-7. It is my opinion that the themes in the book, Islam, child
slavery, sexuality, and gun violence, are inappropriate for children of that age group. As a parent, there
are situations in the book that are of mature content and children should not be exposed to it.

The book is a work of fiction, but is a story of the life of Iqbal Masih, a young Pakistani boy who is sold
into child slavery to pay a debt owed by his parents. The chapters in the book describe deplorable
conditions, bondage, and graphic child abuse. In one passage of the book, Iqbal destroys a Blue Bukhara
rug that he is making for Hussain Khan, his overseer, and is placed into a “Tomb”, which is an empty
water tank, for three days without food and water. The book describes a graphic beating of Iqbal, the
trauma that this beating inflicted on Iqbal’s body, and the ultimate violent fate of Iqbal. This type of
ordeal is appropriate for a more mature audience, and exposing young children to such graphic abuse is
likely to cause trauma.

Please remove this book from the shelves immediately. If it were made into a movie, it would be rated
“R”. This type of thing has no business in a children’s library.

Sincerely,

Gerri Hawkins
June 1, 2018
Tanya Conklin, Youth Services Librarian
Leesville Road Middle School
Raleigh, NC 27613

Gerri Hawkins
1234 Anywhere Street
Raleigh, NC 27613

Dear Ms. Hawkins,

Thank you for your letter concerning Iqbal by Francesco D’Adamo.

Please understand that the school takes your concerns very seriously. We have a well-defined
process when a concern such as this is raised. Upon receipt of your Request for Reconsideration of
Instructional Materials, we convened a Reconsideration Committee consisting of myself, two parents, an
English teacher, a History teacher, and the principal. Every member of the committee read the novel and
considered the professional reviews of the materials as well as the recommended audience. I have
included two of these reviews at the bottom of this letter.

The Reconsideration Committee takes the novel as a whole into account. Considered as a whole,
Iqbal is a wonderful example of a child making a difference in bettering his community. Iqbal’s decision
to stay on and help to free other enslaved children is noble and shows that children can make a difference
in their communities.

Iqbal is a 2004 ALA Notable Children’s book, a Notable Book for a Global Society, and an
International Reading Association Teachers’ Choice. Professional reviews of the novel recommend the
novel for children as young as 8 years old.

I understand your concern regarding the novel. The subject of child slavery is a tough one.
Though the story of Iqbal Masih is tragic, the novel’s treatment of the subject is very conscientious. It is
written in a way that is very appropriate for younger readers. Though, the punishments described in the
novel are harsh, the language used is not graphic but is sensitive to its audience. Although, it is often
difficult to read these types of troubling stories, it is very positive for young readers to learn empathy
through identifying with characters in dire circumstances. In fact, it is our collection development policy
to obtain books that show relevance to real-life situations. Unfortunately, the situations depicted in Iqbal
are all too real.

In light of the literary merits of the novel, the awards it has received, the highly favorable
professional reviews, and a thorough reading of the novel from the point of view of its intended audience,
the Reconsideration Committee has decided to retain Iqbal in the library. If it is still your wish to not
allow your child to have access to the novel, that wish will certainly be respected.

If you are unsatisfied with the decision of the committee, you are welcome to appeal to the Wake
County Board of Education.

Sincerely,

Tanya Conklin
Example Reviews:

Publisher’s Weekly
D'Adamo's brief book, his first published in the U.S., packs an emotional punch in a novel also
inspired by the life and work of Masih. Narrator Fatima is a bonded servant in a carpet factory
in Pakistan, where she and a dozen or so other children work from dawn until dusk with little
food or water, handweaving carpets that make their "owner," Hussain Khan, wealthy. Into their
factory steps young Iqbal. A stunning act of bravery nearly kills him but also plants a seed of
rebellion in his fellow workers; another turn of events exposes just how corrupt and deeply
ingrained the country's system is. D'Adamo's prose is straightforward, almost reportorial, but
the author also carefully chooses hauntingly poetic images that reflect the children's plight: an
open window too high for the children to view, and later, when hope begins to bloom, a kite.
D'Adamo pays fitting respect to Iqbal's name and bravery with this eye-opening, genuinely
touching novel. Ages 8-12.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-689-85445-3

Kirkus Review

This profoundly moving story is all the more impressive because of its basis in fact. Although
the story is fictionalized, its most harrowing aspects are true: “Today, more than two hundred
million children between the ages of five and seventeen are ‘economically active’ in the world.”
Iqbal Masih, a real boy, was murdered at age 13. His killers have never been found, but it’s
believed that a cartel of ruthless people overseeing the carpet industry, the “Carpet Mafia,”
killed him. The carpet business in Pakistan is the backdrop for the story of a young Pakistani girl
in indentured servitude to a factory owner, who also “owned” the bonds of 14 children,
indentured by their own families for sorely needed money. Fatima’s first-person narrative grips
from the beginning and inspires with every increment of pride and resistance the defiant Iqbal
instills in his fellow workers. Although he was murdered for his efforts, Iqbal’s life was not in
vain; the accounts here of children who were liberated through his and activist adults’ efforts
will move readers for years to come. (Fiction. 10-14)

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/francesco-dadamo/iqbal/
Return to Headlines
COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY
Collection Development Policy updated 2014

I. Mission Statement

A. LRMS MISSION STATEMENT: Leesville Road Middle School will foster the joy of learning while striving to
achieve growth for all students.

B. LRMS VISION STATEMENT: Highly qualified faculty and staff will provide rigorous instruction in a safe and
orderly environment that is conducive to learning.

C. Leesville Road Middle School Media Center Mission Statement:

The mission of Leesville Road Middle School Media Center is to provide access to a collection of materials and
collaborative instruction in order to enrich and support the entire curriculum as well as to meet the individual
educational, emotional, and recreational needs of all school community members in an environment that fosters 21st
century skills.

D. WCPSS Media and Technology Statement:

The mission of the media and technology program is to ensure that students and staff are effective users of ideas and
information. The program is designed to support, complement, and enhance the educational philosophy, goals, and
objectives of the school system. The media and technology program makes available, through the school’s
collections, a wide range of print, non-print, and technology resources on varying levels of difficulty with a diversity of
appeal compatible with the different needs, interests, and viewpoints of students and teachers.

II. Selection

A. WCPSS Board Policy 5410

The Superintendent shall coordinate the media selection process.

5410.1 Procurement of media shall be accomplished in accordance with law, board purchasing and accounting
policy, and established selection guidelines, including the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States
and the Library Bill of Rights.

5410.2 The term media may include, but is not limited to: textbooks, library books, supplementary reading and
information materials, periodicals, newspapers, charts, pictures, posters, kits, maps, globes, microforms, motion
picture films, slides, audio and video recordings, dramatic productions, concerts, written and performed music,
filmstrips, transparencies, art prints, film loops, flashcards, sculpture, study prints, laser discs, CD-ROM programs,
computer software, online electronic data, community resource people, agencies, and programs; and all other
instructional materials needed for educational purposes.

B. Media and Technology Advisory Committee (WCPSS Board R&P 5410.2)

The principal shall designate a Media and Technology Advisory Committee to include the principal, the school media
coordinator, teachers, and diverse parent and student representatives. To ensure the appropriate use of funds, the
committee will consider school-wide needs in cooperation with the school leadership team and school improvement
team. Under the leadership of professional media personnel, this group sets priorities for establishing school
guidelines consistent with Wake County guidelines, and sets priorities for acquisition of materials based on school-
wide objectives and on strengths and weaknesses in the existing collections; however, approval of instructional
materials resides with the principal. Ongoing evaluation is necessary and based on information from standard
selection tools or preview of materials. The selection should reflect a realistic, long-range acquisition program to
provide high quality resources.

III. Criteria for Selection

 A. Materials selected for inclusion in the Leesville Road Middle School Media Center shall satisfy the following:

1. Materials shall be chosen to support, complement, and enrich the curriculum and to meet the educational,
emotional, and recreational needs of all patrons.
2. Books shall meet high standards of quality in:
1. Accuracy and currency of information
2. Treatment of subject
3. Educational soundness
4. Physical format and construction
5. Arrangement and organization
6. Literary style
7. Importance of the subject matter and relevance to real-life situations
3. Audiovisual materials shall meet high standards of quality in:
1. Authenticity and currency
2. Appropriateness and relevance
3. Scope
4. Interest
5. Accessibility
6. Organization and format
7. Technical aspects and physical characteristics
8. Educational soundness
4. All materials shall be appropriate for the subject area and for the ages, stages of emotional development,
ability levels, learning styles, and stages of social development of Holly Grove Middle School students.
5. Materials shall represent varying viewpoints so that users can engage in critical analysis of information,
make judgments based on all available information, and explore their own beliefs, attitudes, and behavior.

IV. Selection Tools

I A. In order to select the most current and relevant materials on any topic, the library media specialist and the
Media and Technology Advisory Committee will use the following representative list of selection tools to aid with the
review and purchasing process.

B. Reviewing media:

1. Booklist
2. Curriculum Connections
3. Curriculum guides in all subject areas
4. Horn Book
5. School Library Journal
6. Publisher’s Weekly
7. Kirkus Reviews
8. VOYA
9. MultiCultural Review
10. Personally previewed materials
11. Reviews by Wake County media coordinators and teachers
12. Subject area bibliographies

V. Electronic Information Policy

A. The Media Center is a learning center that supports the provision of information in a variety of formats. As such,
Internet access is provided through the availability of a full computer lab as well as individual computer stations. All
patrons will need to log onto the computers and will be permitted to use the Internet as their research and study
needs require.

B. Because equipment and time are limited and must be used to best meet patron needs, the computers in the
Media Center will be limited in the following ways:
 1. Academic use will always have priority over recreational use.
2. Printing privileges are reserved for academic purposes only. The Media Staff must grant permission for any
exceptions.
3. Students must use headphones or earbuds when using sound on the computers.

C. Staff members will monitor student computer use to the best of their abilities, including Media Center Staff and
teachers. Students are held to the statements they agreed to in the Acceptable Use Policy. Any violations of the AUP
will be reported to the administrative team.

D. The library media specialist will assist with the instruction, formal and informal, of appropriate selection,
evaluation, and use of information found on the Internet.

VI. AV Policy

A. The Media Center provides AV materials and services for the following purposes:

1. To supplement its collection of materials

2. To support, complement, and enhance the curriculum of Leesville Road Middle School
3. To meet the individual, educational, and recreational needs of all LRMS community members

B. Format

1. The Media Center’s AV collection consists of films (DVD and VHS), electronic databases, electronic
reference sources and audio books.
1. The Media Center does not collect filmstrips or music CDs.

VII. Gifts

A. Leesville Road Middle School Media Center welcomes gift materials. These materials shall be subject to the
same criteria as those obtained through the regular selection process before being entered into the collection.

VIII. Weeding

A. Purpose

Leesville Road Middle School Media Center recognizes the importance and necessity of having a collection of
materials that is current, accurate, relevant, and useful with regard to content and format. Therefore, a periodic
evaluation of the collection will be conducted by the library media specialist(s) to determine if any items in the
collection no longer meet the standards for inclusion. The following guidelines have been devised to aid with the
weeding process.

B. Guidelines

1. Weeding Based on Content

1. Information is out-of-date
2. Information is inaccurate
3. Poorly written or presented information
 4.Unsuitable subject or treatment not suitable to school population (perpetuation of sexual, racial, or
cultural stereotypes)
2. Weeding Based on Physical Condition
1. Pages are tattered, torn, damaged, yellowed
2. Cover is torn, missing, damaged
3. Binding is beyond repair
4. Antiquated appearance that discourages use
3. AV materials with broken or missing pieces
1. Poor technical quality
4. Weeding Based on Duplicate or Superfluous Copies
1. Unneeded duplicate copies
2. Older edition when newer one is available
3. Books which no longer relate to the curriculum
5. Weeding Based on Use
1. Nonfiction: the item has not been checked out in the last 5-7 years
2. Fiction: the item has not been checked out in the last 5 years (exclusions: classics, autographed
copies, copies with bookplates)

C. Weeded materials will be withdrawn from the collection according to Wake County Public School System
guidelines.

IX. Reconsideration of Materials

A. WCPSS Board R&P 5410.4

When materials are challenged, all complaints, whether received by telephone, letter, or in personal conversation,
shall be referred to the building principal. Recommendations made in selection publications should not be viewed as
the final judgment on the appropriateness of materials.

Resolution of the complaint shall first be sought though a discussion with the principal and/or his designee. In an
informal discussion, the complainant will be informed about the selection policy, criteria, and merits of the material
being questioned. If the complainant does not submit a formal request for reconsideration within two weeks, the
complaint will be considered closed.

If the complainant chooses to file a formal complaint, the following procedures should be used:

1. The principal or his/her designee will explain the school selection procedure and criteria to the complainant.
This should be done courteously with no commitment made as the Reconsideration Committee has
responsibility to respond.
2. The principal or his/her designee will provide the complainant with a copy of the form Request for
Reconsideration of Instructional Materials. The complainant should be advised to submit the form to the
principal.
3. When a complaint has been initiated, the principal will appoint an ad hoc Reconsideration Committee.
Minimum representation on this committee will be the media coordinator, two teacher representatives who a
specialists in the content area(s) being challenged, two parents, and the principal.
4. The challenged material will continue to be used until the consideration process is completed; however, the
use of the material(s) for that particular student shall be suspended, if requested by the parent(s).
5. The Superintendent, Chief Academic Officer, appropriate Area Regional Superintendent, appropriate Senior
Director for Curriculum and Instruction, and Director of Library Media Services will be informed of the
complaint by the principal.
6. The Reconsideration Committee will be activated within thirty days to:
7. Examine the challenged material
8. Read appraisals of the material in professional reviewing sources
9. Form opinions based on the material as a whole and not on passages isolated from context
10. Prepare a report responding to the complainant
11. File a copy of the report with the principal, Superintendent, Chief Academic Officer, appropriate Area
Superintendent, appropriate Senior Director for Curriculum and Instruction, and Director of Library Media
Services
12. Inform the complainant of the decision of the committee
 13. Retain or withdraw the challenged materials based on the decision of the committee
14. The decision of the school’s Reconsideration Committee may be appealed to the Central Instructional
Materials Advisory Committee. This committee will be composed of: Chief Academic Officer; Director of
Library Media Services; Senior Administrator for subject area, appropriate Area Superintendent; the Senior
Director for Elementary, Middle, or High School Programs; and a minimum of two parents. The complainant
must put the request in writing to the Central Instructional Materials Advisory Committee after notification of
the action taken by the school’s Reconsideration Committee. The appeal to the central committee must be
requested in writing by the complainant to the Director of Library Media Services with a copy being sent to
the principal. Each voting member of the Central Instructional Materials Advisory Committee will read or
view the material in its entirety before the committee informs the school committee of its position.

The Central Committee’s recommendations are advisory. Only the Board of Education has the power to reverse the
school’s decision.

1. If the complainant is dissatisfied with the decision of the Central Instructional Materials Advisory Committee,
he/she may appeal to the Wake County Board of Education in accordance with board policy 1316.

X. Supporting Documents

 Appendix A: ALA – Library Bill of Rights

 Appendix B: WCPSS Board Policy 5020 – Academic Freedom
 Appendix C: ALA – Access to Resources and Services in the School Library Media Program

Note: This collection development plan is credited to the hard work of Kendra Allen at Holly Grove Middle
School. Thank you for sharing your organized thoughts with Leesville Road Middle School.
May 30, 2018

Tanya Conklin

123 Random Street

Raleigh, NC 27613

Gerri Hawkins

Your High School Library

Raleigh, NC 27613

Dear Ms. Hawkins,

My child recently brought home a book obtained from your library entitled “Looking for
Alaska” by John Green. I was shocked and appalled by the contents of this book. The book
depicts high school students engaged in highly questionable activities. The characters in the
novel, all high school students, regularly smoke and drink and take pleasure in flagrantly
breaking every school rule and often federal laws. There is discussion of using fake IDs to
purchase both beer and cigarettes. Information on how to mask the inappropriate and illegal
smoking that the characters constantly take part in is also conveyed in the book.

Additionally, the sexual content of the book is completely inappropriate for children. At
one point, two of the characters approach a third for advice on how to perform oral sex. The
third character demonstrates using a tube of toothpaste.

This type of smut has no literary value and is completely out of place in a school library. I
request that this novel be immediately removed from the shelves and taken out of the hands of
impressionable youth.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Tanya Conklin
 Gerri Hawkins, Media Coordinator
Your School Library
Raleigh, NC 27613

May 31, 2018

Tanya Conklin
123 Random Street
Raleigh NC 27613

Dear Ms. Conklin:

Thank you for your expressing your concerns about the book Looking for Alaska by John
Green. We appreciate your willingness to consider the wellbeing of the students, your values
and concerns, as well as your observations about materials. At Your School Library, we
welcome all opinions, viewpoints, and perspectives about our materials and resources. In
response to your concern, our Principal appointed a Reconsideration Committee which
consisted of the Media Coordinator, an English Language Arts teacher, a School Counselor, two
parents, and the Principal. Each member of the committee read the book, collaborated and
had a discussion on the best way to manage the issues that arise in this book. We also
reviewed the Collection Development Policy for Wake County Public Schools to verify that we
were in compliance with its guidelines.
You have expressed that your concern with the book Looking for Alaska raises concerns
about underage drinking, illegal smoking, the use of fake IDs and sexual content. Our teachers
believe that we should not underestimate our students’ abilities to discuss and analyze these
complex issues, and that the presence of those issues in fiction collections challenges them to
think critically about their own personal growth.
The Wake County Public School system’s Collection Development Policy states that
books in our collection should meet the standards of quality in “Importance of the subject
matter and relevance to real-life situations” (WCPSS Board Policy 5410). The members of the
Reconsideration Committee agreed that while the situations in Looking for Alaska are
somewhat controversial and difficult, the book does provide redeeming social value and offers
students an opportunity to reflect on the difficult decisions that they must make in their own
lives.
The Wake County School Board also allows a provision for the academic freedom of
students. Policy 5020.2 states that students should be provided with the “opportunity to
develop an understanding of ideas and people who may seem alien to them and that they
develop a capacity to discern the difference between fact and opinion, and to weigh
arguments, slogans, and appeals.” (WCPSS Board Policy 5020.2). We believe that the students
who visit the Your School Library possess the ability to discern fact from fiction, develop
realistic opinions about the work, and grow from the experience of being exposed to it.
 The Wake County School Board also requires Media Specialists to utilize reviews of
fiction and non-fiction materials before adding them to a collection. As the recipient of the
Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association, Looking for Alaska is a
respected work of fiction. Other reviews are listed below:

Kirkus Review
The Alaska of the title is a maddening, fascinating, vivid girl seen through the eyes of Pudge
(Miles only to his parents), who meets Alaska at boarding school in Alabama. Pudge is a skinny
(“irony” says his roommate, the Colonel, of the nickname) thoughtful kid who collects and
memorizes famous people’s last words. The Colonel, Takumi, Alaska and a Romanian girl named
Lara are an utterly real gaggle of young persons, full of false starts, school pranks, moments of
genuine exhilaration in learning and rather too many cigarettes and cheap bottles of wine.
Their engine and center is Alaska, given to moodiness and crying jags but also full of spirit and
energy, owner of a roomful of books she says she’s going to spend her life reading. Her center is
a woeful family tragedy, and when Alaska herself is lost, her friends find their own ways out of
the labyrinth, in part by pulling a last, hilarious school prank in her name. What sings and soars
in this gorgeously told tale is Green’s mastery of language and the sweet, rough edges of
Pudge’s voice. Girls will cry and boys will find love, lust, loss and longing in Alaska’s vanilla-and-
cigarettes scent. (Fiction. YA).
Link to Kirkus Review

Publisher’s Weekly Review

This ambitious first novel introduces 16-year-old Miles Halter, whose hobby is memorizing
famous people's last words. When he chucks his boring existence in Florida to begin this
chronicle of his first year at an Alabama boarding school, he recalls the poet Rabelais on his
deathbed who said, "I go to seek a Great Perhaps." Miles's roommate, the "Colonel," has an
interest in drinking and elaborate pranks—pursuits shared by his best friend, Alaska, a
bookworm who is also "the hottest girl in all of human history." Alaska has a boyfriend at
Vanderbilt, but Miles falls in love with her anyway. Other than her occasional hollow, feminist
diatribes, Alaska is mostly male fantasy—a curvy babe who loves sex and can drink guys under
the table. Readers may pick up on clues that she is also doomed. Green replaces conventional
chapter headings with a foreboding countdown—"ninety-eight days before," "fifty days
before"—and Alaska foreshadows her own death twice ("I may die young," she says, "but at
least I'll die smart"). After Alaska drives drunk and plows into a police car, Miles and the Colonel
puzzle over whether or not she killed herself. Theological questions from their religion class add
some introspective gloss. But the novel's chief appeal lies in Miles's well-articulated lust and his
initial excitement about being on his own for the first time. Readers will only hope that this is
not the last word from this promising new author. Ages 14-up. (Mar.)

Link to Publisher's Weekly Review

 Based on all of these consideration and policies, the Reconsideration Committee has decided
unanimously to retain Looking for Alaska by John Green in its collection. We appreciate your thoughts,
concerns, and feedback.

Sincerely,

Gerri Hawkins, Media Coordinator

Your School Library

Raleigh, NC

Works Cited:
(2003, November 11). [Review of the book Iqbal by F. D’Adamo]. Publisher’s Weekly. Retrieved from
https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-689-85445-3.
(2003, November 01). [Review of the book Iqbal by F. D’Adamo]. Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved from
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/francesco-dadamo/iqbal/.
Allen, K. (2014). Collection Development Policy. Holly Grove Middle School. Retrieved from
https://www.wcpss.net/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=965&ModuleInstanceID=3374&View
ID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=1306&PageID=1647.
D’Adamo, F. (2003). Iqbal. New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks.
Green, J. (2005) Looking for Alaska. New York, NW: Dutton Books.