Parental Controls

On the plane, I met a gentleman from the U.S. We talked a little about what we did for a living. He seemed to think that librarians are very left wing. I have always thought about librarians as being quite conservative. Perhaps the perception has changed.

We talked about the challenge toThree Wishes in Toronto and York School boards. He said he believed strongly in the right for parents to control what their kids read. My problem with that is that by removing from the Silver Birch list or by requiring a note from home to read it, school boards are allowing a minority of parents to control not only what their kids have access to, but what other kids have access to.

There must be a better way to balance parental rights with the right to have books that librarians have chosen for their excellence accessible to all students. Should a minority be able to influence the choices this way?