LISNews: Librarian News

A group of so-called "Family Friendly" conservatives in Gwinnett County, Georgia sponsor launched a Web site to harmonize the library system with conservative values .

Should public libraries have a mandate to support the curriculum of homeschoolers? Maybe, if the library board is prepared to tackle this mission then sure. The issue boils down to money to support this mission. Homeschoolers already have shunned the local education system and school library system which would has the mission of supporting the local curriculum. Shouldn't public libraries receive necessary funding to develop, staff, and sustain such a mission? Yes, public libraries are the “peoples university†but in a tight budget should public libraries concentrate on K-12 taking away from the adult and pre-school portions of the cradle to grave portion of that mission?This is a tricky issue. The only statistics on homeschooling say its the best thing since the plow. Those who interact with homeschoolers tend to feel that the statistics are cherry picked and only the success is reported. I guess my view is that when its done well by parents willing to make the necessary commitment that it will probably be at least as good as a public school education. The problem with stats on the issue is once a child leaves the system the system no longer counts them. You really have no idea of the number of failures in homeschoolers because it is largely unmonitored. Most of the regulation for it is to make sure that homeschoolers have similar opportunities as those who stay in the system. I tend to think most people in my area gravitate to homeschooling for lack of money to afford private religious schools, or if they lack a private school that supports their personal view point.Tough issue no one wants to stand up and argue that dear old mom might not know what’s best for her children. Like I said when I started this post this is the issue for southern public librarians for the next several years. They have already toppled one library director on this issue. Be prepared, there will be others. The question is will you rollover and become a "homeschool library" or will you fight to preserve your other missions. The www.gcplwatch.org website did an excellent job of choosing statistics and misrepresenting them to make an argument. Shouldn't libraries support education they ask? The correct phrasing would be shouldn't libraries support education at your expense?

I guess that's as fair as a very left-leaning profession that wants to harmonize library systems in general with liberal values.

Here are direct links to the articles in the

Atlanta Journal Constitution and the

Gwinnett Daily Post
Gwinnett Daily Post. I find it most intriguing that one of the board members who cast a "Fire" vote was actually just appointed--this was her very first meeting.

Why isn't it our role? We certainly carry the schools' water to a great degree.

Some of the complainers are homeschoolers. But they aren't demanding a bunch of homeschool materials. In fact, they said:"Popular materials please a lot of people, but we would like to see a county-wide taxpayer survey because the supply may be creating the demand."