Alamogordo made news around the world last week when a parent challenged the use of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere in the high school.
A collection development policy helps explain why and how books are added to the collection. A policy on challenges to materials that outlines the reconsideration process and decision making authority is also essential.
Now might be a good time to review your policies with library staff, the board, or school administration. And then get inspired with the stories collected by New Mexico’s own Valerie Nye and Kathy Barco in True Stories of Censorship Battles in America’s Libraries, available for inter-library loan from the State Library’s professional collection.