Superintendent Palazzo – Glocester School Superintendent – Responds to Rhode Island ACLU Calls on Student Book Access Restrictions
The Coalition News has received a copy of the response from Glocester School Superintendent Dr. Renee Palazzo to the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union call to halt “arbitrary restrictions on student access to books”. According to the RIACLU, “Superintendent Palazzo instructed the school librarians to “work towards ensuring students are checking out age-appropriate books” and to “work with [a software cataloging system] to identify a way to group your inventory by age.” The ACLU letter said that these directives “establish a troubling precedent that can send a chilling message, encouraging censorship efforts that undermine basic pedagogical values.””
In her response, provided below, Dr. Palazzo explains both the rational, and the process, for checking out publications based on age & suitability. Dr. Palazzo goes on to suggest that the practices described “appears to align with your suggestion at the end of your letter stating that students should take out books that professional librarians have deemed suitable and offered a footnote.”
Coalition News will continue to follow this ongoing discussion.
ACLU response Glocester
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