School officials have stopped Ellen Snoeyenbos, the young adult librarian at Duxbury (Mass.) Free Library, from distributing a summer reading list she had given out to two classes. Snoeyenbos told the June 23 Boston Globe that she had been invited by Duxbury High School to give booktalks promoting summer reading, and had given out the library’s list of 86 recommended titles before officials intervened.
“We can only give out our own lists,” said School Superintendent Eileen Williams. She acknowledged that some parents complained about titles on the list, but said that had no bearing on the school’s actions. “It was taken care of before [parents] came to us,” she said.
Snoeyenbos said the public library has a broader mission than the schools. “I tried to pick things recently published, highly recommended, well reviewed,” she said. Included on her list are the anonymously written Go Ask Alice, Steve Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Chuck Palanuik’s Fight Club.
Posted July 1, 2002.