School libraries try to keep up with changing times, but budgets don't always allow for new books

May 6, 2008 - 3:39pm — Blake

For public school librarians, it's a no-brainer to toss a book that's full of outdated, often politically incorrect information. But replacing those books can be difficult when publishing costs keep going up and budgets keep getting smaller.

Donielle Leppek, a sophomore, said some of the older books she's seen in the school library have some inappropriate words that ''older people might use, but never anyone my age,'' she said. ''I'd see it and go, 'Wow, no one would say that nowadays.'''

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Comments

May 9, 2008 - 9:31pm — Naomi Mellendorf (not verified)

"History doesn't need to be updated."

I'm embarrassed that one of the school librarians quoted in the school libraries story here claims that history books don't need to be updated. I'm a high school librarian and I've weeded history books. Books about the history of the "colored people," "modern Siam," and other titles that make one cringe. History does change. New discoveries reveal new truths about the past -- see Left for Dead: a Young Man's Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis or Beethoven's Hair: An Extraordinary Historical Odyssey and a Scientific Mystery Solved. More importantly, our perspectives on history change. We explore the events of the past through varied lenses and paradigm shifts and offer new insights. History is always shared from a perspective, and perspectives change. History changes.

Please update your history collections.