PROTECT OUR CHILDREN. ASK THE MID-CONTINENT PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD FOR A CONTENT-RATING SYSTEM ON BOOKS FOR YOUTH.
The Mid-Continent Public Library (MCPL) system loans out over 3 million books each year to area youth. An estimated 35,000 children ages 6-11 have active personal library cards. With over 30 branches in Clay, Platte and Jackson Counties, MCPL is visited by thousands of our children every day. Yet, there is no way for parents or children to know whether a book contains age-appropriate content or not.
Ask the MCPL Board to put a rating system in place to protect our children from age-inappropriate content such as graphic violence and LGTBQ+ sex education. As parents, we have the right to make informed decisions about what our children are reading; just as we do with a movie, music or video game. All of these other media forms have rating labels for content, why don’t books? It’s time for readers to be aware!
Your signature can make a difference! Please stand with other concerned parents and adults in your community. This petition will be presented to the MCPL Board and would directly affect Juvenile Easy [JE] - birth through 2nd grade readers, Juvenile [J] - 2nd through 6th grade readers, and Young Adult [YA ] - 6th through 12th grade readers.
Updates
August 25, 2023
The feedback received so far confirms that many families desire more transparency regarding library collection contents. I am currently preparing a formal request to present these concerns to the library board during their upcoming public session.
14 Comments
Content ratings allow me to help me navigate and guide my children in when and what my child is reading, not eliminating their exposure to things entirely. Thank you! I am especially concerned with lack of oversight when books are in the “young adult” section. I appreciate our librarians and hope this can be a they can use to help navigate selections as well. It’s a tough job, and we appreciate their efforts!
This would help navigate even the juvenile section as my kids grab a random book and bring it to me. I still take responsibility as the parent to research. But this would also give kids independence in knowing what they can and cannot grab.
Please put ratings on your books.
That sort of stuff should NOT BE accessible to any child! Not in their sight or reach.. if you want to "cater to the MINORITY" BC IT IS absolutely less than 1% of people claiming "said letters" keep it away from CHILDREN!
Please help children and parents make better informed decisions on reading material.
Sex should not be in children’s books period. Sexual preferences shouldn’t be in children’s books.
I trust the Board is already protecting our children by keeping pornographic materials out of our libraries. But Boards change. Protect our children.
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PROTECT OUR CHILDREN. ASK THE MID-CONTINENT PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD FOR A CONTENT-RATING SYSTEM ON BOOKS FOR YOUTH.
The Mid-Continent Public Library (MCPL) system loans out over 3 million books each year to area youth. An estimated 35,000 children ages 6-11 have active personal library cards. With over 30 branches in Clay, Platte and Jackson Counties, MCPL is visited by thousands of our children every day. Yet, there is no way for parents or children to know whether a book contains age-appropriate content or not.
Ask the MCPL Board to put a rating system in place to protect our children from age-inappropriate content such as graphic violence and LGTBQ+ sex education. As parents, we have the right to make informed decisions about what our children are reading; just as we do with a movie, music or video game. All of these other media forms have rating labels for content, why don’t books? It’s time for readers to be aware!
Your signature can make a difference! Please stand with other concerned parents and adults in your community. This petition will be presented to the MCPL Board and would directly affect Juvenile Easy [JE] - birth through 2nd grade readers, Juvenile [J] - 2nd through 6th grade readers, and Young Adult [YA ] - 6th through 12th grade readers.
Updates
August 25, 2023
The feedback received so far confirms that many families desire more transparency regarding library collection contents. I am currently preparing a formal request to present these concerns to the library board during their upcoming public session.
14 Comments
We are continually checking out books as a family with acid readers!!We appreciate this library service immensely.y husband used your library system tohelp him earn his reserch-based PhD. from London School of Theology 10 years ago! Thank you! This rating will help the library system continue to be top-notch!
Content ratings allow me to help me navigate and guide my children in when and what my child is reading, not eliminating their exposure to things entirely. Thank you! I am especially concerned with lack of oversight when books are in the “young adult” section. I appreciate our librarians and hope this can be a they can use to help navigate selections as well. It’s a tough job, and we appreciate their efforts!
This would help navigate even the juvenile section as my kids grab a random book and bring it to me. I still take responsibility as the parent to research. But this would also give kids independence in knowing what they can and cannot grab.
Please put ratings on your books.
That sort of stuff should NOT BE accessible to any child! Not in their sight or reach.. if you want to "cater to the MINORITY" BC IT IS absolutely less than 1% of people claiming "said letters" keep it away from CHILDREN!
Please help children and parents make better informed decisions on reading material.
Sex should not be in children’s books period. Sexual preferences shouldn’t be in children’s books.
I trust the Board is already protecting our children by keeping pornographic materials out of our libraries. But Boards change. Protect our children.
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We are continually checking out books as a family with acid readers!!We appreciate this library service immensely.y husband used your library system tohelp him earn his reserch-based PhD. from London School of Theology 10 years ago! Thank you! This rating will help the library system continue to be top-notch!