Appendix 1. A Survey on Challenges to School Library Collections

Below are questions that relate to challenges to materials in library collections. Please take a few minutes to respond to these:

Section 1. School and Community Environment

A. Please tell me about yourself:

Sex
1. _____ Male
2. _____ Female

Age:

I was born

• _____ In 1980 or after
• _____ Between 1959 and 1979
• _____ Between 1938 and 1958
• _____ Between 1917 and 1937
• _____ In 1916 or before

Education

The highest level of my education is:

1. _____High school or less
2. _____Bachelor's degree
3. _____Master's degree
4. _____Doctor's degree
5. _____Other

Certification

The highest level of library certification I hold is:

1. _____ Endorse level certification
2. _____Learning resources level certification
3. _____ Emergency level certification
4. _____ I am currently studying for library certification

B. Please tell me about your school:

Please indicate the type of school you serve (indicate using the name locally applied to the school configuration)

1. _____High school
2. _____Junior high school
3. _____Middle school
4. _____Elementary school
5. _____Combination (check this if you serve more than one school)
8. _____Other

Size of school:

1. _____Up to 200
2. _____201 to 500
3. _____501 to 1000
4. _____1001 and over

Location of school

1. _____Mostly Rural
2. _____Suburban
3. _____Urban
4. _____Inner city urban
5. _____Other

TEA standing

For the last report period, my school district was ranked by TEA as:

1. _____Exemplary
2. _____Recognized
3. _____Academically Acceptable
4. _____Academically Unacceptable
5. _____Special circumstances
6. _____Other

For the last report period, my campus was ranked by TEA as:

1. _____ Exemplary
2. _____Recognized
3. _____Acceptable
4. _____Low Performing
5. _____Other

C. Please tell me about your library

Size of book collection

1. _____Up to 1500 volumes
2. _____1501 to 10,000
3. _____10,001 to 20,000
4. _____20,001 and over

Diversity of collection (check as many as appropriate)

1_____Collection provides subscription at least 30 periodicals
2. ____Collection includes at least 100 non-print items in various formats (e.g., videos, CDs, etc.)
3. ____Collection includes access to the Internet
4. ____Collection provides access to the resources of the Texas Library Connection
5. ____Collection has other special features (please indicate): ____________________________

Spending for collection. Please indicate the total amount of money spent last school year directly for the development of the collection. Do not include the school's subscription to the Texas Library Collection:

1. _____ $1000 or less
2. _____ $1001 to $5000
3. _____ $5001 to $15,000
4. _____$15,000 and over

D. Please tell me about your perception of the community (select one only)

1. ____Liberal (general supports liberal politics and issues)
2. ____Extremely liberal (generally supports extreme liberal politics and social issues)
3. ____Conservative (generally supports conservative politics and social issues)
4. ____Extremely conservative (generally supports extreme conservative and social issues)
5. ____Moderate (generally is neither conservative or liberal)
6, ____Do not know the community well enough to respond

Section II. Challenges to Materials

Please respond to these questions by selecting one response to each question.

1. In your present position please rate the degree to which you have had challenges to the appropriateness of materials in your collection for the last year. Include the current year as well.

_____1. None at all
_____2. Some, but it's rare (one or two complaints a year)
_____3. Often, (at last once every few months)
_____4. Frequently (at least once a month)
_____5. Constant challenges (ongoing for the last 6 months)

2. Please rate the degree to which you are aware of the following court cases involving censorship that might have or can influence materials in school libraries

2.1 Title of Case: Miller v. California (413 U.S. 15)

_____ 1. Never heard of it
_____2. Have some awareness of it.
_____3. Have a general concept of its importance
_____4 . Have a good, solid understanding of it
_____5 . I know and understanding it well

2.2 Title of Case: Tinker v. the Des Moines (Iowa) School District (393 U.S. 503)

_____1. Never heard of it
_____2. Have some awareness of it.
_____3. Have a general concept of its importance
_____4 . Have a good, solid understanding of it
_____5. I know and understanding it well

2.3 Title of Case: President Council, District 25 v. Community School Board No. 25 (457 F. 2d 289)

_____1. Never heard of it
_____2. Have some awareness of it.
_____3. Have a general concept of its importance
_____4. Have a good, solid understanding of it
_____5. I know and understanding it well

2.4 Title of Case: Right to Read Defense Committee of Chelsea (Massachusetts) v. School Committee of the City of Chelsea (454 F.Supp.,703)

_____1. Never heard of it
_____2. Have some awareness of it.
_____3. Have a general concept of its importance
_____4 . Have a good, solid understanding of it
_____5. I know and understanding it well

3. The Island Trees v. Pico case (457 U.S. 853) is the only school library censorship case to come out of the U.S. Supreme. Please rate the degree to which you are aware of this ruling.

_____1. Never heard of it
_____2. Have some awareness of it
_____3. Have a general concept of its importance
_____4 Have a good, solid understanding of it
_____5. I know and understanding it well

4. Please review the following major concepts that came from Island Trees v. Pico ruling and respond to the following questions:

• School boards cannot simply order the removal of books from school libraries because of the ideas, values, etc. expressed in them
• School boards can remove books from school libraries based on sound educational reasons
• Removal of book(s) from a school library by a school board can be challenged in court to test whether its (their) removal was constitutional and within the law

4. 1. How closely do you agree with these Pico rulings: (Check only one)

_____1. I do not agree with any of these
_____2. I have some problems with the legal interpretation of these concepts
_____3. I generally agree with these concepts
_____4 . I am in agreement with these concepts
_____5. I support these concepts completely

5.1. Do you feel that the administration of your school district (principles and superintends) are aware of the Pico ruling and its implications for school library collections. (Check only one)

_____1. Administrators have no knowledge of this ruling
_____2. Administrators have limited awareness of this ruling
_____3. Administrators are generally aware of this ruling
_____4 . Administrators have a good understanding of this ruling
_____5. Administrators have a solid and well informed understanding of this ruling

6. Assume that you as a librarian would need at sometime in the future to inform your administrators about the Pico ruling. Rate how you feel your explanation to them of the Pico ruling might affect your professional credibility with your administrators. (Check only one)

7. If you had a serious censorship challenge to materials in your collection, how supportive do you feel your school administration (e.g., administrators, school board) would be in helping you defend the disputed item(s)

_____1. They would not support the library staff's professional opinion to retain the item(s) in a challenge
_____2. They would give limited support to the library staff's professional opinion to retain the item(s) in a challenge
_____3. They would support the library staff's professional opinion to retain the item(s) in a challenge
_____4. They would strongly support the library staff's professional opinion to retain the item(s) in a challenge
_____5. They would completely support the library staff's professional opinion to retain the item(s) in a challenge

8. Assuming that a challenge to materials was upheld by your school's board and you were ordered to remove the material(s) and assuming that you felt the removal violated the concepts of Island Trees v. Pico and First Amendment protection (see question 4 ), indicate how likely you would be to respond: (Check only one)

8.1. Level of Acceptance

_____1. Accept the order
_____2. Accept the order with professional reservations
_____3. Accept the order but explain its possible legal consequences to those in authority
_____4. Dispute the order and provide court evidence that the order is in violation of law
_____5. Reject the order and prepare to challenge the order outside the school district

9. Assume that you do not agree with this board decision and you decided to turn for help
from outside the school district. For each of the options given below, select the choice that best represents your likely response: (Check only one response per option)

9.1. I would turn to parents for support:

_____1. Definitely not
_____2. No
_____3. Probably not
_____4. Yes
_____5. Most certainly

9.2 I would turn to the Texas Library Association (TLA) for direction and information:

_____1. Definitely not
_____2. No
_____3. Probably not
_____4. Yes
_____5. Most certainly

9.3. I would turn to the American Library Association (ALA) for direction and information:

_____1. Definitely not
_____2. No
_____3. Probably not
_____4. Yes
_____5. Most certainly

9.4. I would request help from the local or regional American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU):

_____1. Definitely not
_____2. No
_____3. Probably not
_____4. Yes
_____5. Most certainly

9.5. I would seek personal legal advice and counsel:

_____ 1. Definitely not
_____2 . No
_____3. Probably not
_____4. Yes
_____5 Most certainly

Section II. Additional Comments

Please feel free to add comments relating to this survey: