Hi Marcia, I asked my local public library to review the book. They agreed it was biased, but would not pull it from their collection. Instead, they said they would not feature it in any way (such as on a "book of the month" display by the entrance) so as not to appear to endorse it. Instead, they would just leave it on the shelf. I also brought the book to the attention of my local school district. Only a couple of schools have it in their libraries, and I just wanted to make the district administration and Diversity Liaison aware that it is a biased book. We had a discussion about while we may value diversity and "differing perspectives" we have to be careful that those perspectives don't also introduce bias (or in this case, erasure of Jews/Israel from the Middle East). And also that we can't always go by reviews--the book got a very positive review from the School Library Journal, which many schools use to help make purchasing decisions. The SLJ even mentioned it as a positive that the book included a "map of Palestine", and that the book was recommended!! So they got the idea (I think/hope!) that multiple sources need to be checked prior to introducing a book into a collection. Judy Petersen Library Director Congregation Har Shalom Fort Collins, CO
-----Original Message----- From: Marcia Goldstein via Hasafran <hasafran@lists.osu.edu> To: hasaf...@lists.service.ohio-state.edu Sent: Thu, Mar 3, 2022 1:34 pm Subject: [ha-Safran] Controversial book In a previous post, there was mention of the map in the book "Amazing Women of the Middle East" eliminating Israel (the area is labeled as Palestine). Have any communities contacted their local libraries about this book? If so, have any libraries removed it from their collection? Incidentally, Amazon is selling the book, with half of the reviews giving it one star for the inaccuracy portrayed by the map. Marcia Goldstein Maurer Jewish Community Library Indianapolis 317-509-6783 __ Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) ================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@lists.service.ohio-state.edu To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: galro...@osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran*40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html__;JQ!!KGKeukY!gkkokyEbJ_V-fJEp6g7_SQOxzfgiQOABVNc39KcKChCJK11RxZaU7gpx5jD52RaDonU$ Earlier Listserver: https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran*40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html__;JQ!!KGKeukY!gkkokyEbJ_V-fJEp6g7_SQOxzfgiQOABVNc39KcKChCJK11RxZaU7gpx5jD5Si1Frgg$ AJL HomePage https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.JewishLibraries.org__;!!KGKeukY!gkkokyEbJ_V-fJEp6g7_SQOxzfgiQOABVNc39KcKChCJK11RxZaU7gpx5jD5zVGsuCo$ -- Hasafran mailing list Hasafran@lists.osu.edu https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran
__ Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) ================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@lists.service.ohio-state.edu To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: galro...@osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html Earlier Listserver: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org -- Hasafran mailing list Hasafran@lists.osu.edu https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran
