Does your DC's school library have age restrictions?

[LadyGlencoraPalliser]

DD informs me that at her school under-13s are not allowed to take out the Louise Rennison books. I wondered if this was a common thing in school libraries.

Not at our school. They can take out any book they want to read, although there are suggested reading lists available. Not very good books IMHO.

They are not great literature, but they are quite amusing and not, IMO, unsuitable for 12-year-olds. I wouldn't be happy if they were the only thing DD was reading, but I don't see any reason to forbid them.

Wouldn't forbid them but wouldn't encourage them either. Growing up too fast if they want them under 13.

That really, irrationally annoys me! I hate censorship with a passion!

No, we didn't have that in my old school, don't have it in my current school and don't have it in my son's school.

I disagree completely with censorship of readng in any way.

I think the only exception is for parents/carers to keep a close eye on the reading material of, say, a very fluent reader aged 6-9.

DDs school is YR5 to YR8 and some of the books are only available to YR7 & 8. They have stickers on the cover. I don't see it as being a bad thing. Occasionally DD has wanted a book which she has been unable to take so I have either bought it for her or borrowed it from the public library.

This has been very annoying for dd whose reading age has always been well in advance of her friends. Particularly as restrictions did not only apply to explicit or "advanced" books, but also to any books judged too difficult. And as we all know, these days that means books with lots of words in them. Dd always got through her age band within the first few weeks. Fortunately we have a good family library and I can always get things out from the university library. So she brings her own books to school.

Well, DMspecial you are entitled to your opinion of course. But like others on here, I disagree vehemently with censorship. I have chosen to allow my DD to read them, which she sometimes does when she is tired or miserable and wants cheering up. I wouldn't say Louise Rennison was her favourite author by any means, that honour is shared between Eva Ibbotsen, L M Montgomery and Lorna Hill, but I don't think she is growing up too fast by reading them. They have actually sparked off a lot of useful discussions between us about various aspects of growing up.

Cory, yes DD brings her own books to school as well - owing to my obsession she has hundreds. But then she applied for a job as one of the student librarians and didn't get it as the librarian thought she didn't read much .

cory - is that at secondary school? It sounds odd to have an 'advanced' book section at secondary.

At our secondary we have some spinners/displays with those fab Barrington Stoke books, and other more accessible titles for reluctant/struggling readers.

But to have a ban on taking out 'difficult' books at this age is completely bonkers.

At the boys' primary school once they are promoted to the 'senior library' (reading age of about 9 I think), there are two sets of books (shown by stickers). But even at this level the distinction is on content, not on difficulty. (Some students are promoted to the 'senior library' when they are just 5 or 6, and there are texts which are not appropriate for them at that age.

Read my posts again - I wouldn't forbid them. Our school library doesn't forbid any book. Students can even request new books by their favourite author. The library usually buy them if they are out in paperback.

However in my experience the few girls who want to borrow more than one of them are those who are growing up too quickly.

There are many other books available for children in, presumably, years 7 or 8. Some of them are even light hearted easy reads.

Believe me, my DD is not growing up too quickly. Are you always this judgemental?
DD reads up to 10 books a week. A few Louise Rennisons in among them are neither here nor there. And having read them all myself, I don't really think them harmful.

I really don't think reding books is going to make children "grow up too quickly".

Like LGP's dd, my ds1 (12) reads an immense amount and a very wide variety from adult classics, to sci fi, to young children's books. Among the mix he reads some high quality literature and some absolute junk. He's a big fan of Robert Muchamore, and even I (laidback and distinctly opposed to censorship) was rather shocked by the level of violence in his latest book. But I believe books allow children to be scared, shocked, exposed to things which are worlds away from their real life, in a safe way.

I agree with LGP, I just don't believe these books are harmful.

Im my experience "growing up too quickly" is code for "knowing about sex".

i dont have a clue about the author mentioned but i did definahtely 'grow up too quickly' due to books, i think i thought american style 'dating' a serious of pewople, several in a week etc was normal (think Sweet Valley High books)

Im not sure banning books would have helped though, i was quite stubborn and determined and if told not to read something prob would though

correction, correction!- dd says after you turn 11 you do have access to the whole library

but she also says the top range of difficulty in there is around the Meg Cabot/Cathie Cassidy mark, so is glad she will not have to rely on the school library when she is 15

DMspecial, dd's last book (not from school library) was Bleak House? Would you call that growing up too quickly?

I absolutely agree with roisin and LadyGlencora. An avid reader is going to read a lot of junk too; does no harm.

DS1 has told me that there are no restriction in his library, and a vaguely recall seeing various teen books in the style of Louise Rennison when we looked around last year. I'd imagine DS wouldn't particularly want to read them, but if he wanted to, well I don't think they'll do him any harm and tbh I think it's a good thing for adolescents to read accounts of what it feels like to have that first crush/first love. If someone else has felt it, and written about it then it's a validation of how they're beginning to feel (does that make sense?)

IIRC it was yr6/7 that me and my friends got totally addicted to Judy Blume and her ilk, and I would say that any corruption of character was done more by sneaking my Dad's books than reading anything I could have found in a school library makes mental note to top shelf some of her more racy novels

Serenity - as between Louise Rennison and the Harold Robbins that I was sneaking off my parents' bookshelves at that age, I know which I'd prefer DD to read!
Seeker - I agree! But you need to be able to talk about sex with a 12-year-old, don't you?And actually a lot of the discussions DD and I have had have been about boyfriends, what's appropriate and what isn't and what she thinks of some of the behaviour depicted in the books - they've been really useful.