[bksvol-discuss] Re: Adult Content

Hi everyone,

 

I thought it was about time for a refresher course in what we mean by Adult Content (also known as “AC”). There has been some confusion (off-list) and I’ve noticed it incorrectly marked in the Approval Queue.

 

Here is a note from our Collection Development Manager on our definition:

 

“Our policy, developed in conjunction with our OSEP funders, is that there are certain kinds of content -- explicit depictions of sexual acts with no redeeming social value, as well as extreme and gratuitous violence -- will require a minor to get an adult guardian's permission to access.  As a "content-neutral" collection, we will never exclude a title for any potentially controversial or distasteful content, but we will tag some content for adult (or minors with a guardian's permission) use only.  The idea is that parents can control the access their kids have to content deemed potentially inappropriate -- but they don't have the right to control or limit access to anybody else's kids.

 

The "walking into a bookstore or library" test continues to be a good one.  Could a non-print-disabled kid walk into a good bookstore or public library and get a copy of this book without an adult being involved?  If the answer is yes, a print-disabled kid should be able to do the same on Bookshare.  We are not interested in placing additional barriers to access for our members that their peers do not experience.  This means we do have stuff available to members under 18 that has sex, and swearing, and violence, and substance abuse in it, and that is okay and in keeping with the generally recognized standards of "freedom to read" policy in this country.

 

We don't have a perfect implementation of this policy yet -- I see evidence that we were a little more strait-laced in the early days (and fix it when I come across it), and our automated filtering from publisher feeds still needs some fine-tuning.  When I'm trying to navigate something particular "gray area-y" like the steamier of the romances coming in, I ask myself about the intent -- is the action (even if hot and heavy) designed to move the characters towards relationship, or is the plot driven only by the need to get body parts intermingling again?  It's the latter that's clearly AC, while the former continues to be ambiguous.  Author intent is, alas, pretty gray-area-y and subjective itself, but I think it can help separate the sheep from the goats.”

 

Adult content is confusing and clearly not black and white. Many romances (such as a lot of the Harlequin ones), though certainly racy, should not be labeled as AC. A 16-year-old could walk into a book store and buy ones of those books just as easily as a 38-year old, although his or her parents might not approve and might consider the content inappropriate. Anyway, just thought it couldn’t hurt to remind everyone!

 

Feel free to contact me with questions, as always.

 

Best,

 

Madeleine Linares

Volunteer Coordinator

Bookshare, a Benetech Initiative

650-644-3459

madeleinel@xxxxxxxxxxxx

 

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