Pat Scales

How to handle confrontational parents; a principal's reprimand; supporting LGBTQIA+–themed books; and more advice on challenges and censorship.

An elementary librarian feels unprepared for challenges; a Texas librarian is told to purge titles; a principal forbids students to write to their governor protesting book removal push.

Pat Scales takes questions about Common Sense Media, who should select the novels taught in an English class, and more.

Pat Scales answers questions about a recommended booklist; culling biographies for "questionable behavior," and titles that might upset kids in foster care.

Pat Scales answers questions about kids who want challenged books; a parent who objects to fairy tales due to religious beliefs; and a principal sympathetic to students who protest assigned novels. 

Pat Scales answers readers' questions about library staff deselecting materials, the most challenged booklist, and parental complaints about an "offensive" article.

Pat Scales takes on a student teacher who thinks Captain Underpants is inappropriate, parent complaints about comics and horror, and a teacher who is using markers to alter problematic illustrations in picture books.

Questions about the ethics of fines, a public library crowded with kids during the pandemic, and a librarian who doesn't want kindergarteners to borrow books.

Pat Scales fields questions about video read-alouds, the fate of outdated "classic" books, and parents' disapproval of  books about immigration.