Heroin Diaries appropriate for high school?

[Krystal Gregory]

I work in the high school library in a tiny super-conservative town. I just bought the Heroin Diaries by Nikki Sixx thinking it would be a great resource for health class book reports. I had no idea it was so graphic/vulgar but I hate to take it off the shelves because it's such a compelling story of addiction from a famous rock star. My temporary solution has been permission slips but I don't want to have permission slips for every questionable book. I also recently bought the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo but I've just been warning kids that it has a violent rape scene in it and if their parents wouldn't approve of them reading it they shouldn't check it out. Any ideas?

[Kelly Berry]

I've started adding "M" for mature stickers to some of the books like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I was worried at first that the stickers would  be like a magnet to some of the more adult type books, but it hasn't worked out that way.  I always explain the stickers to the junior grades (we have 8-12 at my school) and suggest they treat our shelves like a public library.  There may be some novels that aren't appropriate or may make them uncomfortable.  If they find they're out of their depth, they can bring the book back.  So far this has worked out well and we've had no problems with parents.

[Krystal Gregory]

That's a good idea. I don't want to censor the books by requiring permission slips but I live in a VERY conservative community and I'm just trying to protect myself. It's my first year and it's really nerve-wracking worrying about the parents. A teacher at the middle school just got in trouble for showing a movie about democracy because there was a little blurb saying democracy doesn't work! So I can only imagine the kind of trouble there could be if a parent deemed a library book inappropriate.

[Kelly Berry]

Another important thing to do is create a material selection policy if you don't already have one.  It would be best to collaborate with the other schools and teacher librarians in your district so you're all working towards the same goal.  We reviewed and updated ours last year.  If someone questions one of your choices it gives you an opportunity to show them how you choose materials for the library and the steps they must follow if they want to object to something.  We used Joyce Valenza's "Material Selection Policy" 2004 as a guide.

[Krystal Gregory]

Unfortunately we are the only high school in the district and I'm not even certified. They just threw me in here-no training or anything! I alone am the material selection committee. I'll have to take a look at the Material Selection Policy you used. Thank you!