Name: ________________________ ID: A ____ 25. Which statement best summarizes the correspondent’s explanation in paragraph 2? A. The pigs would be a lucrative and desirable investment for the very wealthy. B. Pigs would be genetically designed to serve as surrogate children for celebrities. C. The pigs would be bought, sold, and stored by the wealthy in cellars, like wine. D. Pigs with the same DNA as their owners would provide organs for transplants. 20
Name: ________________________ ID: A Read this selection. Then answer the questions that follow it. Welcome to the Library . . . Now Leave! 1 Public librarians around the country dread the mid-afternoon hours. They know that around 3:00 P.M. every weekday, hordes of hungry, noisy, and rowdy teenagers are leaving school and, having no better place to go, heading to public libraries to “do their homework.” That’s the official reason, but as most librarians know, the more likely scenario is that the teens will invade and conquer. They will swarm the tables, chairs, and computer stations, gossiping noisily, making cell phone calls, and eating messy snacks. They will chase one another around the stacks and cause a commotion, raising complaints and ruining the quiet atmosphere so conducive to studying. 2 In many public libraries around the country, incidents of fights, vandalism, and even criminal behavior have forced library boards to take drastic action. For example, in one Illinois community, the library requires all children under age 16 to be accompanied by an adult. In Joliet, Illinois, all teens have to sign in and show identification in order to use the library. Those without ID must sit and wait while a librarian calls their parents. 3 The problem of rowdy teens hanging out in libraries is not limited to Illinois; librarians everywhere deal with the same issue. But kicking teens out, treating them like felons, or calling the police are not good solutions. Discrimination against teens in public libraries is not only unfair to young people; it also betrays the mission statement of nearly every public library in America. What’s more, pushing teens away from libraries is a shortsighted response that misses an ideal opportunity for community building and leads teens to perceive the library as a negative, exclusionary place. Why risk all of this when libraries could gain so much by welcoming local teens? 4 Teen advocates and civil rights experts are quick to respond to some public libraries’ decisions to ban teens or restrict their access to library materials. To them, the matter is one of clear-cut discrimination. When a library policy appears to “rule out or identify for different treatment a particular group of people,” librarian Leslie Edmonds Holt is quick to classify the problem as a civil rights issue. Genevieve Gallagher, a librarian from Orange <strong>County</strong>, Virginia, puts the issue more bluntly, identifying the restrictive library policies in Joliet in particular as “blatant discrimination that would be unthinkable if the group in question was anyone other than teens.” 5 As a result, librarians, who are usually great advocates of freedom of speech, suddenly find themselves putting the brakes on young people’s intellectual freedom. Restricting access to libraries goes against everything in which librarians—public or otherwise—believe. Louise McAulay, the executive director of the Suburban Library System in Illinois, says that the idea of denying teens access “doesn’t seem consistent with normal library policies.” Authors Susan B. Harden and Melanie Huggins remind librarians that dealing with whoever walks in the door is an occupational challenge: “Simply put, any barrier to library access is a failure on the part of libraries to serve this group. Libraries exist to serve everyone and can play a positive role in the lives of teens—even difficult ones.” To turn a young adult away from the library is simply not an acceptable option. 6 Turning teens away or otherwise limiting their access to libraries is not only an issue of discrimination—it is also an issue of safety. Sadly, public libraries have become de facto teen day-care centers for many American students. According to one study, roughly seven million high school students are left to their own devices after school. Without extracurricular activities or parental supervision, many of these teens have no place to go aside from the library. While many do homework or study, some students are just looking for a safe place to hang out. Banishing students from the library or otherwise restricting their access puts some of these teens at risk. Is that a fair trade-off? 21
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