I'm a children's librarian, and there are some things that I won't put in the children's collection. I don't prevent children from checking out books from the adult side, but neither do I feel any compunctions about letting the parents who have expressed concerns about the way that their children use the library know what their kids are interested in. I believe in the "conspiracy of grownups," you see. Yes, children are going to seek out "inappropriate" material, but if the grownups around them are consistently saying that some things aren't meant for kids, the older kids try to protect their younger siblings from that content, and also think about why their parents feel that way. Is that censorship? Maybe. But children are different than adults. I cannot and will not make the library collection into inoffensive pap (Yes, I do have that picture book that PETA put out, and I had Daddy's Roommate until someone colored mustaches on all the pictures) but that doesn't relieve me of the obligation I have as an adult to let a parent know when their ten year old daughter asks for a book about how to make a man enjoy sex more.

I like content labels on things, (ooh, keen! A mystery!) in a mild way, but I much prefer considered reviews. I love rap lyric websites. I show every adult who asks how to get to them, so that they can evaluate what their children are listening to with the actual words instead of chunking all of the music with a certain beat into the same category. The parents whose kids I don't worry about that much pay attention not only to labels, but to content too, although sometimes it's the label that got them started.

When children are awash in images that tell them that the world is a violent and unforgiving place, they can become violent and unforgiving themselves. Advertising works. A little counterbalancing label isn't such a bad thing.