Book Banding Update

I have a message from Phillip Pullman of NoToAgeBanding.org:

A meeting has been arranged with representatives of the publishers, including Simon Juden, Chief Executive of the Publishers Association, Kate Bostock of the PA, and Elaine McQuade of Scholastic. I will putting our case, and I will be joined by Mark Le Fanu and Celia Rees of the Society of Authors. The meeting will take place on Thursday 3 July at Scholastic Children's books.

There isn't an agenda yet, but the purpose of the meeting is to clarify and reiterate our objections to the age-ranging proposal and see if we can help the PA see what a blunder they've made. I would also like to discover several things about the 'research' which so far remain opaque.

All your comments and experiences have been very helpful. If there is anything in particular you would like me to raise on your behalf, do please contact me at feedback@notoagebanding.org I can't guarantee to do so, of course, because I don't know how many people will respond, but anything you can let me know in addition to what you've already communicated to us would be extremely helpful. It would be especially helpful to hear from teachers and experts in reading development, since the PA's research obviously took no account of the problems their proposal might cause in this field.

I shall report on the outcome of the meeting very soon after it's happened.
Philip Pullman

Book Banding

UK publishers have decided to begin age-banding their books. This means that children's and young adult books will be banded with an age level that is supposed to proclaim the appropriateness of the book for a certain age group. Books will bear a scarlet letter, declaring them fit for only those 10 +, 12+, and so on. Authors are outraged and claim that this will hurt sales and keep children from reading more challenging books, but the publisher's believe it will increase sales by directing parents to books that are at their child's age-level.

At the crux of this argument is the control that publisher's have over writers and censorship. With book-banding, publishers can now squeeze authors into tight boxes and dictate an age level at which to write. They will have margins for every age-level that will have to be met. They will be able to control content, language, voice, and vocabulary. It is a very dangerous concept, and don't think that this will end in UK. Major world-wide book publishers are leading this charge--Harper Collins, Scholastic, etc. This WILL be coming to the United States.

If you'd like to learn more about this issue and read some author's essays on the subject please read Darren Shan's essay at Soapbox and this Telegraph article about Bill Pulman's fight against the bands. If you would like to add your voice to those who are protesting, please visit: http://www.notoagebanding.org/ to sign the petition.