Forgive Us Our Trespasses. Diane Gensler

sleek curly hair who I thought could be a model for Seventeen magazine, was holding several books from the Babysitter’s Club series. Grace, an attractive long-faced, Caucasian girl with freckles, was holding Sweet Valley High books. Rachael, a cute fair-skinned girl-next-door type with a round face and straight blonde hair, was holding a couple Nancy Drew books. I thought all three of these girls dressed in their plaid uniform skirts with their cute legs and bobby socks could pass as cheerleaders for some youth basketball or football team.

      “We’d like to put these on the shelf so that we can share them,” they told me, pointing to the bookcase.

      “That’s great!” I replied. “I think that’s a wonderful idea, and I really appreciate you sharing your own books with the entire class.” We took turns placing the books on the bottom shelf. It accentuated the vacancy in the remainder of the bookcase.

      Something must be right. These girls are showing initiative and good values. Did they come up with this idea themselves?

      I prodded a little bit.

      “So whose idea was it to have a classroom library?”

      They looked at each other.

      Looking down at the floor, Rachael confided, “My mom asked me what I was reading and why.” She lifted her head and returned my gaze. “I showed her the book I have been bringing to class, and she asked why you don’t have books available for us.” I thought she sounded apologetic, but I could have been reading into it.

      “Oh,” I replied. “Well, as I said before, it was a good idea to have a classroom library.” I looked at each girl. “I want you to feel comfortable enough to come to me first if you have any problems, questions or concerns. You let me know next time if you have any ideas or suggestions, okay?”

      The girls nodded.

      The homeroom bell rang, and there was no more time for conversation. I hadn’t heard any more from the principal or the parents about the classroom library. It seemed to me as if it were the parents who had “jumped the gun” and gone directly to the principal. I didn’t understand why they’d make such a big deal out of this and not take it up with me themselves. The principal had told me that a group of my students had come to him. So I presumed that the parents sent their children to the principal or asked the principal to take them aside to discuss the matter.

      After only a few weeks, our book collection had grown literally from the ground up, from the bottom shelf to four full shelves as the students brought in more books and I stocked them with used books I bought. I found a local public library had used books for sale costing between twenty five cents to one dollar per book. I initially selected books with my previous knowledge of which were considered classic, popular, and enticing to middle schoolers. I had read many of these books myself over the years, my interest sparked by a young adult literature class I took in college as well as from my former students.

      I bought books in all different genres hoping to appeal to as many students as possible. I stacked the shelves with books from Judy Blume (minus Forever, as that was not at all appropriate and would certainly never be acceptable in this school), Gary Paulsen, S.E. Hinton, Catherine Paterson, Paul Zindel, Richard Peck, Beverly Cleary, Robert Cormier, Lois Duncan, Norma Fox Mazer, Cynthia Voight, Madeline L’Engle, Louis Sachar, and more. I never received a thank you from the principal nor any of the parents. While the books were cheap, I did end up spending plenty of my own money.

      I continued to frequent the used book sale, picking up books my students had expressed interest in. By the end of the school year, we had accumulated a couple hundred books!