Recently, the Gorman school community participated in an animated debate on sanctity, censorship and book collections in the Holy Family Library on the Gorman campus. This discussion was prompted by a Request for Reconsideration from a group of Gorman parents on Philip Pullman's Dark Materials series, which commences with the novel The Golden Compass. This discernment process involved a number of parents, guardians, students, faculty members and interested community members who participated in a very respectful and thoughtful exchange of ideas.

The Reconsideration Committee -- comprised of a parent, a grandparent, a Gorman teacher and a Gorman student (who had read the series prior to its being reconsidered) - heard a wide variety of opinions expressed in two separate public hearings. Throughout the debate, the notions of sacredness, artistic merit and academic freedom were dissected and explored. The process itself speaks to the value of civil intellectual discourse in the modern world. The Reconsideration Committee recommended the texts remain in the Holy Family Library -- limited to high school circulation.

The process, noted in the local press for its civility and thoughtfulness, was conducted under the direction of the Gorman librarian, Chi Shim Wellmon. As Patrick Butler, Tyler Morning Telegraph Columnist explained, "It would be nice to get through volatile issues, such as book ‘screening' or ‘removed from circulation' at a private or public library without relationships being destroyed and lingering bitterness poisoning our community." Butler praised the Gorman deliberations as "showing the rest of us how a sensitive discussion could be done."

Since its inception fifty years ago, the library at Gorman, like all Catholic school libraries, has censored books to some degree. The librarian's Selection Process - available soon on the website - culls appropriate texts from a wide variety of resources, selecting those of literary or artistic merit that do not glorify or elevate unethical or immoral behaviors. Selecting these texts from the hundreds published anew each day is a monumental task. The library, by its very nature, much like an art gallery, is a collection of ideas expressed in words. The breadth of these ideas must be carefully monitored in a Catholic secondary school setting. We all have an obligation to safeguard and raise our children, prepared and armed for the world, but with the sensitivities and vulnerabilities that Christian faith necessitates. Parents, educators and guardians will always be examining the boundaries and processes in bringing children ultimately to Christian salvation.

A special thanks to Mrs. Wellmon and the Reconsideration Committee as well as to all those who participated in the process of Re-Evaluation.