Banned Books Week - question

[Beth]

I have really enjoyed reading the opinions expressed in this thread! I
am still hopelessly inept at addressing multiple threads (anyone
interested in giving me a tutorial? :-)), so I just picked one to add
to... sorry!

In my city's library, there is a children's section (with a connected
"teen" section) and an adult section, but as far as I know, there is
no restriction on children checking out a book from the adult
section--it is just a way of organizing the books. What I am trying to
understand is, the way I read the ALA's website, if I ask that a book
be moved to the adult section, I am "challenging" that book. If that
book is still accessible to any child who seeks it out--say it's one
of the science fiction books Shaun mentionned and that's how s/he
searches for and finds it--why should I be lumped in the same category
as the parents who want Harry Potter removed from the library? I'm not
asking for it to be removed, restricted or burned. I read a story
recently in _The Hiding Place_ by Corrie ten Boom in which her father
made the analogy that, just like a certain suitcase was too heavy for
her to carry /at that moment/, so too was certain information too much
for her to handle. I really liked that mental picture!

It does appear, though, that some within the ALA would consider even
having a children's section as a form of restriction. I can reason
through some of the rationale behind it, but I'm not sure I can truly
understand why we should allow children we don't find rational enough
to vote to find The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy next to their Disney
illustrated version (okay, dumb example, but I can't think of another
one right now). 

I accept that it is my responsibility to decide what is and isn't
appropriate for my child, and to that end, I probably read more
children's literature than the "grown up" kind. (Which explains a lot,
but that's a different thread entirely.) I /don't/ want the
responsibility for deciding what is appropriate for other people's
children, nor do I want other parents deciding what is right for
mine.  
I see the danger in banning books one doesn't agree with, and I don't
ask for that. But is it really wrong to ask that certain books be
moved so that children (like the ones for whom Shaun advocates so well
or are just a little older) prove by their tenacity in searching them
out that they are ready for them? Isn't it just like making sure they
can handle the Samsonite before handing them the steamer trunk?

Beth