The Restricted Section

The Restricted Section of Uncle Owl's Library.

Books in our Libraries open to all,
Yet some shelves whisper secrets —
Bound in by wisdom’s wall.

Within these silent halls of knowledge vast,
Where printed word and thought freely entwine,
Find a subtle line, drawn sure and fast,
Between the right of access and confines.
In every leaf that turns, a world unfurls.
Like to the lark at break of day to rise,
Ideas take flight, yet swine misread such pearls.
In minds unripe, some thoughts mete their demise.
A paradox, a garden walled yet wide,
Invites the soul to wander, to explore,
But whispers, too, that not all paths provide
Safe passage; when ripe with age all truths be yours.
This call to all, a noble quest of scrolls,
Maturity of mind must first take hold.

~ Uncle Owl

There was only one way to get out a book from the Restricted Section:
You needed a signed note of permission from a teacher.
(Rowling, J.K.; Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 1998)

In the hallowed halls of our libraries and schools sits a seemingly paradoxical space. Standing at once part of both the bastion of free access to all that the human world may avail of knowledge and learning, yet also guarding by oversight, as trustee or guardian, a tradition of insight and experience — gate-keeping and gate-opening.

The Restricted Sections of our world continue to be among the best and wisest symbols of our commitment to both freedom and boundary. The stewardship and cultivation of the next generation of thinkers, dreamers, seekers recognizes that the future ultimately is in *their hands, not ours. It is for this reason we ought not remove and ban books, nor should we provide unfettered access to all possible information to everyone without exception.

On one hand,
At the heart of the ethics, moral responsibility, and great commission in caring for the development of others, in raising up the next generation, in bearing our children up unto maturity — is a simple and powerful oath: Do No Harm. The allusion to the hippocratic oath is in every reasonable sense no illusion, nor is it analogy. It is meant in precisely the same manner. Do No Harm.

On the other hand,
Development of cognitive ability progresses along a trajectory through a maintained balance between a person’s current cognitive state and what proceeds forward through learning and growth. The actualization of a person’s potential relies on a cooperative effort of the capability already achieved and the challenge to attain what has not yet been achieved. A seminal concept introduced by psychologist Lev Vygotsky known as the zone of proximal development indicates this optimal window of learning for individuals. This zone continually blazes the trail of an individual’s development and growth.

Betwixt these two valid concerns, a lovely balance.

We dare not:
Provide every child with all possible information, idea, instruction, explanation, example, and so on, as we may very well impart into a child what they are not yet equipped to handle.

We ought not:
Remove, ban, nor burn books. Remove the books, they get found anyhow. Burn the books, they are re-printed. Ban the books — and you have executed the ultimate form of marketing and encouragement to children to read a book as is possible to perform.

But what the Restricted Section represents is reflective of great wisdom in the face of the challenge laid before educators, parents, and guides of developing individuals and the individuals themselves, hoping to weigh necessary questions in the balance:
How much is too much? How far is too far? How fast is too fast? How large a stretch is too large?
And their inverse: How little is too little? How near is too near? How slow is too slow? How stable is too stable?

And make no mistake—be not deluded:
We all get this one wrong.

There is no arrangement, management, nor framework perfectly executed. Not only would that be impossible, even if it were possible, it would not be preferred, ideal, or perhaps even beneficial. One thing you can be sure about in life is that nothing is sure. The complexities which we will continually be confronted with throughout our time here cannot be ironed flat, stamped out, walled out, and our precious charges bestowed upon us by God, grace, and circumstance cannot be shielded, sheltered, kept, restrained from these complexities. Just as it was with us, so will it also be with them, both the failure of restraint, and the inadequate preparation for life’s incredible complexity.

The response in our responsibility, therefore, cannot attempt to be an ultimate solution. The very phrase is repulsive and reverberates through the pages of history in the worst of human atrocities. It is irresponsible to attempt to control all possible complexities, being both profoundly arrogant and ignorant at the same time. Nor, however, should we have an aloof disinterest to our responsibility, as no response to responsibility is another form of irresponsibility.

So, as an alternative to a description of what to expect within the Restricted Section of Uncle Owl’s Library, the following guide to entering and engaging with its contents is provided here:

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I. If you are not sure that you should be getting a volume from the Restricted Section, then do not.

Medical doctors, if they are worth their salt, have a balance in their practice of being an expert in their field, and of listening carefully to their patients. A good example is in diagnosing a problem that may be quite difficult to ascertain the necessary data and information to confirm. The best way for a doctor to begin performing his or her job properly in addressing a health issue with a patient is for the patient to describe what they believe is a change in their body or health condition. Again, I would say a good doctor worth their salt believes that the ultimate expert on your own body would be you, and not them. Their expertise is on bodies and health and medical practice — but not necessarily your body. That person for all intents and purposes ought to be you.

So, as sage over this Restricted Section, I would first inquire of you not if you feel you are ready to use the Restricted Section, but the opposite. If you feel you ought not be in the Restricted Section at this time, then I believe you, and would encourage you to leave at once.

II. If you already know what it is you are studying, or interested in, Ask the attendant, or your Uncle Owl if a volume *not in the Restricted Section is preferred.

This step in this particular guide expresses a case related to the principle of minimum necessary force. If a book from the Restricted Section is needed, it is to be administered. If there are plural suitable books, the least concerning, controversial, or chaos-inducing volume shall be provided first. If additional complexity or titles that are more thorny, shall we say, are required beyond that the next least concerning, controversial, etc., volume shall be provided. And so on.

III. If you were referred or assigned to read or study a particular title within the Restricted Section by Your Uncle Owl — Please do not request the title from an Attendant in the Library.

All students must have a permission slip signed by a teacher in order to borrow a title from the Restricted Section. If a specific title from the Restricted Section has been assigned to you by your Uncle Owl, he will provide the book for you directly. Therefore, do not request a title from the Restricted Section under the guise of it having been assigned by Uncle Owl.
The Library Attendants know better, and will not be so easily hoodwinked.

IV. If at any time you are working through a volume received from the Restricted Section for homework or otherwise and you experience a serious reaction, difficulty, pain, aversion, dread or repulsion to its contents — Please go to Uncle Owl, or a Senior Library Attendant, or the Teacher or Responsible Adult who assigned the work to you, immediately.

Help will always be given to those who ask for it.

You are our concern; You—and not all the information in the world.

Uncle Owl will always strive with all the power he possesses to help you sort through any difficulty, and he considers it his greatest pleasure on earth to join you in the middle of such experiences, to guide, to help, to encourage you to master yourself and the noble task set before each of us — to become all that we might be, and to succeed in all that we might endeavor. We have all had such experiences, and made it through.

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This guide and list of basic regulations to the use of the Restricted Section is not exhaustive, nor is it intended to be. It is meant as a baseline to any individual considering their need to apprise themselves of the information contained therein.

In Conclusion,

I am convinced that with the right guidance and the right conditions of a person's inner life, you can handle the complex and multifaceted world of ideas this Library offers, including the Restricted Section. The journey through knowledge unto maturity requires both your own initiative and the wisdom and training of those who have gone before you and are with you —understanding that some ideas require a certain level of maturity and wisdom to be fully comprehended and appreciated. Let this not be a barrier but a beacon, guiding you toward growth and deeper understanding. Embrace the journey of intellectual development with patience and curiosity, and trust the counsel and shepherding of the coach or teacher or captain of your pursuit at your side, knowing that with each step, we are preparing you for the broader, richer world of ideas that await. Be encouraged by the knowledge that restrictions are not ultimate limitations but signposts, marking the path to a more profound engagement with the world. With the right guidance and inner readiness, it is your potential, invisible and intangible as it may seem, that we seek to make manifest.

Your Uncle Owl would love nothing better than to watch you meet this challenge — in your own life, in every way.

May it be so among us.
~ Uncle Owl

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