Children's Books discussion
Banned Books: discussions, lists
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Discussion of censorship, equity, and other concerns.
School is out for the summer and there are bigger problems in the world than what books are in a library, yet the hysteria remains. Let's say this again and again until they listen: "There. Is. No. Pr0n in libraries!" repeat. "Books feature kids with two same sex parents are not obscene." "Teach your kids sex ed and you won't have the problems you're afraid of." "There. Is. No. Pr0n in the library!" "Read book. Not the internet." "There is NO pr0n in the library!"Stop passing the issue around like a hot potato and shut it down!
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"During a public forum held within the Santa Rosa County, FL Commission meeting Wednesday morning, many residents expressed frustration over hundreds of books they say don't belong on school shelves.
The board of county commissioners says their hands are tied.
Across the board, commissioners agree p_____y doesn't belong in schools. Almost all of them agreed, although there's nothing they can do about it.
District 3 Commissioner James Calkins presented a resolution to encourage the school board to remove said books now.
While Chairman Colten Wright agrees p____y doesn't belong in the hands of young students, he and other board members say it's not their role to determine what books are in schools.
"I don't think the school board should tell the commissioners how to operate and I don't think we need to tell the school board how to operate," Chairman Wright said.
"I don't want to touch the school system, it's just not my lane and I don't wanna touch it," Commissioner Kerry Smith said.
Commissioner Smith accused Calkins of grandstanding, saying he overheard the commissioner admitting to stirring the pot on controversial issues.
Throughout the meeting, Calkins was cited for disrupting other commissioners.
"And he's talking to a member of staff about how he loves the drama in meetings. I heard it with my own ears so I'll swear to it," Smith said.
WEAR News was directed to last week's school board meeting, outlining the district's compliance with current state law and their efforts to meet guidelines under HB 1069, going into effect in less than two weeks.
The new law requires material alleged to have p_____ or s---ual content be removed within five days of objection, and remain off of shelves until the objection is resolved.
Superintendent Dr. Karen Barber says in some cases it could take months to review all books that could potentially be objected.
"Meanwhile, we'll make sure that we follow our policy that exists and that when we receive those challenges we're in compliance with 1069 come July 1," Superintendent Barber said.
To date, only six books have been formally submitted for review!
https://weartv.com/news/local/santa-r...
Previous reports list 65 books up for review! However, only 6 were formal challenges.
WEAR NEWS: "Will those books have to come off shelves if they're not reviewed by July 1?"
SANTA ROSA COUNTY SCHOOLS SUPERINTEDENT DR. KAREN BARBER: "The challenged books with a former challenge, yes. But the individual who submitted those forms has to start at the beginning. We can't circumvent the process that wouldn't be fair. So we have to go back to step one which means a meeting with the school librarian."
Dr. Barber says of the 65 books presented to the board, only six have officially been submitted, telling WEAR News the process requires strict consistency.
"Removing a book from a collection is a serious, serious action," Dr. Barber said. "So we want to be very careful and thoughtful to make sure we're not censoring material but are following that process and ensuring the material on our shelves are age-appropriate."
https://weartv.com/news/local/advocac...
Stop banning sweet Aidan! He's the best big brother ever!
Is He a Girl?
When Aidan Became A Brother
Julián Is a Mermaid
https://ssrnews.com/moms-for-liberty-...
In Pennridge, Bucks County, Penn.The Pennridge School District's school board was scheduled to vote Wednesday night on whether to eliminate the district's current curriculum supervisor positions. Ultimately that vote didn't happen, as a surprise motion was approved to table (or postpone) that decision.
More than three-and-a-half hours into the meeting, board member Ron Wurz made the motion to terminate the school's contract with Vermilion, though it was not on the agenda.
Vermilion is a third-party contractor hired by the school board to consult on the curriculum. It was founded just this past December by Jordan Adams, who has ties to Hillsdale College, which is a private, conservative Christian college. Many fear the school's contract with the company will result in students learning a whitewashed version of history, and it's been a source of contention in the district.
Some have also alleged the contract between the district and Vermilion was done quickly and in secrecy.
The motion to end the Vermilion contract was defeated 5-4, meaning the consulting firm stays, bringing huge disappointment to the majority attending the meeting.
The motion to postpone the vote on current curriculum supervisors was made with the understanding that they would work with Vermilion and Adams to complete a curriculum that will garner the board's approval.
The school board had been planning on voting to eliminate those four education professional positions who currently write curriculum, but a motion, then a vote, to table that kept them off the chopping block -- for now, at least.
The Superintendent is retiring!
Also new bathroom rule... biological sex on birth certificate = bathroom the student must use. Student are incredibly upset.
A change.org petition entitled, "Hold Pennridge School Board Accountable!" has garnered more than 1400 signatures.
https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/southe...
In Appomattox County, Virginia a PUBLIC Library board was fired over Pride and Acceptance book display!I think they're still mad Gen. Lee surrendered to Gen. Grant there and still don't know the war has been over for almost 160 years.
"During the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday night, county leaders heard from 11 concerned residents about the display in the J. Robert Jamerson Memorial Library.
"We cannot stand by idly as this is forced upon our children," citizen Tom Adams said. "This lifestyle is being promoted by adults who attempt to normalize this abnormal behavior."
According to the library and board chairman Samuel Carter, the display was originally located in the children's section of the library.
ABC13 went to the library to try and learn more about the display and found out the display had already been removed.
Martha Charte, the categorical and reclamations specialist for the library, stated the display was in the children's section when it was still up. During the interview, Charte referenced that the books that were originally a part of the display have now been moved to bigger shelves. She also said the books were all age appropriate to be in the children's section.
Charte explained that she wasn't shocked about the fallout from the display.
"I was shocked actually by both responses from both sides, but at the same time; it was kinda to be expected," Charte said. "I think this all became an issue because of the current climate we are in right now. People sometimes have a knee-jerk reaction to things that really without doing any further research."
During that Tuesday night board meeting, Carter said parents wanted the library to be shut down, for the library board to be fired, and to pull all local funding from it. Falling River District Board member John Hinkle made a motion to fire the entire library board. According to Carter, only three members were serving on that board at that time. The chairman said the motion did pass with a final vote of 3-2, but explained that he and Vice Chairman William Hogan voted against it. Carter said he with the intent of it but also felt like this issue needed to be investigated further.
"During the course of the day yesterday, I was inundated with phone calls," the board chairman said. "Every one of them wanted to close the library, shut it down, cut off funds, and you don't do things like that."
After the motion passed, Carter and Vice Chair William Hogan voted to reinstate two of the board members they fired due to their track record. According to Carter, a similar incident like this happened last year, but he claims those two reinstated members were not involved. The board only ended up firing one member, Joetricia Humbles.
According to Charte, Humbles loved the library and only wanted to see it succeed.
According to Board of Supervisor Chairman Samuel Carter, the library board is made up of seven people. He said before Tuesday night's meeting, the board voted to add two of the original members back and added three new members for a total of five. Carter said once all positions are filled, the library board will launch an investigation into the library and ensure that all LGBTQIA+-themed books are removed from the library.
"We need to get to the depth of this. What caused this, who bought the books," Carter said. "We need to do what's right for our kids."
According to Board of Supervisor Chairman Samuel Carter, the library board is made up of seven people. He said before Tuesday night's meeting, the board voted to add two of the original members back and added three new members for a total of five. Carter said once all positions are filled, the library board will launch an investigation into the library and ensure that all LGBTQIA+-themed books are removed from the library.
"We need to get to the depth of this. What caused this, who bought the books," Carter said. "We need to do what's right for our kids."
https://wset.com/news/local/pride-and...
The most ridiculous and upsetting news comes from Georgia where a beloved 5th grade teacher of 10 years has been fired for reading My Shadow Is Purple
."Rinderle had recently purchased the book by Australian author Scott Stuart at the school’s Scholastic Book Fair. Before she read it, the students voted on a variety of books Rinderle offered and overwhelmingly chose My Shadow is Purple, which was nominated for a 2023 Australian Book Industry Award. After the reading, the class discussed the book’s message of acceptance of oneself and others and embracing diverse and complex identities and experiences.
The students reflected upon how they, as academic achievers, are often perceived as different from their peers. They discussed the importance of recognizing and accepting people as individuals. And they expressed how supported the main character must have felt when they found friends that accepted them and valued them for their differences and uniqueness.
Rinderle then asked her students to self-reflect and write a “shadow” poem.
Their reflections were personal, profound, neither divisive nor aimed at others.
And it wasn’t just students who responded positively to the reading.
“I feel that these types of conversations are necessary to have, and the end result would hopefully lead to less cases of bullying in our schools,” one parent said in an email.
Less than a month later, the Cobb County School District gave Rinderle the choice to resign or be terminated for violating the district’s policies. She refused to resign. On May 5, she was told she would be terminated by the district, and she was issued her official notice of termination on June 6.
Rinderle is the first known public school teacher to be fired under Georgia’s trio of censorship laws passed in 2022. They are the Protect Students’ Rights Act, commonly known as the “divisive concepts” law; a “Parents’ Bill of Rights;” and one known as the “harmful to minors law,” which allows for the removal or restriction of materials parents deem “p___graphic” or otherwise harmful. Together, the laws censor class discussion, give parents the right to refuse instruction they disagree with and ban “offensive” reading materials from school libraries. If Rinderle’s experience is any indication, she will not be the last to be terminated, advocates say.
Rinderle isn’t taking the situation lying down. She is working with her union, the Georgia Association of Educators and the Goodmark Law Firm to fight her unjust termination.
“None of the reasons given by the district for Katie’s termination are based in fact or sufficient to justify the termination of this exceptional teacher,” said Craig Goodmark, a Georgia education attorney representing Rinderle at the public termination hearing scheduled for Aug. 3. “Georgia public schools need teachers like Katie, and Cobb County seems more interested in playing politics than educating young people. It’s a shame.”
To this day, the district has never answered Rinderle’s main question: What exactly does “divisive concepts” mean?
“It’s so important to teach children to be supportive of each other, true to each other and to themselves,” Rinderle said. “The lives, experiences and self-identities of students should be validated and celebrated. Children are especially harmed when they are not made to feel loved, appreciated and validated for who they are and their uniqueness.”
Before the speedy unraveling of her teaching career, Rinderle had been promoted in 2022 to teach the school’s high-achieving and gifted students in the first through fifth grades. The program’s multicultural emphasis has a stated goal of building a global, civic-minded student body – a laudable goal at a school where 37% of the 633 students are nonwhite and only 3% of the teachers are nonwhite.
Until she read My Shadow is Purple, Rinderle received only stellar reviews from the school principal.
The day after Rinderle read My Shadow is Purple, a Cobb County middle school teacher – and mother of one of Rinderle’s fifth grade students [NO NAME GIVEN]– complained to the principal, assistant principal and the area superintendent.
The following day, Rinderle was summoned to the school principal’s office twice for separate meetings about the book.
Rinderle said of the second meeting, “When I asked why this book was available in our school’s recent Scholastic Book Fair, especially if it was not deemed ‘appropriate,’ there was not a clear answer that could be given. When I asked if there was a specific list of books or topics that were not allowed in inclusive libraries, the principal stated, ‘No.’ When I asked if there was a rule or policy I was unaware of, she told me she wasn’t sure and she believed it was just considered ‘divisive.’ She told me parents were ‘talking’ and had emailed to complain.”
On March 13, Rinderle was placed on paid administrative leave, put under a gag order and told not to set foot on the school property. She was told that an investigation of the circumstances would be initiated.
School administrators never told the students their teacher was not returning... [when the students learned the truth, it caused severe emotional distress in at least one student.]
Over the following weeks, the district held three recorded investigatory conferences with Rinderle. Participating in various capacities were Christopher Dowd, the director of employee relations; the school principal; the lead investigator; and a representative from the Georgia Association of Educators.
According to an investigatory conference recording, Dowd communicated to Rinderle: “Not every topic will be specifically in black and white on topics [you] can and cannot teach which is why the language allows for a broader spectrum on ‘issues’ to navigate.” Dowd repeatedly referred to “p___phic” material and “inappropriate topics.” Despite receiving a complaint from less than a handful of parents, in the second meeting, the lead investigator specifically told her that she was “ineffective in the community,” and that there was a “revolt against you.” They referred to the book as divisive during the conferences.
Rinderle was forced to clean out her classroom in late April, around the time that the Georgia Professional Standards Commission announced plans to remove the words “diversity,” “equity” and “inclusion” from its proposed fall 2023 K-12 rules and standards. The changes take effect July 1.
https://www.splcenter.org/news/2023/0...
Mod
And Rinderle also needs to publicly call the morons who fired her card carrying NAZIS.
Another Pride Month display vandalized and once again a parent checks out the books to prevent others from reading them. This time in Fairhope, Arkansas. Zach Miller, a father of four teens, recently checked out 25 books that he believes are inappropriate for teens.
Miller said he checked out the books to shield other teens from being exposed to inappropriate material. He told 1819 News he believed it was time for those with Christian values to take a stand.
“As Christians, we’re going to have to start thinking differently,” Miller said. “We’re going to have to start thinking strategically. And we have to stop just talking. We have to be active.”
Miller said he was aware most concerned parents would see what he is doing and pause. But he said he doesn’t expect them to do much about it. That’s why he is rallying for parents to take action.
“Most people will see this and say, ‘Whoa!’ but then go about their day,” he said. “Anybody who wants to tear down Western, Christian culture and all that includes, we have to start thinking like them. They are incredibly strategic. They are insidious and they infiltrate our institutions.”
The fight is not over for Miller. He said he would continue to ask questions about how books are selected for sections of the library and how decisions are made about displays in the library.
The creator of the Facebook group “Keep Fairhope Family Friendly,” Brian Dasinger, agrees with Miller. He is encouraging other parents to find books they feel are inappropriate and check them out.
“We believe that ALL books that oppose the traditional Biblical views of sex and marriage should be kept as far away from our children as possible! I personally have six children in their teenage years and have firsthand knowledge of how impressionable their minds are in this stage. They must be guarded and protected at all costs. We also reject the notion that ‘God is love’ as so many in our society want to make you believe. God does love all of his creations but he also hates sin with a passion, no matter which sin that is. We believe that God wants us to fight to maintain a moral community for our future generations."
Fairhope Public Library Director Tamara Dean confirmed the books in the photo are in the teen section at the library. However, she said the library places books based on the Library of Congress. When asked if books with pornographic material could be found in the teen section, Dean noted the library workers do not make that call.
“We assign it wherever the Library of Congress designates it for in their records,” Dean said. “So, that’s where our books are. And so, we don’t really press judgment on where we put our books. We put them where the Library of Congress has designated them in the cataloging system.
“We are not biased one way or the other, we’re neutral. Our vision and our mission is to provide information resources for everybody in the community. So, there may be books in our collection that offend someone – not meant to but possibly, with all the different opinions we have and values.”
Dean said she and the Board of Trustees stand behind the American Library Association's “Freedom to Read Statement,” which states in part, “Most attempts at suppression rest on a denial of the fundamental premise of democracy: that the ordinary individual, by exercising critical judgment, will select the good and reject the bad. We trust Americans to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe. We do not believe they are prepared to sacrifice their heritage of a free press in order to be ‘protected’ against what others think may be bad for them. We believe they still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression.”
Dean said library leaders also stand behind the Library Bill of Rights.
https://www.scribd.com/document/65458...
https://www.scribd.com/document/65458...
Some of the titles are
The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School
Beyond Magenta: Transgender and Nonbinary Teens Speak Out
We Contain Multitudes
This One Summer
We Deserve Monuments
https://1819news.com/news/item/fairho...
These men have never heard of separation of church and state.
People, they're just going to make you PAY for the books you STOLE so they can REPLACE them!
Manybooks wrote: "And Rinderle also needs to publicly call the morons who fired her card carrying NAZIS.The "person" who complained and got Rinderle fired also needs to be identified publicly named.
I'm not sure they should be because they have a child in that class and there could be repercussions for the child. It's not their fault. Otherwise, I'd agree with you. I hope Ms. Rinderle can pick up and move to a place where she's more welcome.
Mod
The "person" who complained and got Rinderle fired also needs to be identified publicly nam..."
But it does seem as though the child in Rinderle's class tattled (makes me feel like during the Third Reich where children were actively encouraged to tattle to the authorities regarding their parents, friends etc.).
Mod
Good article that shows the so called parental rights movement has gone too far and is not actually about parental rights but about enforcing a dictatorship in the classroom and on students, on ALL students.
Hooray today's news is mostly positive!In Kentucky, Local school boards have only a short time to decide if and what parts of Senate Bill 150 (anti-trans bill) they’ll implement in the upcoming school year regarding how issues of sexuality and gender are handled in their schools.
About 60 people crowded Boyd County Public Library’s Midland Branch on for “Pass The Mic,” co-hosted by Ashland KY Pride and Kentucky People’s Union, with a goal in mind to educate school board officials on the steps they could take to make school safe and inclusive for transgender youth pending the newest legislation.
Despite an invitation extended from both organizations, no school officials or representatives were present on Wednesday night, and that’s telling, according to Elliot Fredrick, an organizer of the “Pass The Mic” event.
[The Kentucky People’s Union came to speak out about the negative effects this bill will have on children.]
Multiple educators spoke on Wednesday, cumulatively saying they were confused by the language in the bill, fearing the repercussions of saying the wrong things that aren’t clearly established in the legal language.
“Not only are schools not going to be safe for trans youth, they’re not safe for anyone,” an unnamed educator said.
Suzanne Griffith, an educator for more than 30 years provided a brief lesson on the importance of a Constitutional Republic and the rights that are guaranteed to all free persons, in both the United States Constitution and the State Constitution.
“You have the Constitution behind you; you fight like hell,” Griffith closed.
https://www.dailyindependent.com/news...
In Tenn. the Williamson County School board decided in favor of keeping 5 books on the shelves.Board member Eric Welch confirmed for The Tennessean that the first four books were the focus of one complaint by a local parent, who was satisfied with the committee's recommendation to keep them available.
Welch also confirmed that a separate complaint against "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" was filed by a woman with "zero" connection to Williamson County Schools and who had not read the book, but was directed to file the complaint by a political action group out of Florida.
The board voted 8-2 over two votes to keep the books on the shelves.
Board members Dan Cash and Donna Clements voted to remove the books on each motion. Both board members were endorsed by conservative political action committee Williamson Families, which was launched by the local Moms For Liberty branch in 2021.
Clements alluded to this effort while stating her opposition to the books, saying that the board has "not paid attention to state law" in keeping the books, and calling the unfettered access to books an "undue burden on parents."
The Wilson County School Board is currently facing a federal lawsuit after a Wilson County resident accused the board, as well as the Wilson County Book Review Committee, of violating the Tennessee Open Meetings Act and the First Amendment by holding secret meetings to determine what books could be restricted or banned.
The majority of Williamson County board members were supportive of the books.
denying students to learn about different experiences.”
Both motions were approved alongside promises from the board members to discuss creating a rating system for books after Cash urged for a better review process in addition to the review committee.
"We keep being told it's an infringement on the right of the children, but no one acknowledges that...this board has the power (to remove explicit things)," he said. "I've said for well over a year that we should have a rating system. If we can't do that, then shame on us. I will vote no on this until we, as board, sit down on a retreat and have a discussion about these sexually explicit and vulgar books."
Board member Jennifer Aprea placed the onus on the parents to opt out of books, rather than the school to censor books.
"Our parents know their kids the best," she said. "It is better for constitutionality and liberty to make sure everyone has access that wants it, and parents have the right to opt out."
https://www.tennessean.com/story/news...
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The Field Guide to the North American Teenager
Speak
+ 2 adult books "Where the Crawdads Sing" and "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"
In beleaguered Miami-Dade County, the public has a whole lot to say about book restrictions.Parents, community members and young people flooded the Miami-Dade School Board meeting on Wednesday to express concerns about the ease of objecting to books, the dangers of restricting access to certain titles and the need to change how the district handles book challenges — despite the board already having passed a measure to review its policy. The policy — proposed by Steve Gallon III — calls for board members and district staff to be notified when a book challenge results in the reassignment or removal of a title. Existing policy did not request that objections or decisions be known and only required a school-level review committee to determine whether a book should remain on shelves.
The calls to review and possibly update existing policy passed unanimously and without discussion from board members early in the afternoon. Nevertheless, community members — many who were a product of the school district — showed up later in the day to speak out against what they perceive to be a growing trend of trying to restrict what can and can’t be taught or read in the state.
The good guys spoke out:
Families Against Banning Books
the Miami-Dade and South-Dade NAACP branches
the Transformative Justice Coalition
Others evoked their Cuban heritage and highlighted what they believe to be the similarities of book restrictions on the island and how they’re appearing in Florida. “Democracy is difficult. It’s messy. That’s why dictators like to ban artists. That’s why they like to ban art, because it is complicated and it makes us feel for other human beings,” said Carmen Pelaez, an acclaimed Cuban-American playwright in South Florida. “As far as I know, there are two people that have tried to ban the story of Celia Cruz: Fidel Castro and Ron DeSantis.”
Pelaez also reinforced a message many others spoke about: Children need to see themselves represented in the stories they read. Removing the titles, speakers argued, is a disservice to the district’s youth.
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/loca...
People concerned about LGBTQ+ materials at the Daviess County (Kentucky) Public Library were met by an equally vocal group Wednesday who want the library to keep books about gays and lesbians on the shelves.The library board of trustees heard from both groups at Wednesday’s meeting, although at times it was difficult to hear anything at all. More than once speakers opposed to the materials were shouted down by people supporting the LGBTQ+ community.
After the meeting, library Director Erin Waller said the library’s practice of providing an “inclusive collection” had not changed.
One issue was Pride Month goodie bags the library provided for children between the ages of 13-18 years old. Those bags drew the scrutiny of Daviess County Commissioner Janie Marksberry. Last week, demonstrators came to the library, voicing broader concerns about what they said were materials about sex and about LGBTQ+ issues that were inappropriate for children.
Of the Pride Month bags, Marksberry said, “I felt it was my duty to look into what was being given to the children.”
Later, Marksberry said, “no sexual agenda” should be permitted at the library and from what she has heard from residents, “that is the belief of most Daviess Countians.”
Kathryn Crowe, who has attended Owensboro City Commission and Fiscal Court meetings to voice concern about drag queen shows at RiverPark Center’s 21-and-over club, said she came to the meeting “to express my concern over the materials and agenda being pushed by the library.”
Crowe brandished a book from the library collection, “Let's Talk About It: The Teen's Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Humana nonfiction book in graphic novel format for teens about sex and sexuality, and questioned its presence in the library’s collection.
“It’s pornography,” Crowe said. “It’s illegal.”
Supporters of keeping LGBTQ+ materials talked about the impact finding books about being gay or lesbian at the library had on their lives.
[Molly Ward found support as a gay child through books. ]
To people opposing such materials on library shelves, Ward said, “The question I would ask (is) why don’t these children’s lives matter?
“Why are (LGBTQ+ youth) not important? Why don’t they get to be seen? I promise you, God loves them all the same.”
George Worley said, “the word ‘public’ means everybody should be able to be represented.”
Carolyn Davidson said of the materials, “You can’t cut all this off from everybody because one group doesn’t like it. We have a right to see all these ideas and decide what’s right and what’s not right.”
Dennis Bunton said the library provides material for everyone, including carrying books about Christianity.
“It’s not easy for a kid who is LGBT to turn on the TV or look at a magazine and not see themselves,” Bunton said. The people who want to keep LGBTQ+ books available to teens “pay taxes as well.”
Afterward, Waller said the library’s purpose has not changed.
“Our goal, our mission is still the same,” she said. “Until that changes, we will continue to have an inclusive collection. That means for all viewpoints.”
https://www.messenger-inquirer.com/ne...
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Once again people, LGBTQ+ books for children/drag queen story time do not equal s-e-x! Get your heads out of your behinds and start teaching your children empathy, kindness, respect, tolerance, diversity, inclusion, to be themselves and HOW TO HAVE FUN! Drag queen story time = fun, sparkles, glitter, princess in a dress, nursery rhymes, stories about kindness.
Kentucky keeps on going and goingChristian County Library Board votes against creating content-based rating system
It comes after many in the community wanted it in place and new state law
Tuesday night, the Christian County Library Board director said at its meeting the staff and budget are just not there to do so. The board also addressed concerns with the new state law Mo. Rev. Statute 15 CSR 30-200.015 and changed protocol to meet the law’s standards.
“They want the library system to change the entire way that the books are categorized and organized,” said Nicholas Holladay with Christian County Libraries.
Holladay says the board’s director took six months to research the proposal based on legality, objectivity, and cost.
”It was not going to be feasible to create and implement a rating system for everything in the collection. We have about 70,000 physical materials,” said Holladay.
”I think there should be a rating system of some sort put in place because there are new laws that have been passed through the legislature,” said State Rep. Jamie Gragg of Ozark.
State Rep. Gragg says despite the board’s decision, he wants a rating system established. The library board director says there is no precedent for adopting any kind of rating system after consulting with the district’s attorney. Meanwhile, some local groups are stressing awareness about books being removed or restricted.
. Despite of all of this, the library board did approve changes to some policies to comply with state law.
“Overall, we were in compliance, but I think the biggest ones are when we do receive a request reconsideration, it has to be posted online.”
The library says it’s currently working on putting the results of material reconsideration in place and that it will most likely be posted on the library’s website. No personal information, just the book’s name, and complaint, would be posted.
https://www.ky3.com/2023/06/22/christ...
Moving on up to South Carolina, the Travelers Rest Library in Greenville gets threatening calls after refusing to remove Pride Month displaysThe assistant manager of the library, whom the News is not identifying for the sake of their safety, received a call from a man who wanted to file a complaint about the library's Pride Month display, according to the incident report from the Travelers Rest Police Department.
A few minutes later, another man called the library. He identified himself as an associate of the first caller and complained about the display case. The man said he heard "whispers of war from good old boys on Facebook," according to the report.
The assistant manager advised the second caller to file a complaint. But the caller relented and said he doesn't "want it to get any worse." The assistant manager explained to the caller that his message "sounded like a threat".
"I'm not threatening you, but this is just what I've heard," the caller replied.
The board will make a final decision on Monday, June 26 during a noon meeting at Hughes Main Library.
Andrew Farmer, a member of Freedom in Libraries Advocacy Group (FLAG), arrived at the library at 6 p.m. Wednesday after receiving a notification about the police presence at the branch.
Farmer said the staff was "shaken up" and looked like they were on edge. Phones rang constantly Wednesday night as the branch administration spoke to the county library system.
Security was sent in from the Hughes Main Library to escort staff. The library employee who picked up the threatening calls was escorted out close to 7:30 p.m.
Two Travelers Rest Police Department cruisers were stationed outside the library past 9 p.m.
Miles Dame, another member of FLAG, said the Library System could protect its staff by putting out a statement to prevent attacks on its employees, but the administration has remained silent.
Chairman Allan Hill called for a Board of Trustees meeting 4 p.m. on Friday, June 23, at the Hughes Main Library with Travelers Rest Branch as the agenda item. But that soon changed as the meeting was cancelled just hours before the scheduled time.
The Travelers Rest library has been at the center of the maelstrom that has spanned LGBTQ-related book bans and the conflict surrounding Pride Month displays.
A previous display on the Travelers Rest Library’s bulletin said "All Y'all / It Takes a Village to Make a Library" with book covers of critically acclaimed books such as Alice Walker's the Color Purple and Tennessee William's Cat On A Hot Tin Roof.
The library system asked the branch staff on June 13 to remove the display citing a violation of display policies.
In emails viewed by the Greenville News, Greenville County Library Access and Discovery Director Brian Morrison told the library branch manager that the content of the bulletin board was "a display of library materials for adults." Morrison further added that adult displays could only be placed near the adult section and the use of book covers was promoting a theme.
Morrison said a final decision about display policies by the Library Board would help clarify the guidelines.
The Travelers Library staff acquiesced and replaced the bulletin board with last year’s display in the foyer that says "Read with Pride", with ribbons in rainbow colors. This display had been previously upheld last year.
“I feel it is important to signal to our entire community that our branch is a welcoming and inclusive place and that our Library System as a whole has invested time and money in making a variety of LGBTQ+ resources available to those who may be interested,” the branch manager emailed the Library System June 19.
[The branch manager refused to take down the display when requested.]
https://www.greenvilleonline.com/stor...
Ferndale, CaliforniaStaffers at the Ferndale Area District Library early this month were surprised to find that 35 LGBTQ books put out on Pride Month displays had all been checked out and replaced with several religiously-themed books taken from other sections in the library.
“We didn’t know who it was that did it at the time”, said Assistant Library Director Jordan Wright. “Our first reaction was to get other LGBTQ books we have in the library and put them on the displays in the youth and children’s sections.”
That was Sunday, June 4. The next day staffers went out and bought new copies of many of the books that had suddenly been checked out all at once.
Library staff managed to replace three-quarters of the books chosen for the displays from local bookstores and vendors.
Wright and others soon learned the Ferndale Library had been targeted by a “Hide the Pride” campaign.
The campaign was started last year by a controversial nationwide Catholic group named CatholicVote. CatholicVote Vice President Joshua Mercer was quoted in the post, which praised the effort of “Michigan locals Debra T. and Nick S.” to remove the LGBTQ books from the Ferndale library displays.
Library officials asked supporters to help increase accessibility to its collection of LGBTQ books by purchasing one or more from a list of about 40 titles on an Amazon wish list, or buying the books locally and dropping them off at the library service desk.
Copies of the donated books will be stored “in case this campaign of censorship continues,” according to the library’s Facebook post.
Wright on Wednesday said the library has since closed down its Amazon wish list and no longer needs the books donated.
“We got more copies than we could have possibly imagined,” Wright said. “Overall, Ferndale has been enormously supportive. We’re really grateful to our community for their moral support and their financial support.”
The Hide the Pride campaign encourages those who check out books they target to return them when they are due.
Ferndale’s library requires books to be returned within three weeks. That means the Hide the Pride patrons checked-out books are due back this Sunday.
The library doesn’t impose fines for late books, but when they are not returned they are considered lost and the patron is billed for the cost of replacing each missing book, Wright said.
“To my knowledge, we’ve never had anybody officially make a complaint that we shouldn’t have these (LGBTQ) books,” he said. “The only thing this (Hide the Pride) is going to accomplish is that we are just going to buy more books.”
https://www.theoaklandpress.com/2023/...
Is in Tenn., Florida's anti-drag law is too vague! It's a minor victory at least.Federal judge blocks Florida from enforcing ban on minors attending drag shows
The plaintiffs argue the new law is overly vague.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06...
The judge, Gregory Presnell, was acting on a request by the restaurant chain Hamburger Mary’s, which sued Florida last month claiming that the law was overly broad and put a chilling effect on the right to free speech under the First Amendment.
Presnell, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, determined that while some people may find a drag performer reading a children’s book to a minor during a performance to be inappropriate, it doesn’t necessarily constitute an obscene performance. He also stated that current obscenity laws already “provide Defendant with the necessary authority to protect children from any constitutionally unprotected obscene exhibitions or shows.”
Florida’s Republican-led Legislature passed the measure in April that bars minors from attending drag shows with “lewd” performances. Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running for president, signed it into law in mid-May. The governor previously said such drag performances “sexualize” kids and has pushed for stricter restrictions around them.
Jeremy Redfern, DeSantis’ press secretary, said in a statement that the administration believes the “judge’s opinion is dead wrong and [we] look forward to prevailing on appeal.”
Hamburger Mary’s frequently hosts “family-friendly” drag performances where children are invited to perform.
Update on Summer Bosimier, the Oklahoma teacher who was fired for sharing the Books Unbanned Brooklyn Public Library QR code with her students.School officials 'failed to prove' teacher violated law by helping students get books, prosecutor says. The school superintendent still wants to revoke her license claiming because she's fighting and the other teachers resigned, she apparently deserves to lose her license!
"The Oklahoma State Department of Education "failed to prove" a teacher acted unlawfully in a controversial case about teaching gender and critical race theories, an assistant state attorney general ruled Wednesday.
Assistant Attorney General Liz Stevens said in a recommendation issued after a hearing that state school officials had not proven that former English teacher Summer Boismier violated state law when she covered her classroom bookshelves with red butcher paper that read, “books the state doesn’t want you to read.” Boismier also posted a QR code to Brooklyn Public Library, giving students online access to banned books.
“I find that the State Department of Education has failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that (Boismier) has willfully committed an act of moral turpitude and then violated the standards of performance and conduct for teachers,” Stevens said.
Walters had ordered his staff to investigate a few teachers for “indoctrinating” students and has been publicly calling for Boismier's license to be revoked since last year.
"Four of the five teachers in revocation hearings have voluntarily surrendered their teaching licenses. Boismier is the only one that is contesting her license," Walters said Wednesday in a statement provided to The Oklahoman, a member of the USA TODAY Network. "I appreciate the transparency today and we will be finalizing the revocation of her license in August. Accountability is tough and we will not have indoctrination in the classroom."
“Brooklyn Public Library stands with Summer Boismier and all the librarians and educators who champion intellectual freedom," Linda E. Johnson, president and CEO of Brooklyn Public Library, said in a statement Wednesday. "Limiting access or providing one-sided information is not just cowardly, it is a threat to democracy itself and we will not sit by while books rejected by a few are removed from the shelves for all.”
Although Stevens said state school officers had failed to prove Boismier broke the law, the Oklahoma State Board of Education "has full control, no matter what the recommendation is," Education Department press secretary Justin Holcomb said, and does not need to abide by Stevens' recommendation.
Revoking a teacher's state license requires a vote of the state Board of Education, which Walters leads.
“As far as ideology goes, I do believe the classroom is an inherently political space,” Boismier told The Oklahoman last year. “I do not mean partisan. Speaking is political, but silence is also political. If I had no choice but to be political, I’m going to err on the side of compassion and inclusivity. I couldn’t promise the district that I wouldn't do it again.”
Following an exchange with Boismier that her attorney later described as “contentious,” Cleveland argued for Boismier’s license to be revoked, saying she deliberately promoted “sexually explicit material” and “critical race theory” to her students.
“With respect, I would suggest that she’s been fighting my questions and resorting to false denials because she knows that if she admits the truth, she has no defense,” Cleveland said. “Gender Queer: A Memoir she clearly endorses and promoted to her students as appropriate.”
During the hearing, Boismier said she did not have “Gender Queer” within the roughly 500 titles on the shelves of her classroom library, had never used excerpts from the book in class, and did not own a copy of it.
She also stated that the QR code provided an online link to an application for an eCard to the vast Brooklyn Public Library, not any specific book.
Still, Boismier reiterated her opposition to House Bill 1775, which she believes will make it difficult for teachers to cover topics and ask hard questions about history and literature.
“It is nothing more than fill-in-the-blank bigotry, targeting our marginalized communities, specifically Black, Indigenous, persons of color and members of the queer community,” Boismier said. “This is not about books.”
Brady Henderson, Boismier’s attorney, said the claim that “Gender Queer” being on Boismier’s shelf relied on the testimony of one adult and that no other witnesses were heard to corroborate the claim.
He also said no evidence was presented of alleged instruction of “Gender Queer” to students.
“Even on its face, if we assume everything that the state says is true here, we would be down to really a complaint of possession, and saying, ‘You possess a book we don’t like,’” Henderson said. “This is the essence of exactly the problem in aggressive censorship and book bans.”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
ACLU wants answers from Forest Hills Public (MI) Schools on banned books.The ACLU sent a five-page letter to the district Thursday in an effort to better understand why officials removed six books:
My Friend Dahmer
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Nineteen Minutes
Beyond Magenta: Transgender and Nonbinary Teens Speak Out
+ 2 adult books
Looking for Alaska,
The Handmaid’s Tale (Graphic Novel)
ay Kaplan, a staff attorney for the ACLU, says school districts should back off.
My Friend Dahmer
Me, Earl and the Dying Girl
19 Minutes
Beyond Magenta
+ adult books
returned to the shelves at Forest Hills Northern.
Forest Hills Eastern
19 Minutes moved to high school section.
Forest Hills Central
My Friend Dahmer not reordered at Forest Hills Central due to a lack of interest from students.
“Overall goal— we want to stop this kind of censorship, this kind of idea of censoring ideas,” Kaplan said. “If parents have concerns about what their children are reading, they can make those decisions for their own children, but they do not make those decisions for everybody else in the district.”
Kaplan also accused the district of making changes to the first-grade curriculum.
Ida and Jake Hunt for Treasure! character has two moms
“If you’re removing curriculum materials because you don’t want students to be exposed to the diversity of people, including LGBTQ people, that could raise some civil rights issues, too,” Kaplan said.
“We want to make sure that everything is above board. I mean, people within the school district have a right to know how these decisions are being made, and we want to make sure that these actions aren’t, were not happening for the explicit purpose of trying to ban mention of LGBTQ people or to eliminate stories that feature LGBTQ individuals,” Kaplan explained.
Earlier this year, Superintendent Dan Behm apologized for the removal of books and claimed that he directed staff to put them back on the shelves.
Behm added that the district planned to implement a system in which parents could specify which books their kids can check out.
Then, Behm announced his plans to retire.
https://www.fox17online.com/news/loca...
ACLU letter
https://www.scribd.com/document/65483...
Finally, one from Canada. The Prairie Rose School Division in Manitoba same rhetoric applies
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/prairie-ros...
Raelyn Fox, who said she is a mother to children who attend school in PRSD, spoke first on Monday, and said that lately she has been both “shocked and disgusted” by what is being made available at schools, and said some books contain what she said was “graphic sexual” content.
“I sit here shocked disappointed and disgusted, you and the staff hold a legal position of trust and power in relation to the students and minors that attend your school,” Fox said.
“Tonight I will signal that there has been an abuse and a breach of power by your staff, and a betrayal of parents and public trust.”
In opposition to increased monitoring of books and the removal of some from school shelves was Melissa Benner, the president of the Prairie Rose Teachers Association, which represents division teachers and staff.
Benner said she believes that free speech is a right that all Canadians hold, but she does not believe that it should allow for “bigotry and hatred” or for people or groups to decide what others can and cannot read at school.
“In a democratic society, no matter what our personal values are, all individuals have a right to voice their opinion, but hateful behaviour has no place in a civilized society and will not be tolerated,” Benner said. “All individuals also have the right to participate in and access information, and that affects their lives and their well-being.”
...
She said banning books some might deem inappropriate would also be dangerous because it would lead to less critical thinking in schools and in classrooms.
“School is a place where students seek knowledge and build awareness, not just about themselves, but about the world they live in,” she said.
“Books allow us to explore different perspectives, to challenge our beliefs, and to grow intellectually.”
PRSD say trustees will discuss Monday’s delegations, and the information that came forward during Monday’s meeting at their next board meeting scheduled for June 26, and the division plans to release a statement after that meeting concludes.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/prairie-ros...
BERRIEN COUNTY, Mich. (WSBT) — Brandywine Community Schools will be holding a meeting right now on books it deems explicit.The Board of Education will review currently restricted books, book check-out procedures, a new book purchase rating system, and more.
The board voted in February to stop new books from coming into the school.
Then in April, it was given a list of books that are off the shelves right now.
Friday's meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Brandywine Middle/Senior High School Media Center.
https://wsbt.com/news/local/brandywin...
The badish news for the day is from Maine Hermon survey shows residents support screening school library books for sexual content
(Yet the online poll says otherwise)
Hermon residents who weighed in on whether the school committee should put in place a policy to adopt age-appropriate standards for library books containing sexual content supported the idea by 58 percent, according to Councilor Danielle Haggerty, who spearheaded the effort.
The council in January by a vote of 4-3 approved spending up to $6,000 to survey residents’ support for a policy that would identify books with sexual content in the town’s three schools.
Of the 5,095 surveys mailed, 1,146, or 22.5 percent, were returned. Of those, 581 strongly supported the policy, 64 somewhat supported it while 44 respondents somewhat opposed the idea and 425 strongly opposed it. Some surveys were returned that were not filled out.
The survey was not mailed to residents in Carmel and Levant, whose students attend Hermon High School.
Early this year, the Hermon School Committee by a vote of 5-1 rejected the proposed policy change.
Hermon High School Principal Brian Walsh announced earlier this month that library books with adult themes and content would be placed on a reserve shelf behind the circulation desk. Beginning this fall, students will need parental permission to look at the books and check them out.
Voters on June 13 ousted incumbent school board member Kristen Shorey and elected Brian Veneziano, an advocate for a book rating system. He joins Haily Keezer, who was elected last year. Keezer was the only member who supported changing the policy to screen books for sexual content.
That applies only to the high school library so Walsh did not need board approval to implement the plan.
A group of parents who screened library books claimed to have identified 80 books with sexual content. All but one book was in the high school library, according to a report on the screenings.
Deb Farnham called the survey “a waste of taxpayer dollars.”
“It was a move to make a point and that was not responsible,” she said.
Haggerty, who was tasked with overseeing the survey and working to compile results, said that the response to the survey was high and showed that the issue is important to Hermon residents.
The group of parents who advocated for changes to the library book policy claims its goal is not to ban books but to persuade the school committee to create a ratings system similar to those used to rate movies, television programs and video games. Maine lawmakers in Augusta last week rejected a bill that would have created such a ranking system.
https://www.bangordailynews.com/2023/...
Mod
same rhetoric applies
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/prairie-ros...
Raelyn Fox, who said sh..."
Ms Fox can always homeschool her children, but she would of course rather be disgusted and try to foist her bigotry and her ignorance on ALL children (and not just her family).
Mod
More of the same stuff today.The good news is, the ALA conference is in Chicago this week and librarians are determined to fight book bans and not quit.
https://apnews.com/article/book-ban-l...
A news story focusing on Doylestown, Central Bucks County, Penn. as a microcosm of the country as a whole. "How Christian groups helped parents pull books from some Pennsylvania school libraries
On May 12, school library staff were ordered to remove Gender Queer: A Memoir and This Book Is Gay because of "a new book-challenge policy enacted last July by the Republican majority on the school district's board of directors after a series of grueling public meetings that have divided the wealthy district north of Philadelphia. Under the policy, a parent can challenge a book in a school library if it depicts implied or actual nudity or "s-e-x acts" and a committee of district staff then reviews it."
The article asserts that Christian Conservative groups helped push through the ban.
"Christian conservative groups to expand parents' direct control over what school staff can share with their children, particularly on matters of sex, identity and race."
"According to two people involved in the drafting of Policy 109.2, it was written with advice and legal counsel from Christian non-profit organizations allied with the influential national group the Family Research Council, which advocates for religious freedoms and against LGBT rights.
Dana Hunter, a Republican and the chair of the school board, said she sought advice from Jeremy Samek, senior counsel at the Independence Law Center and the Pennsylvania Family Institute. Because Samek's groups offered legal counsel on Policy 109.2 on a pro bono basis, Hunter said, she was under no obligation to inform other board members that she was working with him. Two board members said they and the other Democrat on the board were not aware of the extent of those groups' involvement until they were informed by Reuters."
Two board members said they and the other Democrat on the board were not aware of the extent of those groups' involvement until they were informed by Reuters.
A first draft of the policy, written in early 2022 by district library staff and modeled on guidance from the American Association of School Librarians, stated that staff must consider the "literary merit" of a book in deciding to acquire or keep it.
The rewritten policy that passed in July omitted the "literary merit" requirement, and allowed parents to seek the removal of books from the district's school libraries if they contain actual or implied depictions of "s-e-x acts" or nudity.
In an interview, Samek of the Pennsylvania Family Institute said his work included making sure the policies were "viewpoint-neutral" in order to comply with the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment.
"There are things that everybody would agree, including the ACLU, that you shouldn't be giving to kids," said Samek, who does not live in the school district.
The Pennsylvania Family Institute is listed by the Family Research Council as one of its 49 "State Family Policy Councils." The groups are all part of a national network of Christian groups that oppose abortion, same-sex marriage, and gender-affirming medical care for transgender people.
Hunter said she was not aware of those positions, but thought them irrelevant.
"What does that stance have anything to do with age-appropriate material for libraries? It doesn't," she said.
Earlier this year, Shannon Harris, a mother of two district students, and another parent filed challenges with the district to about 60 books they viewed as having inappropriate sexual content. A third of the books feature LGBT characters or topics while two thirds do not, which Harris said belied opponents' "false narrative" of homophobic or transphobic motives behind the policy. Those books are pending review.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/how-...
Fresno County supervisors question LGBTQIA+ books in librariesFRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Pride Month is being celebrated throughout Fresno County, including in public libraries.
Books about LGBTQIA+ characters are featured books in some libraries, including in downtown Fresno and Clovis.
"I received a complaint from one of my constituents, and there's been several. That prompted me to do kind of a personal fact-finding investigation. So I visited three libraries in my neck of the woods," said Fresno County Supervisor Steve Brandau.
Brandau said he visited the library branches in Woodward Park, Fig Garden, and Clovis and told Action News Supervisor Nathan Maggsig visited the branch in downtown Fresno.
"I found some stuff that I thought should not be marketed to children at Fresno County libraries," said Brandau.
"There's books talking about parents and how their skin color, eye color can vary and in that same regard their gender identity or who they find attractive is different as well," said Jason Scott, executive director of LGBT Fresno.
Scott visited the Clovis library and said he did not see any reason to be concerned over the age appropriateness of any of the books displayed in the children's section.
"The things are not threatening, they're not trying to change your children's gender identity or sexual orientation," said Scott.
https://abc30.com/pride-month-public-...
The Brandywine School District meeting last night was last minute, making community members feel blindsided. They only found out about it 18 hours before it happened. I'm still confused why community members feel the need to tell professional trained librarians and educators what books they should and shouldn't have in their library!https://wsbt.com/news/local/book-bann...
The explicit book review committee went over policies currently in place.
They reviewed currently restricted books, book check-out procedures, and how they rate books.
Among the items that were discussed was a proposed policy regarding how students can check out restricted books.
The current procedure in place says that if a student in grades 7 through 12 wants to check out a book, the school will call the parents to get their approval.
Superintendent Travis Walker says a proposal was discussed tonight that would allow parents to opt their student out of that rule.
“If a student is in grades seven through ten a parent would have the ability to opt students in grade seven through ten out of that restriction. Students in grades eleven through twelve, parents would have the ability to opt their child into that restriction.
Friday night’s meeting was just discussion, and no action was taken.
The Committee talked about adding a rating system to determine if a book should be purchased.
Brandywine has halted new inventory of books.
Those in the audience made it clear that they want a larger say in creating policies."
This one is biased commentary so I will extrapolate the facts for you.In St. Charles, Missouri Rachel Homolak spotted a librarian wearing both a goatee, nail polish and makeup and went crazy. She showed up to a library board meeting in what she claimed was a "replica" of the librarian's attire, sporting a fake goatee to bring awareness to the dangers faced by local children if someone doesn't take action.
Homolak's efforts have now escalated to the point that the mob has several hundred members, and they’re haranguing the library board for hours on end, until said board has no choice but to shut down public comment and suggest people send emails instead.
Speakers at the June 20 meeting, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, included Francis Howell School Board member Jane Puszkar, who accused the nameless librarian of “wanting to harm our children by exposing them to things they don’t understand,” as well as pardoned criminal Mark McCloskey, who said the library had books akin to child pornography. He did not offer specifics.
By the time McCloskey spoke, the room was in such a frenzy that half of the attendees walked out to protest the idea of someone from distant St. Louis being allowed to speak.
https://www.riverfronttimes.com/news/...
The Dispatch article reports:
Ms. H has changed and exaggerated the librarian's attire. “This attire is really only publicly tolerated in adult settings such as nightclubs and strip joints,” said Rachel Homolak, the mother who lodged the initial complaint in May. Descriptions of the library employee’s attire have escalated since then, and on Tuesday it was described by Homolak and others as a “leather corset, fishnet stockings, and four-inch stilettos.”
LGBTQ supporters were swift to push back on the woman’s complaints, and they showed up in droves Tuesday night to counter complaints by the woman and her supporters.
...
“I think (Homolak) was being a tempest in a teapot,” said Virginia Baldwin, of St. Charles. Baldwin, who also spoke at the meeting, said she believed part of the reason that Homolak’s criticisms against the library system have gained such notoriety is that “libraries are in the crosshairs of our politicians, and this is another portal for them to achieve their objectivities of attacking them.”
"In the meeting, Homolak’s comments were met with near-instant boos and complaints from supporters of the staff member, many of whom attended the meeting wearing “Ally” stickers and waving flags in support of the gay and transgender communities. The loudest cheers and jeers of the night came following comments from Francis Howell School Board member Jane Puszkar and Mark McCloskey, a conservative firebrand who first rose to prominence after waving guns at racial justice protestors in 2020 and ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate last year."
Puszkar questioned the motives of the library employee, accusing them of “wanting to harm our children by exposing them to things they don’t understand, and can’t understand, until they are old enough to process.” The response from the crowd was loud enough that board president Staci Alvarez had to pause the meeting.
Puszkar also called for the library’s CEO Jason Kuhl to be fired and for County Executive Steve Ehlmann’s ability to appoint library board members be terminated. Those calls were echoed by others at the meeting, including one woman who said that she was concerned that publicly identifying herself in a news story would result in her being labeled as “hateful” or “bigoted” because she opposes the LGBTQ community due to her religion.
Other contentious moments involved the usage of Bible verses. Both supporters and critics of Homolak quoted or referred to various passages from the Old Testament and New Testament throughout the night. One passage from Matthew 18:6 was cited repeatedly and thought to be especially controversial, because it represented a “veiled death threat toward the employee."
When it came time for McCloskey to speak, a significant portion of the meeting room emptied as St. Charles County residents protested him being given the chance to speak even though he is a resident of St. Louis.
He accused the library of attempting to “indoctrinate” children. He also alleged that the library system had books that equated to “child pornography” that “would land any adult in prison for reading.” He did not mention any specific book titles in his remarks.
Several other speakers took aim at the LGBTQ-related books and materials included in the library system’s collection. One man, who declined to give his name, said the LGBTQ-related books were “smut being peddled to children” and that such materials needed to have a “s____ explicit sticker” placed on the front cover. The books, he said, should then be regulated to a “corner of the library, blocked off from the public, and have a staff member only allowing access to them by citizens that were 18 years old.”
While he did not mention specific book titles in his comments, he did specifically mention the newly imposed rule from Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft for public libraries that would block state funding for libraries if they allow minors to access books that are pornographic or labeled as obscene under state statutes. It also requires written collection policies and a way for a parent or guardian to challenge the books.
“Please follow the rule as it is written,” said the man, who also criticized Kuhl for having a “woke agenda.” He pledged that he along with “every last parent and friend” in St. Charles County would soon be in the libraries to ensure in search of these books and to file formal challenges with the library board over their age appropriateness.
“Knowing too much about adult stuff can be paralyzing for a child,” a woman said. She requested that the library board remove all displays related to Pride month for the LGBTQ community.
Others who attended the meeting defended the presence of the LGBTQ-books and materials, saying the books offered them insights into different people’s lives and perspectives. Some speakers equated the outcry of the LGBTQ books to the backlash that occurred in the 1960s over the inclusion of books by Black authors.
Some speakers alleged that critics of LGBTQ-related books were overblowing the impact these books would have on children.
“My son has watched hours of ‘PAW Patrol’ and he is yet to think that a dog is going to talk to him,” said Harry Harris, who described the meeting’s public comment period as a “three-ring circus.”
"I refuse to be bullied back into the closet," said Daniel Davidson, who spoke in support of a library employee who wore makeup during the public comment portion of the St. Charles City-County Library Board meeting on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, at the Spencer Road Branch in St. Peters."
"I am totally shocked by all the hate in here. Everybody has a right to be who they are," said Barb Wutsch, who stood up to protest to some of the opinions during the public comment portion of the St. Charles City-County Library Board meeting.
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/s...
East Idaho Falls parents want to limit access to books in the public libraryHalli Stone and Parents Against Bad Books were out in front of the Idaho Falls Public Library Thursday afternoon, hoping to bring awareness to the types of books children have access to in the library.
“These books can be checked out here,” Stone said, gesturing at the table the group had set up. “Everyone has access to them, including children.”
The organization is in the process of requesting all the books on display be reconsidered by the Idaho Falls Public Library’s director, board or trustees and the mayor’s library liaison.
Anyone concerned about the appropriateness of library resources can petition for it to be reconsidered. After a review, the director and committee will make a recommendation to retain the material in its original location, to relocate the material to an advisory location or to remove the material from the library entirely.
Describing the material as “X-rated” and “pornographic,” the group would prefer to have the “bad” books removed from the library.
“We are hoping IFPL Library Director, Robert Wright; the Board of Trustee members; and the Mayor Casper’s Library Liaison, Michelle Ziel-Dingman; will take the lead from other states and save our kids from the ‘impairment of the ethical and moral development of our youth‘ … by moving these books to a protected area in the Library.”
However, Parents Against Bad Books does recognize that may not happen. They’d be happy with less-drastic measures, too, Stone said.
“At the very least, we would want these materials to be put behind the counter,” Stone said.
“Unless the library plans to move all of their … ‘obscene’ books into the Adult Graphic Novels area and carefully guard this section, the minor children will continue to stay at the open-access-to-all third floor of the IFPL, read the books, no matter the section designation, and go home,” Harrison said.
“The library said that they’ve helped us,” volunteer Kelly Porter told EastIdahoNews.com. “But they really haven’t because any kid can go in there and just pull it off the shelf.”
EastIdahoNews.com reached out to the Idaho Falls Public Library several times for a comment; however, they have yet to respond. The library’s official statement about the restricted cards policy can be viewed here.
An excerpt from that policy reads: “We have professional, experienced, master-degreed librarians that curate our collection,” the library states on its website. “With over 360,000 items in our catalog, it would be impossible for our staff to view every page of every item. We will always apply the law. When reviewing materials we often seek legal counsel to make sure our decisions continue to follow the law.”
https://www.eastidahonews.com/2023/06...
None of these books are X-rated and none I see are children's books. Some are YA, some are instructional and most are adult.
Mod
The good news is, the ALA conference is in Chicago this week and librarians are determined to fight book bans and not quit.
https://apnews.com/article/book-ban-libr..."
I bet you that Moms for Liberty, and other special interest groups as well as "politicians" (quotes mine) will likely have spies (in other words traitorous lowlives) attending the conference to make notes on and threaten librarians etc. speaking out against book bans. Maybe I am being a bit paranoid, but ...
Mod
Mod
In St. Charles, Missouri Rachel Homolak spotted a librarian wearing both a goatee, nail polish and makeup and went crazy. She..."
Why does the police not swoop in and arrest these monsters. Lock them up and make them face some real consequences (loss of their liberty and also losing custody of their children, and making sure the children are placed in foster care with overtly Liberal families).
Manybooks wrote: "I bet you that Moms for Liberty, and other special interest groups as well as "politicians" (quotes mine) will likely have spies (in other words traitorous lowlives) attending the conference to make notes on and threaten librarians etc. speaking out against book bans. Maybe I am being a bit paranoid, but ...
"
It's unlikely. You have to be a member of ALA and that's expensive. (I'm not a member). Then you have to pay to attend the conference (as a non-member it cost between $500-$605 depending on date of reservation) and there are so many different sessions and things that it would be hard to send spies. I could be wrong, there are some librarians who do support protecting the children. They should lose their accreditation. The censors could try to join and get the digital videos.
The Society of American Archivists is actively working towards creating an inclusive, welcoming environment and any shenanigans will not be tolerated and in some instances, they won't even do business in Texas, Florida, etc. where their members won't feel welcome.
https://2023.alaannual.org/programmin... ALA is the same and more! Lots of DIE stuff going on this weekend.
Judy Blume, Amanda Gorman, Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden (a woman of color) all speaking.
It may be summer vacation but school boards are still discussing books and authors and librarians speaking out.Some author interviews today include
Mike Curato, a queer Filipino author whose book Flamer is one of the top banned books. He points out his books are for TEENS about TEEN things and not found in elementary schools like the censors claim. His books resonate with people so he's going to keep writing!
https://ktla.com/news/national/his-lg...
Art Spiegelman is not going down quietly. He's still flabbergasted that anyone could think the illustration of his mother's dead body in the bathtub could be considered "pr0n".
A good sound bite from the interview: "We haven’t learned much from the past, but there’s some things you should be able to figure out. Book burning leads to people burning. So it’s something that needs to be fought against."
https://thewire.in/books/art-spiegelm...
In Texas, booksellers will not quietly submit to new book censorship laws.https://www.traverseticker.com/news/l...
"Earlier this week, Traverse City’s Brilliant Books announced an initiative to oppose HB900, a bill signed into law on June 13 by Texas Governor Greg Abbott that limits what books can be sold to the state’s public or charter schools. The initiative will give every K-12 student in Texas access to discounts and other membership perks through Brilliant Books, with the goal of making sure students retain access to materials they may be interested in reading.
HB600 requires any “school book vendor” that does business in Texas must “develop and submit” lists to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) that catalog and rate the books they sell to schools. Specifically books rated as “sexually relevant” or “sexually explicit.” “Sexually relevant” materials are those that describe or portray sexual activity, but do so in a way that is deemed “relevant” to a school’s required curriculum. “Sexually explicit” materials, meanwhile, would be those that describe or portray sexual activity in a way that is not considered to have curricular relevance, or in a manner deemed “patently offensive” under Texas’s public indecency laws. Books that receive “sexually explicit” ratings will be uniformly banned in Texas schools going forward, while “sexually relevant” materials will only be accessible to students by way of written parental consent."
"The Texas law is putting all of the responsibility for rating the content of these books on the organizations that are selling them. So, every bookseller has to perform these ratings and provide them to the schools if they want to sell books to those schools. Independent bookstores are not in a position to be able to do that on any kind of consistent or reasonable scale. There are just way too many books. It’s really just not possible for a small organization to be able to comply with this law.”
Update on Central York, Penn. They have put the books back on the shelves, for now, but with a new book banning policy. Policy 109.1 will create a book rating system, which will allow parents to keep their children from reading certain books without banning those books for all students. Mike Stewart, who is running for the Central York School Board, said the policy is a fair compromise.
“The issue is parental rights,” said Stewart. “And parental rights means each individual parent gets to decide for his or her student, not one school board candidate, who happens to be a parent, making the decision for everybody, before other students, parents, and educators really get a chance to review it.”
The policy still received criticism during the meeting. Some parents asked the district to revise the policy to allow for some books to be removed if enough parents raised concerns.
Central York librarians will now be looking at 2,000 books over the summer to review for adult content!
https://www.fox43.com/article/news/lo...
A SC school stopped an AP Language and Composition High School teacher from teaching Between the World and Me at Chapin High School after receiving complaints. District leaders involved in handling the situation have given differing justifications for the decision.Questions from Wood’s lesson instructed students to identify themes of Coates’ book and describe their thoughts about it, including disagreements and explanations. It also asked questions about two videos about systemic racism shown in class, which Wood used as a lead-in to the book.
But the lesson triggered complaints from some parents and students, who wrote emails to school board member Elizabeth Barnhardt that the lesson in their AP class made them “uncomfortable” and “ashamed to be Caucasian,” according to records released by the district.
Another student asserted that Wood said something “along the lines of ‘hopefully I don’t get fired for this,’ ” as she introduced the lesson, though Wood said in a June 14 interview that she didn’t recall ever saying that, noting that she’d already taught the material before without incident.
ood was called into an after-school meeting about the lesson and the complaints. She met with Chapin High’s assistant principal for instruction and the district’s director of secondary education, according to an email Wood sent to her principal the next day.
“The decision from this meeting was that I pause instruction of Coates’ book, even though time is of the essence in preparation for the Argument essay on the AP exam, and despite the lack of a formal challenge to the text by any of the concerned parents,” she wrote in the email.
Another document that was created from the process, labeled as a “script,” was given to the assistant principal the same day she met with Wood. It seemingly contained questions to ask Wood. This pre-written script created in advance of the meeting with Wood already said the school needed her to “cease the assignment.”
The script document given to the assistant principal also said the assignment could run afoul of part of the state’s budget provision that bans the use of state funding for teaching various ideas about race.
Some complaints also questioned the lesson’s legality, with one student writing that they were “pretty sure a teacher talking about systemic racism is illegal in South Carolina.”
It’s unclear who produced the script document. When asked, district spokeswoman Amanda Taylor directed The Post and Courier to the released documents, saying in an email that they “stand on their own.”
Wood said in a June 14 interview that the situation “feels like a direct attack on me, quite honestly, as a teacher,” adding that such divisions are bad for the country’s democracy.
“The sooner we find some common ground, the better off we’d be,” she said.
https://www.postandcourier.com/columb...
In Lander, Wyoming, school board selects new book, material complaint policy.Fremont County School District #1 Board Meeting Tuesday voted on implementing one of two revised IJLA policies.
The new policy updates how the district approaches complaints about books and other instructional materials.
In a four to three vote, draft one of the two policies was approved with amendments. Voting against draft one were Aileen Brew, Kathy Hitt and Karen Harms.
Author of draft one and board vice-chair Scott Jensen reiterated that his approach was for building trust and keeping the process transparent.
Draft one begins with a discussion about the material in question between a stakeholder (parent, guardian, or community member) and the school staffer (librarian, teacher, building principal, etc.) responsible for the resource.
If the school staffer finds that the material should not be in use within the district, they can remove the material and then document their reasonings on the district’s website. If they do not come to an agreement, the stakeholder can then submit a formal complaint to the superintendent, who then alerts the school board to the issue.
The superintendent or the superintendent’s designee (building principal) follows the same review and documentation process. If an agreement cannot be reached at that level, then it is brought before the school board to review.
Board member Aileen Brew and author of draft two, shared her agreement with a need for greater transparency, but disagreed on the community values section. It was also discussed whether a review committee, a key component to draft two, was necessary to prevent the school staffer from feeling overpowered or persuaded by the stakeholder bringing the complaint. Brew is concerned that without a review committee, there could be censorship.
Board chair Jared Kail viewed the review committee as unnecessary because the stakeholder would just appeal the committee’s decision and take it up with the board anyway.
“It seems to me that the committee is just a roadblock that wastes time,” Kail said.
https://county10.com/lander-school-bo...
Read the policy
https://cdn.county10.com/wp-content/u...
https://county10.com/fcsd-1-book-inst...
ALL people who use libraries and want their kids to use libraries should read the Library Bill of Rights. Happy 70th Anniversary Library Bill of Rights!The Library Bill of Rights is a small but important document that was enacted by the American Library Association’s (ALA) membership council on June 19, 1939 — exactly 70 years ago this week. The document has been updated several times since, most recently in 2019, where issues around privacy were included.
Read about what they are and what they mean
https://bookriot.com/library-bill-of-...
You can subscribe to Literary Activism from BookRiot now through substack.https://literaryactivism.substack.com/
Book Riot reportsThe Crawford County Arkansas Quorum Court has approved a $60,000 appropriation for anticipated legal costs to defend against two lawsuits alleging unconstitutional library censorship. If the amount is spent, it would bring the county’s cost to almost $130,000 over the issue.
https://talkbusiness.net/2023/06/craw...
Mod
Wow, if my parents had complained every time my siblings and I felt uncomfortable with a book that had negative depictions of individuals who were German or of German background, there would have been quite a pile of "banned" books, but we were obviously not that ignorant (and thankfully, even if we had complained, the complaints would have been considered ridiculous).
What the teacher says about book banning being an attack against democracy is right, but with regard to book banning, freedom of expression and the basic human right to read what one wants, the fight seems lost, democracy has ended in much of the USA.
What is amazing to me is the number of people who claim they don't co-parent with the federal government yet they want the government to make laws about what their kids can learn and what books they can read. Doesn't make sense to me.What also doesn't make sense is the number of people who don't actually parent their children and let them run around a library unsupervised pulling books on the shelf willy nilly and then claiming their kids were exposed to smut- even when the book doesn't have pictures and the child isn't old enough to read! Also the woman who complained her 5 year old had unfettered access to the entire school library database.
I've never seen a school library that had THOUSANDS of books! My elementary school was tiny and had a tiny library. The librarian had indeed read the books and could recommend which ones her students would like. When we moved to a brand new school, all the books from the three old schools went to the new ones. That was a disappointment. I hoped bigger library meant more books.
Lots going on this week.Update on the Greenville, SC Travelers Rest library display controversy.
The library board has voted to temporary remove ALL displays over Pride controversy.
On Monday, the board passed a temporary motion to remove all displays and bulletin boards across Greenville County libraries.
Under the temporary policy, the board has until the end of September to come up with new guidelines for displays.
https://www.foxcarolina.com/2023/06/2...
The Moms for Liberty, Trump and DeSantis are descending on Philadelphia, the city of Brotherly Love, at the Museum of the American Revolution! Seven historian affinity groups have now denounced an upcoming welcome reception at the Museum of American Revolution for “parental rights” group Moms for Liberty.
https://www.inquirer.com/news/moms-fo...
"Dozens of the museum’s staffers have pushed back. The historian groups are the latest to repudiate the museum’s rationale for hosting the event, acknowledging it’s unusual for them to try to intervene in what’s essentially a space rental. Still, the groups said Moms for Liberty was not a group simply espousing different points of view. They said it has encouraged the harassment of teachers and librarians.
“This organization consistently spreads harmful, hateful rhetoric about the LGBTQIA+ community, including popularizing the use of the term ‘groomer’ to refer to queer people and attacking the mere existence of trans youth,” read a statement from The Committee on LGBT History, the first historian affinity group to condemn the museum.
The Organization of American Historians, the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, and the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians published similar statements, encouraging the museum to reconsider.
The groups said they worry the museum is lending legitimacy to Moms for Liberty by hosting.
The groups argued Moms for Liberty and their campaigns are antithetical to the complete, contextualized, and factual accounts historians try to provide through research. Moms for Liberty’s work has even fueled attacks on historians’ work, according to the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, which spoke out Monday.
In its letter to museum CEO R. Scott Stephenson, the American Historical Association said it understood that legally, it might be difficult to cancel the rental agreement, but urged the museum to try. The McNeil Center for Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania added discriminatory behavior should not be protected under the guise of free speech and academic freedom.
What’s more, the National Council on Public History worried hosting Moms for Liberty marred some of the work the museum was doing, including the recent “Black Founders” exhibit that highlights Black Revolutionary War-era abolitionist James Forten.
Protests against Moms for Liberty are planned throughout the summit. In addition to their statement, the Philly-based Society for Historians of the Early American Republic moved a July 15 awards reception to the Doubletree Hotel from the Museum of the American Revolution. LGBTQ advocates have also called on the Philadelphia Marriott, which is hosting the group, to cancel the event.
Prattville, Alabama Library Director resigns amid book challenges, new director chosen.The board tapped Andrew Foster, currently the youth services system librarian for the Montgomery City-County Public Library, to step into the role of director.
“Some of you have been on the board for a while; we’ve never had public participation at board meetings,” Poteat said. “We realized at the last meeting that we need a policy to decide how that would happen.”
The policy would allow members of the public to speak in much the same manner as at other public meetings such as the city council and county commission. Public participation in library board meetings will be limited to residents of the City of Prattville and Autauga County. Residents will have until the Monday prior to the board meeting to email the director to get on the agenda.
The policy includes a clause that the public comment must be “in good taste” and must reference specific issues.
https://www.alreporter.com/2023/06/26...
An LGBTQ+ comic artist creates LGBTQ+ superhero comics so kids can see themselves represented and to fight back against book bans.https://www.sfgate.com/culture-events...
In Florida people have lost their ever lasting minds! Brevard County school board: Comments directed at book committee are 'abuse'Paywalled at the moment
www.floridatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2...
In Pinellas County schools under fire for book review list
Media specialists are scheduled to make recommendations on the titles in July.
As it did last summer, the district will have its Library Media Review Team evaluate for age and grade appropriateness all books recommended for the Sunshine State Young Readers and Florida Teens Read awards — these are used in competitions such as Battle of the Books. When it meets in early July, the team also will consider several additional titles that officials said other sources questioned as to whether they can be used on reading lists and in classes.
The Pinellas list does not include every new book coming into the district. Beyond the state-recognized titles, it includes 27 others, many of which have characters or themes dealing with minorities and underrepresented social groups.
be interpreted that way.
Superintendent Kevin Hendrick repeatedly has stated his support for culturally diverse materials and lessons, within the standards set by the state. He established the summer book reviews because, he has said, the district needs a formal process to ensure it meets its goals and also reviews its decisions in a professional, consistent manner.
“The district’s primary objective is to select books that meet state requirements while enabling students to connect with the characters and feel represented,” spokesperson Isabel Mascareñas said.
Brengle suggested that the model is “following the Board of Education suggestion to err on the side of caution.”
Still, Ferrell said she believes the Pinellas list focuses too heavily on the diverse content district officials say they want to make available.
“They are assuming ahead of time what might be challenged in the future,” she said. “This is the soft self-censorship, the chilling effect.”
The district instituted its preview process last summer, before the state issued any guidance on how to handle the laws and any resulting challenges. After reviewing 94 titles that time, the committee removed five books from circulation, placed another five in a section for staff only, and reset the grade level access for several others.
https://www.tampabay.com/news/educati...
From Here
We Still Belong
A Work in Progress
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Thank you Cheryl for the link to the social justice group. I wasn't able to make the meeting last Tuesday but I will try harder if they do it again.