Children's Books discussion
Banned Books: discussions, lists
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Discussion of censorship, equity, and other concerns.
Kelly Jensen reports:"Discussions begin over banning six books from Oshkosh Public Schools (WI). They’re the usual suspects. The good news is the books will not be removed. This story is one of many that showcase the new Moms For Liberty tactic in book banning: pushing against Title IX as the updates to the law to include LGBTQ+ protections is tied up in court"
OASD upheld Oshkosh West High School principal's decision to deny the ban
Two people were removed and public comment cut short at the board meeting
A request to ban the same books can not be made for another 5 years
On Feb. 10, 2024, Matthew Tooke, a local parent, requested to ban six books at Oshkosh West High School.
The six books were:
"Gender Queer," by Maia Kobabe
"Milk & Honey," by Rupi Kaur
"Let’s Talk about it," by Erika Moen
"Fun Home," by Alison Beckdel
"Anatomy of a Boyfriend," by Daria Snadowsky
"Anatomy of a Single Girl," by Daria Snadowsky
The books address topics including s----al orientation, gender identity and teen s---ual relationships.
Tooke's request was denied on March 10 by Oshkosh West High School principal and media specialist.
Tooke then appealed the decision to the assistant superintendent, Dr. Samuel Coleman, on May 25.
Coleman upheld the principal's decision on July 1 and once again denied Tooke's request to ban the books.
Tooke brought his appeal to the school board on July 31, and the board had time to review the books prior to the Aug. 28 meeting.
Only people against banning the books spoke during public comment.
"I wish I had access to LGBT literature when i was in high school," TJ Hobbs said during public comment.
After some discussion among the board, board member Kelly Dewitt brought a motion to ban only three of the books, which was seconded by Timothy Hess.
"This is not about anything other than the s-----y explicit images found within these books," Dewitt said.
The amendment did not pass.
The board voted 6 -1 NO, which keeps the books on the shelves at Oshkosh West High School.
A request to ban the six books listed can not be made for another 5 years.
https://www.edweek.org/policy-politic...
https://www.nbc26.com/oshkosh/oshkosh...
Great news in New JerseyBoard of Trustees Passes Resolution to Declare Mount Laurel Library as a Book Sanctuary
https://www.tapinto.net/towns/mount-l...
Kelly Jensen reportsThis is a real quote from a real news article: “A woman complains to Brevard Public Schools that a graphic novel’s depiction of a gay relationship could cause (view spoiler)
oh oh oh and I have to add this quote to. How ignorant can you possibly be? Manga is read right to left!
"Board Chair Megan Wright said the relationship between two male characters wasn't the reason for the book's removal as she supported banning it, calling it "inappropriate.”
'This book ... focuses on nothing other than a relationship. It's inappropriate,' she said, adding that she disliked the fact that the book had to be read from back to front and right to left — the traditional form of writing in Japanese. "
______________
https://archive.ph/xAtp1#selection-68...
The district’s book review committee says the novel does not violate Florida statute. The school board agrees — but bans the book anyway.”
Brevard School District banned Sasaki and Miyano, Vol. 1. They also banned two other books this week, despite not violating state laws, and those were People Kill People (about gun violence, natch) and Damsel.
... Amost all of these books are in some way, according to districts around the state, in violation of state statute because of their depiction of s--, violence or other content — they're banned because of HB 1069, even if that move is done out of an abundance of caution to avoid running afoul of the law. Such moves have prompted multiple lawsuits.
In this case, Brevard's school board opted to ban Harusono's book without a clear legal reason.
"Sasaki and Miyano, Vol. 1," the first in a series of Japanese manga novels, was banned from Brevard district libraries after a brief discussion during Tuesday's board meeting. Board members agreed — much like book review committee members had at an Aug. 16 meeting — that the book didn't violate House Bill 1069.
But though board members could cite no statutory reasons for banning Harusono's book, they agreed on pulling it.
Board Chair Megan Wright said the relationship between two male characters wasn't the reason for the book's removal as she supported banning it, calling it "inappropriate.”
"This book ... focuses on nothing other than a relationship. It's inappropriate," she said, adding that she disliked the fact that the book had to be read from back to front and right to left — the traditional form of writing in Japanese.
"When you start reading a book, which we've been teaching our kids from day one, you start (at) the beginning, and you read from left to right, bottom to top," she said. "Not that book, you don't."
In the original complaint and throughout the review process, concerns about the two main characters' relationship and its so-called influence on students were repeatedly raised.
Initial complaint: 'Material could be very offensive'
"Sasaki and Miyano, Vol. 1" features tropes common in young adult novels: Two characters muddle through the awkwardness of teenage crushes. One is nerdy and shy, and the other's a bad boy. When one is bullied, the other swoops in to the rescue.
And both the main characters are boys.
This was the sticking point for a Malabar woman who — despite having never read the book — objected to the entire series in her written complaint to the district. She had been made aware of the series because it was included on a list of books presented at a Stone Magnet Middle School advisory committee meeting in March.
"Sexual orientation should not be encouraged, suggested or implanted in our youth," she wrote on the "Request for Reconsideration of Materials" complaint form filed on March 9.
She added that the series' "material could be very offensive" to students.
About 75 people protested against book bans outside the Brevard County school board offices in Viera in June 2023.
"Children are harmed by being exposed to age-inappropriate, obscene, explicit content," she said. "These experiences can lead to struggles with p----, (view spoiler)sexual identity, shame, self-esteem and developing and maintaining healthy relationships."
The publisher, Yen Press, rates the series as appropriate for teens. The woman said she did not want it in any schools, regardless of age.
"I do not believe their (sic) is any value in making homosexual books available at school," she wrote. "Sexual orientation should be expressed in the safety of an adolescent's home."
Brevard book committee members Ashley Hall, Michael Howell and Paul Roub used phrases like "innocent," "puppy love" and "after-school level of sexuality" to describe the book and its romance during their Aug. 16 meeting. Roub noted one vague innuendo, but overall, members agreed it did not violate Florida statute.
Still, they disagreed about the book's appropriateness, with Howell saying "the fact that we're reviewing it is not inconsequential."
"The problem is, is that a book like this can be used to push an agenda," Howell said. "We can play what-if scenarios ... all day long. You have ideologies on both sides, pressing these kids."
"I don't think that depicting the existence of a thing is not anymore pushing an ideology than Tom Sawyer having a crush is pushing heterosexuality," Roub responded. "Did a book make you decide to be straight? Probably not."
Howell doubled down, saying again that kids are being "pressed upon with ideologies that the parents may not be aware is being pressed."
"This is the type of resource being used," he said of the book.
"These things can be used to impress viewpoints on kids that parents may or may not be comfortable with."
Still, he said he would feel the same way if it were about a heterosexual couple, saying he wouldn't want teachers to speak to children about "s---ual escapades" regardless of their orientation.
Both Roub and Howell recommended the book be kept available, while Hall recommended it be removed, saying she didn't like that the book solely focused on a romance.
During Tuesday's meeting, Brevard's school board also banned "People Kill People" by Ellen Hopkins despite the committee's recommendation to keep it available for high schoolers. They were in agreement with the committee's recommendation to ban "Damsel" by Elana K. Arnold. With both books, they cited content in violation of HB 1069.
Little discussion was had before the Brevard board opted to ban "Sasaki and Miyano, Vol. 1."
Board member Katye Campbell said she felt it was "kind of stupid," but that she agreed with the committee's recommendation to keep it.
"It's not one I'm super excited about keeping, but ... I've tried to stick with what the law says," Campbell said. "I don't think this one is violating the statute for us."
She also warned against removing books used for instruction in classrooms -- "Sasaki and Miyano, Vol. 1" is not -- and referred back to the original complaint, saying, "I don't think we're about to remove every book that has a homosexual reference in our libraries, because we'd be getting rid of a lot."
"That's not the reason behind it," Wright said.
Still, Wright and board members Gene Trent and Matt Susin voted to remove the book, with Trent and Susin not providing a reason for their votes.
Moments before the ban was official, Jennifer Jenkins raised concerns with the board's attorney, Paul Gibbs, about the removal of the book potentially prompting a lawsuit.
He said that was a possibility.
Good news in TexasIn some positive news, the judge in the case of a librarian suing over being fired because she refused to remove books in Llano County (TX) libraries refused to dismiss the case. It will proceed.
https://www.tpr.org/news/2024-08-28/j...
Iris Halpern, the attorney representing Suzette Baker, said in a statement that “We are confident that the law is on the side of our client Suzette Baker and all of the other brave librarians across the country rejecting censorship and discriminatory animosity. This is 2024, not 1824.”
Baker filed a lawsuit in March, citing in the lawsuit that the library fired her for supposedly allowing “personal opinions to interfere with job duties and procedures.”
The removal came after Texas State Rep. Matt Krause sent a letter to the Texas Education Agency recommending the banning of 850 books because of their “sexually explicit” content. These books primarily included themes of race, sexuality, and puberty.
This led the Llano County Advisory Board to identify 17 titles that were on the so-called “Krause list,” and it removed them from the system.
The three libraries in the county were at risk after local commissioners considered shutting them down instead of complying with a federal judge’s ruling to return the 17 books to shelves. In April 2023, Llano County Judge Ron Cunningham announced that the library system would remain open after a special meeting.
Halpern maintains that book bans are unpatriotic, un-American, and unlawful.
Good news San DiegoSan Diego County Supervisors narrowly vote to display 'banned books'
https://www.10news.com/news/local-new...
Baltimore City Schools abruptly ends board meeting after 'book banning pastor' shows uphttps://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/c...
33 books were removed from shelves in Lehighton High School (PA) for “review” to determine if they should be banned or not. https://www.brctv13.com/news/local-ne...
https://www.tnonline.com/20240827/las...
Sean Gleaves M4L member, never read the books, overly concerned about children chopping off private parts (transphobic comments)
Many books on his list used for research papers
He doesn't want to see the books banned, merely create a list parents can use to opt-IN their children (still censorship).
Florida School Board Members Seeks Protection In ‘Tango’ Book Removal CaseA federal judge is poised to rule on whether Escambia County School Board members can avoid testifying about their decision to remove the children’s book And Tango Makes Three from school libraries.
U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor is scheduled to hold a hearing on September 4 to consider a motion for a protective order that seeks to prevent the board members from being deposed.
The school district’s legal team contends that the board members are covered by “legislative privilege,” which would protect them from having to testify in the case.
North CarolinaYancey County exits regional library after disputes over LGBTQ content
Disputes over LGBTQ content and displays prompt Yancey County commissioners to leave regional library, could lead to big costs increase.
https://carolinapublicpress.org/65203...
Following a months-long political battle stemming from a Pride month display at its public library, the Yancey County Board of Commissioners voted to separate from the regional library system it has been a part of for more than 60 years.
The move came as a shock to library staff and caused outcry among some residents who criticized the decision as hastily made and petty, sources told Carolina Public Press.
AMY Regional Library Director Amber Briggs was at a conference in California when the commissioners announced the June 28 special meeting in Burnsville, during which they voted to leave the AMY Regional Library system, which serves Avery, Mitchell and Yancey counties.
In the past year, Yancey’s representatives on the regional library board have consistently accused library branches of having inappropriate materials in their collections and promoting biased viewpoints through their book displays, Briggs told CPP. She worries the commissioners plan to censor library materials, including books with LGBTQ-focused content.
“It’s just very sad for them to withdraw and not give reasoning,” she said. “Yet, the timeline really shows what the reasoning is.”
How Yancey County plans to support its own library system has yet to be explained. The single public library in the county is located in Burnsville, a small town of around 1,600 people that sits in the shadow of Mount Mitchell.
There’s never been a line item in the county’s budget for materials or books, and most of the materials in its library were purchased with regional funds. Those may have to be purchased from or returned to the regional system, Briggs said.
Additionally, there’s a narrow window during which Yancey can apply to receive state aid and other resources such as NC Cardinal, a state-supported program that allows libraries across North Carolina to share materials.
If Yancey is approved for state aid, the money it will receive starting in fiscal year 2026 will be less than what it currently receives as part of a regional system, according to state library spokesperson Michelle Walker. That’s because regional systems receive an additional block of state funds on top of funds for each county in its system.
But the losses associated with leaving the system are more than just financial, Briggs argues.
“They lose years of experience and experienced personnel who provide services,” she said. “They lose the outreach van, they lose the bookmobile. For (Yancey County) or anyone who agrees with this withdrawal to say they don’t lose anything, that would be incorrect.”
CPP reported last year that debate over control of the library began in June 2023 shortly after Yancey County resident Sheila Poehler complained to the county commissioners about a Pride Month display in the library.
In the regularly scheduled commissioners meeting that month, Whitson motioned to explore leaving the AMY Regional System. However, the issue was ultimately tabled after a special meeting in July to discuss the matter with the commissioners, local library board and Briggs.
Yancey County has a local library board that serves an advisory role to the larger regional library board. Members of the regional board must also be members of their local board.
In the following commissioners’ meetings in August and September, Yancey County appointed seven new members to the local library board, three of whom were appointed to the regional board. Poehler was one of the appointees to the local board.
Only two standing local library board members were re-appointed by the commissioners last year.
The new-look local library board spent the next several months discussing what some board members described as “s----ally explicit content” in library materials and rules on book displays, according to Nicole Rogers, a community member who leads the advocacy organization Queer Solidarity WNC.
Rogers told CPP that over the past year she’s tried to attend and document as many public meetings related to the library as she could.
“There should be different voices of different opinions on the board,” Rogers said.
“However, when you have two people who actually know anything about the library or history supporting them, and seven people who have made very clear that they don’t support the library and don’t like what it’s doing, we can’t call that fair or accurate representation of the community.”
Briggs told CPP that other members of the regional board made several compromises with the Yancey County board members, including making changes to the regional board’s rules on book displays and reconsideration of library materials at the board’s annual policy meeting in May.
“We wanted Yancey County Library to be with us,” Briggs told CPP. “We wanted to continue working in an appropriate way.”
“But if they don’t compromise, how can you move forward?”
Briggs slammed Yancey’s decision to leave the regional system in a lengthy public statement on August 2.
“This past year has been a heartache, psychologically draining, and highly stressful for the employees of the AMY Regional Library System, and particularly, the employees at Yancey County Public Library,” the statement read.
“The employees at Yancey have been harassed, called p-------hiles and groomers, all because of a book display.”
The statement went on to say that for the first time in more than 20 years regional systems were given a recurring increase in state aid, and that it didn’t make sense from a financial standpoint for Yancey to leave the system.
Additionally, Briggs ripped the conduct of Yancey’s regional board members at meetings.
“In all my years of serving on local boards, regional boards, and state boards, I’ve never witnessed such nastiness and ill-will from board members.”
The Yancey County Public Library is now in its “demonstration year” to show the State Library of North Carolina that it can function as an independent library. If all goes well, Yancey will officially separate from the regional system on July 1, 2025.
It’s unclear whether Yancey will make any changes to its current library staff or how it intends to curate its own collection.
Grassroots organizers opposed to leaving the system organized “solidarity walks” ahead of the July and August commissioner meetings in support of Yancey’s current library staff.
Yancey resident Landon Beaver attended the first solidarity walk with his 5-year-old son, who he says utilizes many of the programs organized by the regional system.
By his estimate, a group of a couple hundred supporters walked from the Burnsville library to the county courthouse, where the commissioners meetings take place.
Three of the county commissioners, including Whitson, are in contested races for re-election in November.
The MFL have been busy this week with Trump on their side.Good grief! Parent your old children and mind your own business!
*gasp* profanity! *gasp* Right like your teens have never hard or used those words before! Likely heard them at home too.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...
Moms for Liberty goes to war with New York school over five library books
Far-right group Moms for Liberty is fighting to immediately remove five “obscene” library books from an Upstate New York school, insisting they are simply too dangerous to keep on the shelves
The body of work being challenged supposedly “normalizes violence and abuse of women and children, depicts (view spoiler) according to a petition filed this week in Wayne County Supreme Court by Moms for Liberty and an area evangelical pastor.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is set to appear Friday evening at an event hosted by the group.
In their petition, the ardent culture warriors claim the books expose kids to “obscene depictions of s---ally explicit acts.” The books in question include People Kill People, It Ends With Us, All Boys Aren’t Blue, Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold, Julia Scheeres’ Jesus Land: A Memoir, a New York Times bestseller about the author’s unpleasant childhood experience at a fundamentalist church camp.
Jonathan Burman, a spokesman for the New York State Education Department, told The Independent that leadership “stands 100 percent behind” state education commissioner Betty Rosa for keeping the five books on the shelves in the face of past challenges. In April, Rosa ruled that Moms for Liberty had “failed to demonstrate that the challenged books here lack ‘literary, artistic, political, or scientific value,” and suggested they had not even read the books they said they found so objectionable. To that end, some of the passages Moms for Liberty claimed were s---ally explicit in fact had “nothing to do with s---ality,” Rosa wrote in her ruling.
But Moms for Liberty now argues that Rosa’s decision was “arbitrary, an abuse of discretion, and based on a misapplication of the First Amendment,” and are seeking an injunction to rid the library of the books while a lawsuit to ban them permanently winds its way through the courts.
Attorney Abigail Southerland, is representing Moms for Liberty and serves as senior litigtation counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice, a Christian nonprofit run by former Trump impeachment lawyer Jay Sekulow.
The battle began in early 2023, when Rev. Jacob Marchitell, who heads up the Christ Community Church in Clyde, New York, filed a formal request with the school board to have the books removed from the Clyde-Savannah Junior/Senior High School library. A committee appointed by the board reviewed the books and found them to be perfectly acceptable, according to the petition. But when Marchitell increased the pressure, the board yanked the books anyway.
The school librarian and a teacher there filed an appeal, but the board reversed itself before a decision was handed down, the petition explains. Marchitell, now with Moms for Liberty on board, appealed the move, unsuccessfully, and in April 2024, Rosa ordered the books to remain on the shelves.
Moms for Liberty became involved because, according to the petition, “at least” five registered members of Moms for Liberty have children enrolled in the district and “will be exposed and/or have access to these lewd and s----ally explicit materials when they visit the District’s Jr./Sr. High School Library.” A dozen or so more parents are members of the private Moms for Liberty page on Facebook, the petition states.
This week’s petition, which initiated what is known as an Article 78 proceeding, runs a whopping 165 pages and includes specific examples of what Moms for Liberty and Marchitell find objectionable.
In addition to s-x, Moms for Liberty’s petition says People Kill People “contains at least 137 profanities,” It Ends With Us “contains at least 105 profanities,” and All Boys Aren’t Blue “contains numerous profanities.” The petition flags no problematic profanity in Red Hood , but says it contains “numerous” instances of p_______raphy, and that Jesus Land contains “several examples of s----ally explicit content and profanities.”
“[T]he s---ual content contained within these books is excessive and severely undermines any asserted literary value for the students given access to the school library,” the petition alleges.
Moms for Liberty, which last year helped ban a book about book bans, has come out in favor of Project 2025, a right-wing blueprint for a potential Trump administration that has been accused of veering into authoritarianism.
In a statement issued following Rosa’s April decision against Moms for Liberty, New York Library Association President Lisa Kropp said, “The intimidation tactics used here are being repeated in classrooms and public libraries across the state and the country. As the voice of the library community in New York, NYLA will not allow this tactic to go unnoticed, unremarked, or unchallenged.”
Trump, who has vowed to eliminate the US Department of Education if reelected, is making his appearance Friday evening with Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice at the group’s yearly meeting in Washington, D.C.
In SC, it's come to thisSwamp Rabbit Books to hold book fair alternative after new policy is put in place in SC
https://www.wyff4.com/article/swamp-r...
A Greenville bookstore is giving parents an alternative book fair option after Greenville County Schools put a pause on school book fairs this year.
The pause came due to a new South Carolina Department of Education policy.
District spokesperson Tim Waller told WYFF News 4 last week that the decision to pause the events was not taken lightly. However, he said it was done so out of an abundance of caution amid the passage of SC Regulation 43-170, which oversees the selection and reconsideration of instructional materials.
"It requires us to scan each book and more or less keep it in a database to where it is publicly visible to parents," Waller said.
In response to the change, Swamp Rabbit Books is holding an online book fair that is not affiliated with the district.
The bookstore owner says a percentage of all sales during the online book fair will be donated to the Greenville County School of your choice.
BAD news California
https://laist.com/news/politics/hunti...
A bill awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom's signature would prohibit public libraries from banning books that deal with topics like race or sexuality, but at least one Southern California city has vowed to fight against it.
AB 1825 would also require public libraries to come up with a policy on acquiring new book titles and provide ways for the public to challenge library materials.
The bill was introduced by state Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) in the wake of a series of high-profile battles over the right for children to access materials some parents questioned as inappropriate at public libraries across the nation.
In Southern California, Huntington Beach has become the epicenter of this nationwide fight.
Late last year, the Huntington Beach City Council passed a resolution stating that no city library would allow minors access to books with any s----al content. Since then, a number of titles deemed inappropriate for kids have been moved to the adult section of the city's libraries.
The city also created a 21-person panel to review new children's books over the same concerns, but the panel has yet to be formed.
Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates said if the governor signs AB 1825 into law, the city will push back.
"If it's going to try to enforce it against Huntington Beach, then we'll fight it in the court of law," he added.
Gates argued the bill wouldn't apply to the beach community because of its status as a charter city — even though the bill includes language that charter cities are not exempt.
Ha! Good one! Don't know if this is a true story but I enjoy the response from the schoolSchool responded to a parent's book complaint by reading it aloud to the entire student body
What possible issue could a parent have had with this book?
https://www.upworthy.com/school-respo...
Ron's Big Mission
Mod
School responded to a parent's book complaint by reading it aloud to the entire student body
What possible..."
I guess reading about the protagonist's issues with getting a library card was too difficult for that parent to understand. Also hope this story is true and that more such scenarios happen.
But in my opinion, that complaining parent should have been publicly named, should have been identified.
Some good news day among the badCalifornia Passes Freedom to Read Act to Curtail Book Bans; Governor to Sign
https://bookriot.com/california-passe...
The rest of today's news is not so goodMissouri
Turnover on Christian County Library board followed by talk of labeling LGBTQ material
https://www.news-leader.com/story/new...
At an August board meeting, a new slate of officers were voted to lead the board and board members directed Executive Director Renee Brumett to look into subject headers that would fall under the LGBTQ umbrella for library materials and develop options for stickers that could be used to label those materials.
Some members of the public in attendance cited the Bible and emphasized the need to protect children as a reason for labeling books and moving them away from children and youth sections; others called the proposal stigmatizing and were concerned that recent changes to the board structure make the changes too easy. The move came after the board met with legal counsel regarding removal, reorganization and labeling of books.
In the spring of 2023, the way Christian County residents join the library board and who considers applicants was changed. Previously, applicants were reviewed and interviewed by sitting board members, then recommended to the Christian County Commission; now, the process resides entirely with the commission. About a year and a half later, a majority of board members serving have been appointed under the new process.
Commissioners said they had heard from members of the public who believed the board had not been listening to their concerns — mostly library materials and children's books — or addressing them adequately. With that in mind, the three commissioners decided to put themselves in charge of the entire process.
"We just thought that the best thing to do would be to start over again and see if we could find people that would work together with each other and compromise and listen to each other and not be arguing in meetings like we've been having the last year and a half," Christian County Presiding Commissioner Lynn Morris said.
Morris said the commission will soon begin auditing all the local boards to ensure all processes are followed and members are selected with proper notice to the public. He said he hopes the change to the library appointment process is not a permanent one.
"I'm hoping that the library situation will stabilize over time, and that we don't have to do this every year," he said. "That's my hope and my prayer is that we don't have to be involved, and I'm still watching it to just see what happens."
The interview process that was previously used by the board in public meetings changed to include individual interviews with each commissioner. Morris said this was to ensure that commissioners did not influence each other in their decision and for practicality — when multiple candidates apply it is not practical to hold several public meetings to interview each one, he said.
In the most recent appointment, the commission appointed John Garrity over Haylee Anderson to the board, with two commissioners voting for Garrity and one for Anderson. Anderson is pursuing a doctoral degree, is an educator and has been involved in the BookBag program, a summer reading outreach program.
Discussing the appointment at the commission meeting, Morris said Garrity would be the "first man on the board" and noted that he is also a pastor. The only qualifications to serve on the library board are to be a registered voter, live in the county and not be related to a current library employee.
But Morris said that members have been selected to ensure the board represents the entire county and to bridge the division that has been apparent not only in Christian County but across the state and the nation.
"With the people that were selected, we felt like we picked the people that would support all people, not just part of the people that I believe that these people on both sides will start to work together..."
As of the August meeting, the top officer positions on the library board are held by the newest trustees. Although the agenda only listed a vote for vice president — a previous member who had served in the role had resigned — the meeting resulted in a complete turnover of board officers.
The move removed Allyson Tuckness from the president role, citing "significant discord" between her and the public, replacing her with Echo Alexzander. Diana Brazeale was appointed vice president, Garrity as treasurer and Janis Hagen as secretary. The president votes only in case of a tie, and per the board's bylaws, officer elections will happen in December.
Tuckness said the complete overhaul of the officers came as a surprise to her. While her appointment came before the commission took over the select of trustees, she said it would be more apt for the commission to work cooperatively with the board rather than having sole control of reviewing candidates. For candidates, being interviewed by existing board members is a way to learn more about the position and what service involves, Tuckness said.
Now there is an online petition calling for the board to recognize Tuckness as board president and claiming the removal was illegitimate and went against the bylaws. As of Tuesday night, the petition had garnered more than 140 signatures.
Ahead of the August meeting, the board had met with legal counsel to discuss the legality of labeling, moving and removing books. Notes provided by the library's attorney Harry Styron provide an opinion based on case law that removing books would violate the First Amendment, while moving them based on content can pose risks, as well. The document notes that labeling materials is not addressed in case law.
The American Library Association makes a distinction between "viewpoint-neutral directional aids" and "prejudicial labels" that may be used to warn or discourage access to a certain resource based on a value judgement that the content is inappropriate for some groups. While directional aid labels can be used to help users find materials, prejudicial labels oversteps individuals' right to form their own opinion.
While other topics such as violence and gratuitous s-x were also discussed as needing labels, the board will proceed with exploring LGBTQ subcategories first before expanding to others. Hagen noted that most complaints have referenced LGBTQ material, as do most requests for books to be reconsidered.
"There is only so many staff in the library, there is only so many hours in a day and there's a bajillion books," Tuckness said, highlighting that there is a financial impact to labeling books.
As some members of the public praised the move to label LGBTQ books, they also called for them to be moved to a separate section. Some speakers expressed a desire to avoid unexpected material that did not align with their values and said putting that responsibility solely on parents was unfair.
Those in support of the idea highlighted the library's public nature and the need for the materials and practices to reflect all members of the public.
Others vigorously opposed the idea. Elizabeth Dudash-Buskirk, president of U-Turn in Education, said looking at LGBTQ topics for labeling in the same manner as labeling violence and s-x is equating the LGBTQIA+ with those topics. U-Turn in Education is a Nixa-based grassroots organization focused on fighting censorship and promoting education for all.
"A lot of the LGBTQIA community is already very marginalized in this region, and you get into this part of Missouri, and you get into Christian County, and there you just get a greater degree of marginalization as we go. To put these labels on there and say 'You should be on a special shelf, or you should be in a different space, or I don't let my kid learn about you, even if it's a children's little book,' those kinds of things marginalize people further," she said. "So, the division in our community is getting worse, and this would actually ... codify that marginalization and force the library, really, to sort of be endorsing this idea that people are to be separated and divided and marginalized."
While the board has not taken any action to actually label books, Dudash-Buskirk said she fears such a change has become increasingly possible the past two years.
UtahUtah conservatives celebrate public school book bans at Capitol, call on authors to repent
At the event, conservative Utahns hailed the removal of 13 titles from public schools as a “stand against evil” and a “bright day.”
https://www.sltrib.com/news/education...
censors of the day
Layton faith leader Chuck Beickel
Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan
Congressman Burgess Owens
Utah State Board of Education member Jennie Earl
Utah Parents United
Julia Lee, a born-again Christian
Confusing statement of the day
“What’s seen here in these books is Marxist ideology that hates everything we stand for,” Owens said.
Marxism is a theory by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels that critiques capitalism and advocates for a classless society with collective ownership of production to address social inequality.
Intelligent statement of the day:
Supporters of the statewide book ban law have argued it’s meant to protect children from accessing porn. But Gretchen Zaitzeff, president of the Utah Educational Library Media Association, previously told The Tribune that ”we have a semantics problem.”
“The foundational definition used to describe ‘sensitive materials’ is different than the legal definition used to describe p----graphy,” Zaitzeff said. “... If these works that are under reconsideration were actually p-----graphic, they would have been out of school long before today.”
The library media association was one of several literary and education organizations — as well as the Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union — that together penned an open letter to Gov. Spencer Cox urging him to veto the bill. Cox did not respond to the letter, Zaitzeff said.
On the day the statewide book ban list was released, the Salt Lake City Public Library pledged to keep all 13 titles on its shelves.
“As a public library, SLCPL strongly believes in freedom of knowledge, freedom of information, and freedom of imagination,” library officials said in a statement. “This is intellectual freedom. A founding value of public libraries is trust that individuals can choose for themselves what to read and what to believe. No one should decide that for you, or for your children.”
PennsylvaniaPennridge School Board advances revised library book policy
https://northpennnow.com/news/2024/au...
The Pennridge School Board Monday approved a first reading vote of a revised policy governing library content.
The move follows an ongoing legal review of several controversial policies passed by the previous GOP-led board. Approved in September 2022, the original policy prohibits resource materials containing “s-----lized content.” It additionally requires the school board’s approval for recommended resources and establishes a stringent resource review process, with criteria including “value to the total collection.”
Following the policy’s approval, parent Darren Laustsen successfully sued the district after discovering that officials were removing books without following protocol. In his ruling, Judge Jordan Yeager found that the district “effectuated a cover up of faculty, administrators, and other non-students’ removal of books from Pennridge High School’s library shelves.”
Since the ruling, district administrators have been reviewing 21 books that were secretly removed. But at an August 19 committee meeting, the board decided to pause the review of the remaining books while the policy is being revised.
Under the revised policy, the most significant changes include a narrowed focus on classroom libraries and library materials and a shift to an administrative regulation, rather than a formal policy. The regulation spells out 10 standards and six criteria for library content selection, including supporting and enriching the curriculum, educational significance and relevance, age-appropriateness, diversity of perspectives and backgrounds and unbiased content. Selections will be finalized by the building principal and Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Kathy Scheid.
The regulation also delineates a request for reconsideration process. Requests will be reviewed by a committee of professional staff members, building and district administrators and community members. The committee will read the material in its entirety before submitting its recommendation to Superintendent Angelo Berrios, who will issue a final decision.
The change additionally leaves non-purchased classroom library books up to the discretion of teachers but establishes an expectation that the books will be properly vetted and exclude “inappropriate or potentially offensive language or themes.”
During the board’s discussion of the revised policy, board members Jordan Blomgren and Ricki Chaikin raised concerns about oversight of non-purchased classroom library books. Scheid replied that teachers are given a memo at the beginning of the school year detailing expectations for library content and that any concerns are reviewed with the content area supervisor or building principal.
“As teachers, we tend to be more risk-averse. We could be professionally disciplined,” added board member and teacher Bradley Merkl-Gump. “We are always, as teachers, very careful about what we put in and what we don’t put in.”
Blomgren additionally criticized a purported imbalance between progressive and conservative viewpoints in library content, which Scheid disputed.
“It’s never our intention not to have balance,” said Scheid. “It’s always our intention to ensure that we have a broad range of topics for students, not leaning one way or the other.”
Director of Student Services Ernest Johnson said that additional revisions will incorporate feedback from administrators, librarians, board members and members of the public. One suggested revision included more explicit language regarding balance.
Following the discussion, the board unanimously approved a first reading vote of the revised policy.
Berrios announced that “Blue is the Warmest Color” will be removed from district libraries following a review by a committee of administrators and teachers over the summer. A graphic novel, the book depicts a love story between two French women.
Nebraska paywalled
A school board member who was recalled in Plattsmouth Schools (NE) over attempting to book bans was just appointed to the local library board.
https://journalstar.com/news/state-re...
Non-paywalled
https://www.1011now.com/2024/08/30/fo...
Governor Jim Pillen has appointed a former Plattsmouth school board member ousted by voters after trying to ban dozens of books to the Nebraska Library Commission.
< b>Terri Cunningham-Swanson will serve on the board until her term expires in June 2027.
“Nebraskans have shown their disdain for partisan agendas and extremist policies before,” Sarah Slattery, organizer of Stand Up For Plattsmouth Schools, said. “We are confident that Nebraska voters will remember this insult.”
The Plattsmouth School Board voted in November 2023 to hold a recall election. Leading up to the vote, four of the nine board members provided statements promoting the recall.
On Jan. 9, Plattsmouth voters ousted Cunningham-Swanson from the Plattsmouth Community School Board.
Supporters of Cunningham-Swanson’s removal alleged she cost taxpayers thousands of dollars in legal fees and increased teacher and administration workload. They claimed that despite a 1.26% increase in taxes in the Plattsmouth Community School District from when she took office, she made late payments on property taxes — or left them completely unpaid.
Recall supporters said Cunningham-Swanson also had an “anti-First Amendment” and “anti-American agenda” — specifically mentioning an effort to axe 52 books from the libraries of Plattsmouth Middle and High schools, citing such a measure is authoritarian and “a form of censorship.”
South CarolinaGraphic novel tells Columbia [South Carolina] couple’s Holocaust story. Some local schools won’t use it
[Their reasoning is so ridiculous when there have been over 20 mass shooting this year alone and this week one at a high school in the next state!]
Read more at: https://www.thestate.com/news/local/e...
Frank Baker wanted to honor his friends and spread awareness of one of the 20th century’s greatest tragedies when he wrote the graphic novel “We Survived the Holocaust: The Bluma and Felix Goldberg Story.
He hoped telling the story of Columbia Holocaust survivors Bluma and Felix Goldberg in this format — a combination of words and illustrations that resembles a longer, bound comic book — would engage young people he fears are unaware of the specifics or the scale of the Nazis’ murder of 6 million Jews during World War II.
But those graphic details have led the Columbia-based author’s book to be blocked from some classrooms in one Midlands school district. Baker said he was told Lexington 1 would not provide copies of the book to its middle schools, and asked the author not to fulfill any requests for the book from teachers below the high school level, something that left the author confused.
“The Holocaust involved much more graphic images and photographs than what we’ve illustrated in our book,” Baker said.
Lexington 1 said in a statement that the book will not be used as supplemental material in fifth and sixth grade classes this school year, in line with recently passed State Board of Education guidelines for evaluating material for classroom instruction and using guidance from Holocaust educator organizations. South Carolina education standards begin teaching the Holocaust in fifth grade. The book will remain available in school libraries, the district said, and district officials would support its use in eighth grade classes.
Baker got the idea years ago when Felix Goldberg gave a talk at Tree of Life synagogue on Yom HaShoah, the annual remembrance of the Holocaust, about his experiences during the war. After the emotional presentation, Goldberg walked up to Baker, who he knew had a background in education. “And he hands me the speech and says in his Polish accent, ‘Frankie, do something with this,’” Baker said. That “something” became the 156-page novel published by Imagine and Wonder, which Baker has since worked to get into as many schools as he can, in South Carolina and beyond. “The evidence is clear that many young people are ignorant of the Holocaust,” he said. Social studies teachers have told him they don’t have time to adequately cover the event in class. Instead, he fears young people will get their information from a social media environment where antisemitism and Holocaust denial often go unchallenged — and they won’t know enough about the subject to see why such misinformation is wrong. “I know a university professor who wrote their own graphic novel, and they said, ‘I think this would make a great story,” Baker said. “I was offered a contract, got it illustrated, and now there’s a book, there’s a website.” He went to the state conference of school librarians starting in 2022, offering the book for school shelves and telling educators how it could fit into their lesson plans.
One of the school districts that reached out about Baker’s book was Lexington 1. Social studies coordinator Elizabeth King contacted Baker about reviewing his books for use in the central Lexington County district. But the school district came back with some concerns about which students should be reading the Goldbergs’ story. “Upon review of the text, we feel the book would be appropriate for high school learners because of some of the more graphic images (i.e. firearm pointed at a person’s head),” King wrote in an email to Baker. “If you receive any requests from Lexington One teachers who teach grade levels that are not at the high school level, please disregard their request.”
Baker said it was the first time he had received pushback from a South Carolina school about using the book at any grade level. He was particularly concerned because he knew teachers and librarians at Lexington 1 schools had gotten copies of the book previously, and worried they would no longer be allowed to make them available to students. “I was shocked that she would say this book about the Holocaust has graphic images,” he said. “I think the themes are extremely relevant to a middle school student. ... As someone said to me, they’re seeing worse things in the video games they play.”
The story in Baker’s book is personal for Henry Goldberg, one of three Goldberg children who grew up hearing about their parents’ Holocaust experience. He said the family was always supportive of Baker’s efforts, even if his parents didn’t live to see the book come out, particularly because he knew they wanted future generations to remember their story. “I think it’s appropriate,” Goldberg, of Columbia, said of the book. “We coddle our kids too much. There’s too much ignorance about World War II and the Holocaust, because it’s passed over too lightly and not mentioned enough. By middle school, I think they’re old enough to comprehend it.” When he was growing up, Goldberg didn’t have the option to be shielded from the effects of the Holocaust. “I heard my dad screaming at night from the nightmares,” he said. “I remember knowing about this when I was much younger (than middle school), and I made it without permanent scarring.”
He remembers his parents as always being willing to share what had happened to them, even when their children were younger.
“At a young age, they answered every question we had,” Goldberg said. “And we didn’t have too many. I knew my dad had a tattoo and that terrible things happened. Until (the movie) Schindler’s List, then it’s like it was OK to talk about it.”
Auspelmyer, of the S.C. Council on the Holocaust, said there has been a change over the years in how graphic educators feel they should be in what they show students about the Holocaust. “In the ‘90s, after Schindler’s List, it was much more common to turn out images that would shock students,” he said. “Now it’s not appropriate to go that route, just because being so graphically disturbing may actually traumatize some students.” Henry Goldberg can understand being reluctant to discuss something so painful. He remembers an aunt who was never as forthcoming about her own Holocaust experience with her own children. “She wouldn’t talk about it at all,” he said. “She worried her children would think she did something wrong to become a prisoner.” While Baker said he wouldn’t provide books to any Lexington 1 schools that the district didn’t want him to, he still believes the book will be a useful tool for the teachers and students who do use it. He hears as much from the teachers at the conferences he attends with copies of the book.
Read more at: https://www.thestate.com/news/local/e...
Adult books in an AP class? Imagine that? My honors English teachers taught adult books in Junior High! A parent is angry that a teacher in Williams Field High School (AZ) assigned Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi in an Advanced Placement class.
https://www.yourvalley.net/stories/di...
Paywalled
This district has a history of banning books
In 2017 - long before COVID so there's a big lie right there that the books came to parents' attention only during school shutdowns in 2020
"The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, was suddenly pulled from the high school English curriculum with no explanation.
and in May Nineteen Minutes came under fire.
In California where it is now illegal to ban books in schoolshttps://coronadotimes.com/news/2024/0...
Fitzhugh Lee is not a book banner. He wants to make this clear. But he’s very concerned about the content of some of the books at the Coronado High School and Coronado Middle School libraries and he’s spent the last six months researching the topic. It’s one of the reasons he’s running for school board: he wants to empower parents and encourage more transparency on behalf of the district.
A retired Navy Captain who served 24 years in the U.S. Navy flying F/A-18s, Lee says he has the skills, temperament and experience for the job. He’s used to making quick, yet well-informed decisions, while exemplifying leadership and working as a team.
“I seek consensus solutions in tough times,” Lee said. “I’m very thorough and I have an education and life experiences that have prepared me well.”
We met for the interview at the Coronado Public Library. Lee carries with him a large binder packed with data about library books, including everything from information from the American Library Association to Supreme Court opinions on free speech. He also has a spreadsheet of library books available at CHS and CMS, books which contain material he says some parents could find inappropriate. Lee says he’s spent hundreds of hours doing the research.
“The saying is, ‘trust in God, all others bring data,’” said Lee. “I do both.”
The spreadsheet of books contains titles ranging from The Handmaid’s Tale and Perks of Being a Wallflower to Identical and Portnoy’s Complaint. The file highlights books available at the middle and high school and contains links to the website BookLooks.org with excerpts of content that he says could be concerning to parents.
“We have some books in our library collection that may include some of the most disturbing things you will ever read, that I have ever read, and I’m a Navy sailor, goodness sakes,” says Lee. “And we’re giving this to 13-year-olds?”
While he admits that library books, in general, aren’t being checked out very often anymore, the fact that school libraries are making them available to minors sends the wrong message. What it comes down to, says Lee, is a matter of judgement.
“I think studies show that over-s---alization of children is bad,” said Lee. “What do we see it leading to? Increased rape culture, for example. And a desensitization of this kind of behavior.”
He worries that introducing inappropriate material to children from trusted institutions–like school libraries–is akin to sexual grooming. He points to reports like this one from Psychology Today that show that early exposure to s--ual material can lead to activities like high-risk s-- and s--ual violence. Lee also references the district’s Disciplinary Action Guide which explicitly states the “viewing or displaying obscene or s--ually explicit content” is not allowed.
“So why is [this content] in our school library?” asked Lee. “We can do better.”
Lee says he’s spent the last six months joining forces with district leaders to work on a solution. The result? A new portal, allowing district parents to opt-in to an email service that notifies them when their child checks out a book. According to Superintendent Karl Mueller, the purpose of the portal is to “show parents what books we have, demystify some of the information that’s out there, and hopefully make it easier to engage in conversations with their kids.”
Lee says he’s happy with the results, but thinks the district needs to take it a few steps further. First of all, the form currently needs to be printed out, signed, and submitted. Lee would prefer that this could be done online. Secondly, he thinks it would be helpful if parents could get more guidance on what books might contain inappropriate material. This could come in the form of a rating guide that could be a link in the parent portal. [It's called Middle Grades, Young Adult, New Adult (Young Adult) and Adult/classics]
“I’m not suggesting banning, not suggesting removing, but suggesting an aid to books that could come with a parent caution, like a rating guide,” says Lee.
Cobb County, Georgia- AGAINNot sure how My Shadow is Purple is explicit when there's literally no s--ual content involved in the PICTURE BOOK! Try again Mr. Ragsdale...
Exclusive: Cobb superintendent talks safety, technology and books removed from libraries
https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024...
In an exclusive interview with Atlanta News First, Cobb County Schools Superintendent Chris Ragsdale addressed several hot topics on the minds of parents, teachers and students.
Perhaps most notably, he discussed the growing list of books that have been removed from Cobb school libraries.
“There’s been a lot of misinformation out there about exactly what is being removed and for what basis,” Ragsdale said. “We’re not banning or censoring books in any way, shape or form that we’re not banning or censoring rated-R movies.”
There’s currently a list of 20 books that have been removed from all Cobb County schools. Some parents argue that this is censorship and discrimination because some of the books feature LGBTQ characters and authors of color.
The district is facing multiple lawsuits, but Ragsdale says the decision to remove certain books is based purely on those that contain s---al language or illustrations.
“I would’ve never expected to see that type of language in a book in any of our schools. Especially in the hands of children,” Ragsdale said. “It is literally for s---ally explicit and graphic content. Period. End of discussion. Full stop. That’s why we are removing the books that we have removed.”
Ragsdale adds that more books could be added to the list as the district continues reviewing more than 1 million titles across their school libraries.
Oregonexcellent letter to the editor on why book bans are bad
https://www.tillamookcountypioneer.ne...
A good story for a changeA look behind Students Protecting Education, a student group pushing back against book bans. What began in New York has expanded to several other states.
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/hud...
Campbell County Public Library (WY) made up a new section in the library called “new adult.” This was where they dumped the YA books they felt were inappropriate. Now, they’re moving one of the books they dumped there into a new “parenting” section"Sex is a Funny Word" a book that covers "sex" as in organs between legs and s-e-x as in "it."
Paywalled of course
https://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/ne...
Texas’s State Board of Education is hosting meetings this month to show off its new Bible-inspired curriculum- the state is offering districts $40 per student to implement it. https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/ar...
The State Board of Education will hold public hearings this month over a proposed curriculum for Texas public schools that includes Christian-based religious references in K-5 education.
The proposal faced some criticism from the public since it was unveiled by the Texas Education Agency in May. The plan includes a financial incentive of at least $40 per student for school districts that adopt the proposed curriculum.
The proposal has also raised eyebrows for people like Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee and lead organizer of Christians Against Christian Nationalism, who said she's spent the weeks leading up to the hearings informing people about the proposed curriculum.
“You know, as a Christian, I do not think it is the job of the state to impart any religion, including my own,” Tyler said. “I believe that religious organizations and families are the place where religion should be taught and do not trust the government to be furthering any religion, including my own.”
The hearings will be held in Austin Sept. 10-13. Links to the proposals can be found on the Texas Gateway website, a TEA online resource, linked on the State Board of Education website.
Christian references are tucked into lessons for each grade from kindergarten to fifth grade. The references range from the Biblical stories of King David and King Solomon for kindergarteners, to learning about the Last Supper and Bible verses in fifth grade.
Tyler said she was also concerned for public school students who were not Christian or came from a different religious background.
"Those children have a right to go to school without their family’s choices, when it comes to religion, being interfered with,” she said.
The SBOE will vote on the final proposed curriculum in November. Until then, North Texas school districts are not set on whether they will implement it or not.
Both the Denton and Fort Worth school districts are waiting to weigh in on the proposed materials.
Dr. Camille Rodriguez, Fort Worth ISD board president, wrote in a statement that the decision to implement the materials would ultimately rest with the Board of Trustees.
Joe Carreón, Dallas ISD Board President, wrote in a statement that the board had not discussed the proposed materials as of August.
However, he said he had “no desire” to adopt "unconstitutional curriculum.”
“Constitutional law is clear on prohibiting the promotion of a particular religion in public schools,” Carreón said. “If the state wishes to support public schools, they should begin with increasing the basic allotment which has not been adjusted for inflation since 2019.”
More from TexasCorpus Christi Public Libraries (TX) new potential policies would dismantle access to YA books and create limitations on what those under 17 could borrow or read in the library.
https://www.caller.com/story/news/loc...
Revised recommendations that would restrict teens from certain content in the public libraries have been revived.
Tuesday, the nine-member Library Board in a 5-4 vote sent the new version of recommendations for the collection development policy to the staff for review.
The collection development policy is the guiding document that determines, in part, how books are selected, where they are located or potentially removed.
Several critics of the new recommendations – as well as the similar, previous versions – suggested that returning to the subject was inappropriate after a subcommittee was unable to reach consensus on how, or if, any recommendations may be made.
The meeting Tuesday was the latest in debate on whether content in the young adult section of the public libraries contains what some have described as explicit content – and if so, who is responsible for monitoring minors’ consumption of literature.
Those seeking changes to the policy – which would include librarians bearing more responsibility for the material borrowed by minors – say the recommended amendments are necessary to protect youth and would largely involve reshelving certain books from the young adult section to the adult section, not banning them.
Supporters of the current policy have said changing it could either improperly supersede the decisions of parents for what their teens may read or potentially lead to book banning.
On Tuesday, some residents addressing the board praised efforts to adjust the collection development policy while others criticized resuming discussions after the dissolution of a subcommittee that had reviewed the policy and was unable to reach consensus on changes.
Library Board member Carroll Matthews suggested the item be removed from the agenda, pointing out that it had been released before a holiday weekend and asserting there had not been adequate time for discussions.
Board member and former subcommittee member Melinda de los Santos – who spearheaded submitting the revised recommendations, along with board member and former subcommittee member Joan Carrillo – wrote in a message to the Caller-Times that the subcommittee’s purpose had been “to provide a platform for diverse views.”
“Therefore, we felt an obligation to our community and City Council members who appointed us to proceed with recommendations while working with the library staff to address the issue of the inappropriate materials in the minor section,” she wrote.
The board, which serves in an advisory capacity, does not make policy decisions. However, the board may make recommendations to the library staff.
A four-member subcommittee that had been formed earlier this summer to evaluate and offer potential suggestions to the collection development policy was disbanded in August after the group gridlocked on what changes should be recommended, if any.
The subcommittee was split in half – two of its members, Jennifer Anderson and Alice Upshaw Hawkins, said they sought no changes to the existing policy, while De los Santos and Carrillo backed a series of suggestions in a redlined sample policy document.
Among the recommendations in the August document had been to issue special library cards to youth younger than 18 that would bar the checkout of books containing some s---ual content to include “obscenity, s---ual conduct, s---ual intercourse,” as well as those with content related to “s--ual orientation, gender identity, or gender discordance.”
The modified version presented Tuesday stated that the special cards for youth would be “intended to help prevent the checkout of materials with content containing obscenity, s---al conduct, and s---al intercourse,” without the previous verbiage referencing “s--ual orientation, gender identity, or gender discordance.”
“Age-appropriate materials concerning biology, human anatomy, or religion are exempt from this rule,” according to recommendations in the document.
Suggestions on the youth-specific cards include that they should “be accompanied by a Parent Guide with resources listed provided to help parents/guardians to quickly locate information about some books,” according to the recommended revisions.
At present, any public library cardholder may check out any of the materials in the library, regardless of age.
Under the existing policy, parents are ultimately responsible for what their teenagers and children check out.
One option available to keep track of their teens’ borrowing history is to sign up for an emailed notification system.
Under the proposed changes, much of the responsibility would be transferred to librarians.
Some boardmembers voting against sending the recommendations to the staff said they had not been aware that an item on recommending changes would be revisited until receiving the agenda Friday, and contended there had not been enough time to review the revised recommendations.
In a message to the Caller-Times, de los Santos disagreed, writing that she believed “the time was sufficient to review eight pages.”
The debate “has been ongoing for months” when there are other matters that need attention, such as the budget, Matthews told the Caller-Times following the meeting.
She later wrote in an email that “our library system currently has an excellent Collections Development Policy,” and noted the document had not been up for review until next year.
“During our library system’s Summer Reading Program from June 5 through July 29, 3,357 children participated,” she wrote. “During that time 104,391 books were checked out. NOT ONE of these books was questioned by a parent or guardian as to having inappropriate content.”
Pennsylvaniahttps://buckscountybeacon.com/2024/09...
(commentary piece)
Lehighton Area School District (PA) is listening to Moms For Liberty’s claim there’s p----graphy in the schools and that kids are cutting off their g--itals because of them. As a result, the district is going to audit 33 LGBTQ+ books.
Lehighton Area School District’s board was entertaining a book audit, brought to the table by the newly appointed Board Treasurer Sean Gleaves, a member of the far-right Moms for Liberty group
Thirty-three books are on the list for this audit, which will determine whether parental consent to check them out will be required. Just a fraction of the library’s total inventory.
At the board meeting on August 26, the leader of the audit, Gleaves, began his defense by saying he was concerned about exposing innocent high schoolers to nudity and graphic s--ual images.
Hateful comment
(view spoiler)
Petition to stop the restriction of LGBTQ+ materials in schools
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA...
Voting for school board is super important, even if you don't have children in the district! My district has early voting going on. It was fast and easy once I knew who to vote for. Finding information online was difficult but one candidate came to our door and I got the scoop from my boss after reading a press release she wrote (and others) in the local regional free paper! Vote! Someone's life may depend upon it.https://www.postandcourier.com/politi...
South Carolina mom who challenged 93 books in a single day is now running for school board
Last year, Angelina Davenport ignited a firestorm in Berkeley County, launching a sweeping challenge that targeted 93 books in the district’s school libraries — all in a single day.
The move, which triggered a costly review process, put Davenport at the center of a contentious debate over what students should be allowed to read.
Her list wasn’t limited to obscure titles. It included literary heavyweights like Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five,” Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Beloved” and Richard Wright’s classic “Native Son.”
Modern bestsellers weren’t spared either, with Sarah Gruen’s “Water for Elephants” and fantasy novels by Sarah J. Maas also under fire.
Davenport’s objections, spanning 279 pages, accused South Carolina’s fourth-largest school district of distributing obscene materials to minors.
On each of the forms, where she was required to list the name of the student affected, she instead wrote: “Every Berkeley County student that has access to this content in our middle and high schools.”
Her message was clear: “Why do you think it is OK to have graphic s---al content and profanity in our schools?” she demanded on each submission.
Now, with an open school board seat up for grabs, Davenport is making her next move, complete with a campaign logo that features a stack of six books.
The local nonpartisan race promises to be one of the most dramatic in Berkeley County, pitting Davenport, a well-known Moms for Liberty activist and former vice chair of the Berkeley chapter, against Dan Froemel, a former principal-turned-federal education consultant.
Soon after Davenport entered the race, the Berkeley County Republican Party declared she was their GOP candidate, adding, “This is your pro-parent candidate.” The endorsement appears on a prominent red banner that cuts across the middle of Davenport’s campaign website.
Lee County Schools (FL) haven’t gotten their fill with book challenges and bans. Now they want to ban anything in email signatures that isn’t a name or educational designation and ban “personal items” in the classrooms.https://news.wgcu.org/education/2024-...
Email signatures would be limited to work-related certifications and roles. And not non-work-related insignia, pictures and quotes.
Also up for discussion are the use of personal items in the classroom. Lee County drew attention earlier this year when a teacher was asked to remove his “Hate Has No Home Here” banner. The banner depicts a peace symbol, a heart, a gay-rights symbol as well as the words, “Black Lives Matter.”
The teacher covered those words but has refused to remove the banner from his Riverdale classroom. It's been hanging in his classroom for a year now.
Kevin Daly, the head of the teachers union in Lee County said he was going to run the proposals past attorneys as well as the gay-rights organization Equity Florida. He also wants to way the proposals against Florida laws. Under the direction of Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida Legislature has taken a hardline stance in what can be said, done and read in schools. A litany of new laws have been passed and challenged.
“And see if there's anything in here that that's in violation of an employee's free speech, or contradictory to a law. The problem is, you know, these laws are all new, right? All new and untested. So when I say this is kind of unsettled law, it's exactly what it is, right?"
Erie County (PA) is axing a bunch of library positions in the name of “the budget," while trying to sell off part of one of the libraries to a private Christian university in a power move.-Kelly Jensen, BookRiot
My mom says my class was the first to have s-e-x ed in 4th grade. I have NO memory of that! 6th grade, yes but even by 4th grade I already knew all that and had my first period in 4th grade. If the parents won't teach their kids then the kids will just look it up online and find misinformation and you know what that is NOT in books in the library!https://www.tampabay.com/news/educati...
Florida schools skip s-x ed without state-approved books
Florida law requires school districts offer s-x education.
Several districts didn’t provide it last year, though, and they’re still not doing so this year.
It’s because the state also calls for Florida Department of Education approval of the materials that will be used. And it has yet to sign off for some of the largest districts.
In a time when they have faced sanctions and threats of penalties for violating laws that many consider vague, district leaders are just waiting for further direction.
https://popular.info/p/why-thousands-...
In May 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed Florida House Bill 1069, a law that requires s-- education classes in the state to conform to right-wing ideology. Specifically, the law requires all sex education classes to teach students that s-x is binary, "either male or female,". It also mandates that students are instructed that s-x is defined exclusively by "internal and external genitalia present at birth," and these s-x roles are "binary, stable, and unchangeable."
Schools also must "teach abstinence from s--ual activity outside of marriage as the expected standard for all school-age students" and "the benefits of monogamous heterosexual marriage."
To enforce these new rules and other aspects of the DeSantis administration's political agenda, HB 1069 also requires "all materials used to teach reproductive health" to be approved in advance by the Florida Department of Education (FDE) or use textbooks pre-approved by the state.
Previously, s-x education curricula were approved by district school boards. Florida parents can opt-out of s-- education lessons on behalf of their children.
The FDE instructed school districts to submit their materials for sex education by September 30, 2023. The school districts met the deadline, but the FDE never responded. Florida counties were placed in a no-win situation as not teaching s-x education, a mandatory course, at all is a violation of state law.
Several Florida school districts — including Hillsborough, Orange and Polk Counties, three of Florida's largest — decided not to teach s-- education at all during the 2023-24 school year, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Other counties, including Broward and Seminole Counties, taught s-- education classes without getting the legally required approval.
Now, a new school year is underway in Florida, and the FDE still has not approved any of the submitted s-- education materials — or provided any response at all. Orange County hoped to make up for last school year's missed lessons when school started this August, "but now those plans are on hold."
Schools are reluctant to use the state's pre-approved texts because they are glaringly incomplete. For example, one textbook "preaches abstinence as the only effective way to prevent STDs and pregnancy and does not mention contraception." To avoid issues, the textbook advises students to "go on group dates rather than spend one-on-one time with a partner."
Popular Information obtained a training manual that the FDE sent to "experts" who, at some point, will review s-x education materials submitted by county school districts. The 43-page document was acquired by the Florida Freedom to Read Project, which filed a public records request.
The manual provides clues as to why the review process may be delayed. The "experts" are directed to evaluate all materials on 11 separate criteria, some inscrutable. For example, all materials must be evaluated on the criteria of "Male and Female Reproductive Roles," "Principles of Individual Freedom," "Critical Race Theory," and "Social Justice."
Subsequent pages purport to provide guidance about how to apply each criteria, but often do little to clarify matters. For example, page 17 explains that when evaluating whether material is "Age and Grade Appropriate," reviewers should apply the "rubric" of "Materials are appropriate for the age or grade."
Other explanations of the criteria are more detailed but no easier to interpret. Page 25 is labeled "Critical Race Theory" but also says reviewers should ensure that s-x education instruction "include the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and subsequent amendments."
Criteria 11 says reviewers must ensure that sex education materials exclude "Social Emotional Learning," which is not defined.
[Are you lost yet? Me too!]
"Experts" that successfully apply these criteria will receive a $330 stipend for each complete review.
Arts education is also a no-no in Florida. Gee I wonder why?Florida schools are feeling the squeeze on their arts programs as a result of the governor’s veto of millions supporting organizations supporting the efforts, the Washington Post reports.
https://www.tampabay.com/news/educati...
Better newsLittle Free Library has a new map to help places hit hardest by book bans.
https://lithub.com/little-free-librar...
News todayIndiana
BCSC board considers challenge to book ‘Push’
Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. board members on Monday night will vote on whether to uphold a committee’s decision to keep a challenged book in the Columbus East High School library.
The book being challenged is “Push,” a 1996 novel by author Sapphire, which was later made into the 2009 film “Precious.”
The request for review of the book was submitted by local resident Mark Niemoeller — the board has had time since their meeting on July 15 to consider the committee’s decision and will ultimately decide if the book should remain in the library.
https://www.therepublic.com/2024/09/0...
Some opinion and commentary pieces after this latest school shooting in GeorgiaWhy are BOOKS banned but guns are not?
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-o...
Tim Walz says Republicans banning books instead of assault weapons
https://www.waaytv.com/video/tim-walz...
Good news from North DakotaFargo Public Library Hosting Film Screening Series Based on Banned Books
Each movie adaptation is based on a book that was either challenged or banned at some point.
https://www.valleynewslive.com/2024/0...
Here's a new one I hadn't heard before.If You Give a Mouse a CookieIf You Give a Mouse a Cookie adopted by right wingers as a cautionary tale about everything from welfare benefits to student loan forgiveness to granting immigrants asylum.
https://slate.com/transcripts/NXV5QXJ...
This argument is so bizarre and not at all what the author of the story intended. I read it recently and saw the mouse like a little kid who doesn't want to go to bed. "I'm hungry. I'm thirsty. I have to use the potty. Can I watch a show?"
A couple stories about a lawsuit in Llano County, TexasPublic library in Central Texas at center of book ban debate headed to U.S. Court of Appeals
The Llano County Public Library is at the center of a lawsuit that could have impacts across Texas.
.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is preparing to hear a case that'll determine how the First Amendment governs the types of books you'll find on your public library shelves.
The focus is on central Texas. In a nutshell, the argument boils down to whether free speech rules apply to public library books or not.
The Llano County Public Library is at the center of a lawsuit that could have impacts across Texas.
https://www.khou.com/article/news/loc...
Back in 2022, according to the Austin American-Statesman, the library removed a series of books after a group of community activists asked them to be removed after deeming them.
The selected texts were said to contain Critical Race Theory and LGBTQ+ topics.
A district court judge, according to the Statesman, determined the library violated the First Amendment, requiring the books be returned. The argument is now headed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Attorney Ken Paxton filed an amicus brief, saying the selection of public library materials is government speech.
A portion of that brief said:
The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the government’s authority to “regulate the content of . . . its own message,” includes the discretionary selection and compilation of materials for presentation to citizens—the selection of library materials is no different.
The ACLU of Texas filed its own amicus brief. They argue that a book's appropriateness should fall on the reader, not the government.
In Alabama, Prattville Library eyes 5th Circuit dissent as template for victory
Two judges in that three-judge panel found that the removal of 17 children’s books at the Llano Public Library violated law.
https://www.alreporter.com/2024/09/11...
Stephen King and James Patterson both show support for plaintiffs in said lawsuit
https://www.dailytrib.com/2024/09/11/...
Now the bad newsRockingham County School Board permanently removes seven books from classrooms and school libraries
https://www.whsv.com/2024/09/11/rocki...
HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) -The Rockingham County School Board has voted to permanently remove seven books from classroom and library shelves on the basis of ‘s--ually explicit content, violence and explicit language.’
In January of 2024, the board temporarily removed a list of over 50 books from classrooms and libraries. In an interview in February, school board chair Matt Cross said the list of titles was based on parent complaints.
Since then, the board has been reviewing individual books from the list and voting whether to return them to the shelves or permanently remove them. The board voted on nine titles at its meeting on Monday, Sept 9.
On behalf of the board’s content review committee, Superintendent Dr. Larry Shifflett proposed to return five books to RCPS libraries and classrooms. However, board member Hollie Cave motioned to remove the books instead.
As a result, the board voted to remove Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher, Burned and Glass by Ellen Hopkins, Sold by Patricia McCormick and Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews, due to s---ally explicit content.
Based on the committee’s recommendation and unanimous votes from the school board, Nineteen Minutes by Jodie Picoult and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky will also be removed.
Two other books, Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli and More Happy than Not by Adam Silvera, will return to the shelves.
Elsewhere in AlabamaNOW they're coming after adult materials! Political and social views they don't agree with even in adult materials is now a ban it category.
https://www.al.com/news/2024/09/prost...
Library dispute in Mobile as one official ponders Bible ban
The culture wars over libraries and the debates over appropriate content on the bookshelves came to the Mobile City Council for the first time on Tuesday and were met with a rebuttal from one council member who questioned whether the Bible should be among those banned.
Councilman William Carroll, after listening to concerns from a representative of the conservative Eagle Forum about some of the books on the shelves at public libraries, said critics “need to be careful about what you’re asking for,” and then referred to content within the Bible that might warrant censorship.
Carroll’s comments were in response to comments by Melissa Gates of the Eagle Forum. Gates, during the public comment section of the council’s weekly meeting, questioned the group’s role in restricting the titles displayed at Mobile’s libraries.
Council members do not have authority to pull book titles from libraries, but they are charged with appointing library board members. The council is also set to approve its fiscal year 2025 budget next week, which contains an $8.2 million appropriation to the city’s library system.
“I know you have no control over choosing the books,” Gates said. “But the buck stops with you all because you are funding (the libraries). Those library books are funded by our taxpayer money.”
She was joined in her concerns with Toni Keener, who submitted a list of books that she found within Mobile’s libraries that she believes contains objectionable content for children and the public.
Keener also said a magazine displayed within the libraries is filled with “political, racial and social divisions on every page.”
“The City Council approves the funding, and you write a check with no oversight,” she said. “I assume there is no auditing. These books are still hitting the libraries.”
Carroll said he was concerned about the overall approach.
“(The effort to censor or ban book) takes us back to a time when we are burning books and burning information and what did we call that period of time?” Carroll said.
“It makes me think we are at a point in time in life and the world in how we are living that we have gotten so subjective on what we think we want people to see, learn and understand,” Carroll said. “It’s gotten to the point where so many people are so far to the right and left in how we are thinking as opposed to what we’re truly out to do.”
Carroll then pointed to his cell phone, adding, “Information is information. You can pick up a cell phone, hit the Internet and get more information than we would ever get out of a library. I get sometimes confused by this. We are in an information age. The information you are talking about ... can easily be gotten from a simple tap on the Internet on the phone.”
...
The issue of restricting library content in Mobile is a new issue brought to the council and it was unclear to some members what was being asked of them.
Councilman Ben Reynolds said the list of questionable books he was presented with on Tuesday included some of the book titles that have been pushed back against in cities across Alabama, but he was unsure what Gates was asking the Mobile elected officials to do with it.
“I have more questions than answers,” he said after the council meeting. “What are you asking for? I don’t care for the grandstanding that goes with the issue. We are policy makers. What policy are you asking us to implement?”
Reynolds said he is not interested in defunding the library system, adding that he and his family are frequent attendees of the Mobile Public Library System. He also noted that it would take a supermajority of five of seven council members to remove funding from the library system, something that seems unlikely ahead of an expected vote on the budget next week that includes the annual spending plan for the city’s libraries.
Reynolds said the solutions to the concerns seem reasonably simple to address, which could include relocating certain book titles to other places within the library.
The Mobile Library System, in a lengthy statement after the meeting, said the group follows an “established and transparent process for reviewing any material challenges.”
The process also allows for “thoughtful evaluation while respecting the diverse perspectives and values of our community,” the statement reads. The library also encouraged the public to engage with the library system “through appropriate channels, including attending Library Board meetings and submitting formal requests and reconsideration materials.”
“We are aware of the concerns raised at the recent Mobile City Council meeting regarding certain books in our collection,” the statement reads. “The library acknowledges the right of all community members to express their views on library materials, and we take these concerns seriously. As a public institution, we uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and ensure that all materials in our collection meet established selection criteria, including literary merit, educational value, and alignment with community interests.”
The statement also says, “Our commitment remains to serve the community with fairness, inclusivity, and respect for all viewpoints. The Mobile Public Library will continue to provide a broad range of books and resources, allowing individuals and families to make informed decisions that align with their personal values.”
Missouri"Turnover on Christian County Library board followed by talk of labeling LGBTQ material"
Same story NPR version
Christian County Library Board replaces president and considers LGBTQ book labels
https://www.ksmu.org/news/2024-09-09/...
Since 2022, there have been tensions between the library district and members of their community — tensions that are obvious during public comment periods at board meetings.
Many speakers have been coming monthly for almost two years. Among other criticisms and requests, speakers have largely called for policies to rate and sequester materials and for the labeling and/or removal of LGBTQ+ material that they have described as anti-Christian, p___raphic and indoctrinating. They’ve often directly criticized Former Christian County Public Library Board of Trustees President Allyson Tuckness and the Library’s Executive Director, Renee Brumett, and at times the meeting has come to a halt due to outbursts and back-and-forth between attendees and trustees.
Speakers have at times used their speaking time to lead the room in prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Their perspective has been reflected in several online blogs focused on conservative Christian perspectives on news and culture in the region, namely a Blogspot site called “Right to Win Ozarks” and a Substack titled “Hick Christian.”
Gretchen Garrity, wife of new trustee John Garrity, is a contributor to these online sites and has spoken regularly at meetings.
Voices in the minority at board meetings have pushed back against these perspectives and spoken in support of what they at times describe as the freedom to read. U-Turn in Education, a group organized against book banning in the Nixa School District, has taken an interest with an online petition.
The library district itself says statistics show the community uses and supports the library. “Our community feedback,” explained Nicholas Holladay, Director of Community Engagement for the Christian County Library, “shows that our circulation numbers have gone up each month, our door counts are going up, attendance to events goes up, computer usage goes up. Providing materials, providing events; providing services has not been severely impacted by what is going on at the board meetings.”
Holladay said in the week following the reshuffle in leadership they did hear from users worried books were being removed from the library. He clarified several motions the board made at the meeting. He said they made public notes from a closed meeting the board had previously had with legal advisors concerning labeling material, and they asked Library Executive Director Renee Brumett to return to their next meeting with two things to help them consider a labeling procedure.
He explained that the board asked for “options for stickers that say LGBTQ and a list of subject headings that Library of Congress has under the broader (subject) LGBTQ.”
The board’s next meeting is Tuesday, September 24.
For her part, Tuckness says she wouldn’t have done anything differently. “My community has been behind me,” Tuckness said, “and I’ve had a lot of support from a lot of people in the county, in the community, so for that reason I choose to believe that this is not the majority. And I am trying to hold on to that and hope that that becomes clearer.”
In Georgia where guns kill children not books(https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/cobb...)
https://www.artsatl.org/cobb-county-s...
Cobb County school book bans are leaving teachers worried
Last month, 13 additional books were added to the list of books banned throughout the Cobb County School District. This brings the total to 20.
https://www.artsatl.org/cobb-county-s...
Cobb County Schools Superintendent Chris Ragsdale has banned 20 books so far.
“You are either in favor of providing inappropriate material to children or you are against it.”
Ragsdale’s statement is at odds with the experiences of many teachers and librarians in Cobb County. Diana Bishop, a Cobb County English teacher who retired in May, calls school reading materials a “nonissue,” noting that only one parent in her 19 years of teaching requested that their child not read something on her syllabus. She credits this to the massive efforts teachers put into choosing and discussing the books they teach, pointing out that they are happy to provide alternative books to students whose parents disapprove of assigned books.
In response to an emailed request for comment, Ragsdale’s office wrote, “While having s---ally explicit material in a classroom may be a nonissue to some, it is an issue to Cobb’s parents. S--ually explicit content has no place in a public school classroom as parents decide what is appropriate for their children.”
As Bishop points out, however, parents have always had the power to veto which books their own child can read in school, and teachers often go out of their way to deal with potentially explicit material. “Personally,” she says, “in books where there may be some material that was explicit, I have gone through with a permanent marker and crossed out the dirty words” page by page, in each copy. “We don’t want to expose children to anything that’s p---graphic — or profanity. No. We don’t think that’s appropriate.”
The same care goes into school library books, according to a retired Cobb County media specialist who wished to remain anonymous due to the political climate. Specialists choose library books based on each curriculum with an eye toward ensuring all children in each school are represented. Like adults, the specialist said, kids are more engaged and motivated to read when their books reflect and speak to them, and those books help kids make sense of their lives, experiences and communities.
Georgia law requires that book challenges be raised by parents whose children are current students at the school in question, though Ragsdale has asserted a right to remove books without official challenges being raised, and he has said that the process of reviewing books in district libraries will continue.
Bishop and the retired media specialist have raised questions about the transparency of the county’s book removal process, noting that it has changed in recent years. Though the superintendent’s office did not explain how the books were chosen for removal, it noted, “A local third-party parent organization has collected a few examples of the s----ally graphic content embedded in books that have been removed from our libraries, and we encourage your readers to review them for themselves.”
For her part, Bishop recommends that parents who are concerned about specific books contact their child’s teacher to discuss it, instead of going over teachers’ heads. When parents came to her with concerns, she would “provide them with links to reviews, and they’re invited to read the book. If they don’t want the child to read it, then we simply provide an alternative.” Book bans, she asserts, never have to be on the table.
In the meantime, she says, Cobb County’s district leadership does not leave teachers with much confidence, particularly after fifth-grade teacher Katie Rinderle was fired for reading My Shadow Is Purple, a book on gender stereotypes and self-acceptance, to her class.
The political climate in Cobb schools directly led to Bishop’s decision to retire earlier than she had planned. “There were a lot of factors for me just feeling unsupported, not only by the school but also by the community, and although I did not personally have any bad interactions with parents, seeing what was happening at the district level made me feel like if something [did happen], I’d be on my own.”
Also in Cobb CountyCobb’s election board halts meeting after an attendee yells ‘heil Hitler’
The Cobb County Board of Elections stops a meeting after an attendee shouts "heil Hitler" from the crowd. No one owned up to it and a Jewish board member flipped a lid and refused to attend any meetings if anti-Semitic or any hate speech was allowed.
I had the link emailed to myself but my PC won't let me access it. My security software says it contains phishing. This is a story from a local news outlet in Georgia.
Another one from Cobb County
The League of Women Voters of Marietta-Cobb has invited candidates in three contested Cobb Board of Education general election races to a forum.
https://eastcobbnews.com/tag/cobb-sch...
The three races are Post 1 in North Cobb, Post 5 in East Cobb and Post 7 in West Cobb. Republicans hold all three seats, and there are Democrats entered in each one.
The Post 5 seat, which includes the Walton, Pope and some of the Wheeler attendance zones, is open. Four-term Republican David Banks is retiring, and his successor will be one of two newcomers.
GOP hopeful John Cristadoro and Democrat Laura Judge, parents in the Walton area, both announced their candidacies more than a year ago.
Post 1 Republican incumbent Randy Scamihorn is facing Democrat Vickie Benson in a rematch from the 2020 election, and in Post 7, two-term GOP member Brad Wheeler is being opposed by Democrat Andrew Cole, a first-time candidate.
The term in Post 3 in South Cobb also expires at the end of the year, but first-term Democrat Tre’ Hutchins did not draw any opposition in either party.
School board races this year have drawn increased attention. Republicans hold a 4-3 edge, and partisan squabbling has been a regular feature at meetings in recent years. Democrats hold the majority on the Cobb Board of Commissioners and the county’s legislative delegation in what had been a GOP stronghold.
The Post 5 and 7 races were close four years ago, as Banks and Wheeler were narrowly re-elected.
But the Post 5 lines have been changed since then due to reapportionment, to include most areas south of Sandy Plains and Shallowford Road and north of Lower Roswell Road.
.
In Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the lone Democrat on the school committee who voted for the book ban bill was defeated in her quest for reelection. Newcomer, Angeliz Rosa, an educator who supports social emotional learning has been elected.
Mod
If You Give a Mouse a CookieIf You Give a Mouse a Cookie adopted by right wingers as a cautionary tale about everything from wel..."
Honestly, these MORONS make me want to scream, but perhaps one of the problems is also that we (including the media) give these brainless dolts (and I include politicians like Ron DeSantis et al here) way too much attention.
GREAT news from Florida today!In summary, the lawsuit was WON!
Florida school district must restore books with LGBTQ+ content under settlement
“Students will once again have access to books from well-known and highly-lauded authors representing a broad range of viewpoints and ideas,” Lauren Zimmerman, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, said in a statement.
https://apnews.com/article/florida-ba...
'A watershed moment’: More than 30 books returning to school shelves after Florida school district reaches settlement
https://www.wctv.tv/2024/09/12/waters...
A school district in northeast Florida must put back in libraries three dozen books as part of a settlement reached Thursday with students and parents who sued over what they said was an unlawful decision to limit access to dozens of titles containing LGBTQ+ content.
Under the agreement the School Board of Nassau County must restore access to three dozen titles including “And Tango Makes Three."
Nassau County officials said they removed “And Tango Makes Three” and two other books last year because of a lack of circulation, according to the settlement. District officials said they removed 33 other books because of alleged “obscene” material that would violate state law.
But the lawsuit contended “And Tango Makes Three” was removed because of anti-LGBTQ bias, and the settlement includes a statement that district officials “agree that And Tango Makes Three contains no ‘obscene’ material in violation of the obscenity statute, is appropriate for students of all ages, and has pedagogical value.”
The settlement lists 22 other books that are slated to be returned to libraries by Friday. Examples include “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison and “The Clan of the Cave Bear” by Jean Auel.
The law firm Selendy Gay PLLC, which represents “And Tango Makes Three” authors Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and the parents, issued a news release Thursday that described the settlement as “major.”
“This settlement — a watershed moment in the ongoing battle against book censorship in the United States — significantly restores access to important works that were unlawfully removed from the shelves of Nassau County, Florida’s public school libraries,” Lauren Zimmerman, one of the firm’s attorneys, said in a prepared statement. “Students will once again have access to books from well-known and highly-lauded authors representing a broad range of viewpoints and ideas.”
EveryLibrary's summay:
The Nassau School Board can no longer remove books without public input–a violation of Sunshine Laws–and all of the books pulled from the district will be put back. The Board can no longer remove books with which they disagree with the viewpoint or which have been highlighted by special interest groups such as Citizens Defending Freedom without following their own processes.
“Would-be censors, such as CDF, who seek to force their will on others by denying access to viewpoints with which they disagree, are not entitled to decide what books our children may read in public school libraries,” said Faith E. Gay of Selendy Gay. “While we have secured a victory today, the fight is far from over. With numerous book banning cases percolating in the courts, we look forward to continuing to protect the First Amendment rights of students, parents, and authors throughout the United States.”
Perhaps the most significant part of the settlement, however, is that the Nassau School Board acknowledged that their decision to remove And Tango Makes Three had no basis. They agreed that the book had value and purpose, that it was not obscene, and that it was appropriate for students of all ages.
This settlement—a watershed moment in the ongoing battle against book censorship in the United States—significantly restores access to important works that were unlawfully removed from the shelves of Nassau County, Florida’s public school libraries,” said Lauren Zimmerman of Selendy Gay. “Students will once again have access to books from well-known and highly-lauded authors representing a broad range of viewpoints and ideas.”
All 36 books will be returned to shelves in Nassau County Schools by September 13, 2024, just one day after the settlement. In addition to And Tango Makes Three, 22 books being returned without restriction include:
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes (removed under “lack of circulation”)
Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher (removed under “lack of circulation”)
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin
Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda by Jean-Philippe Stassen
Drama by Raina Telgemeier
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Ericka Sánchez
Identical by Ellen Hopkins
If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
Real Live Boyfriends by E. Lockhart
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel
The Haters by Jesse Andrews
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki
Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, a title challenged in the district, will also be restored on shelves without restriction.
Twelve additional books will be returned to shelves in the district. They will be freely accessible to those 18 and older, while those under the age of 18 will need parental permission to access them. Those titles are:
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Lucky by Alice Sebold
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Banned Wagon tour coming to hand out free banned books. If you live in an area affected by book banning, stop buy and pick up a book to pop in a Little Free Library.https://sites.prh.com/banned-books-menu
Children's Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Out of the Blue (other topics)The Princess in Black and the Prince in Pink (other topics)
My Rainbow (other topics)
Butt or Face? Volume 3: Super Gross Butts (other topics)
The Day the Books Disappeared (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Jodi Picoult (other topics)Sarah J. Maas (other topics)
Ellen Hopkins (other topics)
Jodi Picoult (other topics)
Scott Stuart (other topics)
More...
‘Indoctrination’: Colorado Parents Outraged by Elementary School LGBTQ History Standards Launching This Fall
https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/08/2......"
Well the censors may get their way after all.
Colorado school district considers banning classroom libraries
The Elizabeth School District is moving forward with plans to require teachers to remove books with "sensitive content" from classroom libraries.
https://www.9news.com/article/news/ed...
On Aug. 12, the school board announced 19 books would be pulled from school library shelves and about a 100 more titles would be placed on a "sensitive content" book list. The list of sensitive books is broad, including religious views, drug use, profanity, LGBTQ+ content, s-x and violence.
Those books will be flagged in the school library system and parents will be notified when their children check them out. Parents can also opt-in to have their child prohibited from checking out any of the sensitive titles.
School board members decided the policy did not go far enough to regulate the content. Monday night, the district decided to review each classroom library and require teachers to remove books with "sensitive content."
"You elected us on these values to keep your majority rules in mind in this community, and that is what we're going to do," Elizabeth School Board Vice President Heather Booth said at Monday's meeting.
The district eventually plans to provide approved titles for classroom libraries or have classroom libraries removed altogether.
"If you want your kids to have access to materials, you can go to Amazon," Elizabeth School Board President Rhonda Olsen said. "You can go to the thrift store. Go down to the public library and get it for your child. We are an educational institution. We are not a public library."