In Polk County, FL, two committees will review 16 books that were pulled from school libraries of Polk County Public Schools. The committees will consist of educators, community members, parents, and students with parental permission.

Superintendent Frederick Heid made the decision to remove the books, and in a letter posted on the district website, he said he did so because of a claim that the books were a violation of two Florida statues.

According to the wfla.com report, “The two committees will each consist of a chief academic officer/curriculum specialist, two library/media specialists, two teachers, two parents, Florida Association for media in Florida, a NAACP member, an Equality Florida member, a Concerned Citizen of Polk member, a County Citizen Defending Freedom member, two student support service members – which are counselors, psychologists or social workers, a child psychology/child development specialist, two secondary students with parent approval and a facilitator.

“The committees will read and review eight books each. They will then consider a list of 11 items, including age and grade level appropriateness of the books, whether they result in a more compassionate understanding of human beings, and whether the work could be considered offensive. The books will be read one at a time then discussed in a public meeting. No public input will be allowed. The committee members will then vote by signature ballot on what should be done with the books.”

The process is expected to take approximately 13 weeks.

The 16 books that were removed are: Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines, It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris, Real Live Boyfriends by E. Lockhart, Melissa (formerly published as George) by Alex Gino, I am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, Drama by Raina Telgmeier, Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera, Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eyes by Toni Morrison, Tricks by Ellen Hopkins, and Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher.

Challenged books retained in Orange County, NC

After a weeks-long review, the Orange County (NC) School Board of Education voted unanimously to retain three high school library books that were labeled by some parents as “obscene and sexually explicit,” according to WTVD, ABC11.

The three books were Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison, and Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez. All have LGBTQ+ characters and themes. During the meeting, a board member read statements from some of the county’s LGBTQ+ students, according to WTVD.

"Seeing these books on the shelves makes me feel like there's a place for me. LGBT+ kids deserve to be seen," the board member read. "No one wants to feel alone and keeping these books will ultimately save lives."

State legislators step in

Governments in Tennessee, Indiana, and Georgia are taking local book challenges to the state legislative level. In Tennesee, Gov. Bill Lee used part of his annual state of the state address to confirm that his administration was backing legislation to “ensure parents know what materials are available to students in their libraries,” according to the Associated Press.

In Indiana, three bills were moved forward in the 2022 legislative session, according to wrtv.com. Among those bills were one that would ban teachers from using material that “causes students psychological distress,” which is targeting lessons that deal with racism and gender, and a bill that would make it easier for parents to remove books from the library as well as to open school employees up to criminal prosecution for “dissemination of material harmful to minors.”

In Georgia, a bill would make a universal state process for parents who claim materials are obscene to report them to school administrators, who would have 10 days to decide whether the material is harmful and should be removed, according to a Longview News-Journal article. The article also noted that Gov. Brian Kemp included “banning obscene items from schools” as one of his 2022 educational priorities.

Committees review All Boys Aren’t Blue in KS

Parents in Salina, KS, want All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson removed from school libraries, according to a report from KWCH.

The executive director of educational programs for the Salina school district said a committee of a principal, a librarian, teachers, and parents will look into the complaints, as is mandated by its review policy.

The district said challenges of academic materials are rare, and the school board decided it should let the current process play out, according to the KWCH article.

NC parents fight The Girl Who Fell From the Sky

Parents at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) in NC are objecting to The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow, which is required reading for ninth grade students, according to WCCB Charlotte.

In response, CMS released the following statement:

“The Girl Who Fell from the Sky was part of the district’s implementation of Spring Board English curriculum for grades 9-12 and is among novel options for high schools. It was read during first semester by English I students. Within the curriculum, the goal is to provide students with texts that portray the human experience across time periods and cultures. In the Spring of 2021, CMS provided all English I teachers and rising 9th grade students a list of four novel choices, which were suggested titles from our adopted curriculum, and which fit the culturally relevant request of our community. We received responses from 75 teachers and 753 students.

“The two novel options, The Girl Who Fell from the Sky and If You Come Softly, were selected in response to requests from students, teachers, and the community for culturally relevant texts in the English classroom. The selection process began with suggested titles from our adopted curriculum. Teachers and students across the district voted and provided feedback on the initial four titles, which resulted in the two options for schools. The book is an option that may be selected by schools in accordance with the curriculum. The final choice was made at the school level.

“CMS has a book objection process. This starts with a community member (parent, or student if in grades 9-12) notifying the principal and the principal reviewing the objection with the appropriate Board policy in mind.”