76 books removed from library shelves – School board discusses cutting funds for high school book purchases

BY DAN HILDEBRAN

ClayCivic.com Publisher

The school district’s chief academic officer told school board members that the district has removed 76 books from school libraries because of challenges by parents and community members, and in reaction to legislation passed in Tallahassee.

Roger Daily told school board members during a June 20 workshop that out of the over 500 challenges to books the district has received, only 488 were completed and acted upon by the staff.

“Seventy-six of the district’s 183,000-plus titles have been removed, so that’s a very small fraction,” Daily said.

He also said that a single complainant had brought 94% of the 488 recent challenges.

The officer added that 132 titles remain under review and that his three-member team is not reviewing books over the summer.

Daily said that under the district’s new book review procedures, once a complaint is filed, the district’s supervisor of instructional resources will notify the challenge oversight committee within seven working days. The committee will then review the material and recommend immediately removing the book, returning the complainant’s request or referring the matter to the district’s curriculum council.

The chief added that the school board would be notified of each recommendation for challenged material and that the board has final authority over what items will remain or be removed from media centers.

Daily said the 488 books that were challenged had extremely low checkouts.

“Once in 10 years, twice in 10 years, five times the first year and nothing after that, that kind of thing,” he said of the challenged titles’ checkouts.

Daily said the district is installing new oversight procedures for purchasing new library books.

“We have developed new, additional procedures with multiple layers of scrutiny relative to future purchasing,” he said. “Bear in mind historically, there was no oversight to purchasing, none.”

Daily added that when he was a school principal, he had to get district approval to buy a computer monitor for the library. Yet, books were purchased for media centers without any approval process or review.

He said that now, for each new title contemplated, the media specialist, the school’s principal, and the district would review each proposed acquisition.

It’s an entire book of drugs

Daily also stressed that parents would completely control the books their students check out of media centers.

He said parents have three options regarding the books their children may check out:

-1- Take no action;

-2- Have an email sent to them each time their child checks out a book and

-3- Prohibit the district from checking out books to their children.

Daily said three parents, so far, have chosen Option 3.

Board member Michele Hanson, who represents the Lake Region, told her colleagues she objects to two books that are returning to library shelves after challenges.

She said one book makes continuous references to female anatomy and the second glorifies heroin use.

“It’s an entire book of drugs:” the former English teacher said, “how to use drugs, how to shoot them up, melt them, snort them, have sex on them. I mean, this girl spends the entire book talking about getting high and how to do it, including putting needles in your arms…This book is going back on the shelf.”

Cutting the book budget

Daily said that library circulation rates are high in elementary schools but drop off dramatically in the later grades.

“It diminishes tremendously, particularly once you get to high school,” he said of circulation rates, adding that his children have never checked out a book from their high school libraries. 

“That’s not because they don’t read,” he said. “It’s because they consume their literature in different formats, most of it digitally on their devices. I would say that’s true of most, and so the library for those age groups is really a place to print stuff on the computer.”

“I know that people of a certain vintage in here lament that, but that’s just how it is,” he said of low library usage. “I don’t see that returning.”

Daily also said he was concerned about the district’s ability to review future book purchases for high school media centers.

“We are expected to look at every single page of every single book,” he said.  “That’s being asked. We don’t have the capacity to do that.”

Board member Ashley Gilhousen questioned the fiscal responsibility of pouring thousands of dollars into library books when students don’t check them out.

Daily agreed, saying the money could be allocated to technology or the other ways students are now interfacing with literature.

“I think we need to look at purchasing for high school (libraries),” he said. “Could we take that money and spend it in a better way, in a more effective way, rather than buy things with taxpayer money that people are not using?”

“I would rather put that money in the classroom,” responded the board member.  “I would rather support teachers who have prescripted use for literature and instruction.”