A Texas Superintendent can be heard on a recording telling district librarians to pull books related to sexuality and transgender topics for review.
In a recording of a January meeting obtained by NBC News, ProPublica and the Texas Tribune, Granbury ISD Superintendent Jeremy Glenn can be heard telling district librarians to pull books for review at the request of parents and trustees.
“Let’s call it what it is, and I'm cutting to the chase on this, it's the transgender, LGBTQ and the sex - sexuality in books. That's what the governor has said he will prosecute people for, and that's what we're pulling out,” he said at one point during the closed-door meeting.
Over the next couple of weeks, librarians set aside about 130 books. According to a ProPublica and Texas Tribune analysis, about three-quarters of those involved LGBTQ characters or themes.
The district released a statement Wednesday:
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First and foremost, in Granbury ISD all students are important. We serve students from diverse backgrounds, and regardless of their environment or circumstances all of our children are valued, supported, and cared for by an exemplary staff. In Granbury and across Texas we are seeing parents push back and demand elected officials put safeguards in place to protect their children from materials that are vulgar, sexually explicit, and serve no academic purpose.
The district is aware of comments made by the superintendent in an effort to comply with Governor Abbott’s request that pornographic and sexually explicit books be reviewed and possibly removed from public school libraries. Upon receipt of letters from Representative Krause and Governor Abbott, the district identified books that were listed and part of the library collections on multiple campuses. The district formed a review committee in accordance with district policy. This independent review committee was made up of educators and community members from diverse backgrounds. The superintendent did not participate in the review process.
Ultimately, the review committee determined that eight books were sexually explicit and not age-appropriate. Two of the eight books did have LGBTQ+ themes, however all of the books that were removed had sexually explicit and/or pervasively vulgar content. Granbury ISD libraries continue to house a socially and culturally diverse collection of books for students to read including books which analyze and explore LGBTQ+ issues. Granbury ISD provides the appropriate venue, via Board Policy EF (Local), for individuals to challenge literary and instructional resources in a manner consistent with protecting students' First Amendment rights.
Granbury ISD will continue to work with parents in order to put the needs of our children first. Our administration, and staff will continue to prioritize literacy, which includes opportunities for students to grow as readers. The District is committed to ensuring appropriate materials are available for student choice reading. More importantly, GISD is committed to providing all students and staff with a secure learning environment which exhibits tolerance and equality. The selection and review of library materials is an ongoing process. GISD will continue to follow its policies on instructional materials selection to keep our libraries current. Like all school districts the values of our community will always be reflected in our schools; however our primary obligation remains to focus on the academic growth and development of our students.
Granbury’s challenge to books is just the latest in a nationwide movement being closely followed by the American Library Association and librarians like professors in the University of North Texas’s Library Science Department.
“I think my reaction to this particular case is concern for the larger community of this particular area or any area where this starts to happen because if we take all the books out that someone in a community disagrees with, there will be no books left, essentially,” said assistant professor of children's and young adult librarianship Sarah Evans.
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Evans, and her colleague associate professor Jennifer Moore, said in schools, librarians follow a rigorous process for selecting books, including an obscenity test laid out by the U.S. Supreme Court in Miller v. California.
“Libraries are supposed to meet the needs of all of their users. And we know that the patrons, the users, we're all different, right? We have different interests; we have different experiences. And the thing is, not all books appeal to all readers. And that's okay, totally, but it's within the purview of a parent or guardian to decide what's appropriate for their child to read,” said Moore. “It's very important for parents to engage with their own children to talk about their values and what they want their children to read and what they don't want their children to read, but they can't mandate what other youth can read or have access to.”
You can read more about this story from NBC News by clicking here.
