A mother in the Keller Independent School District says she's upset with the district's book policy, saying it's causing elementary school librarians to remove certain books such as the seventh book in the Harry Potter series.
Over the past two years, books have been a major topic of discussion in Keller ISD. Last year the district banned books on 'gender fluidity' amongst a list of topics that resulted in books being removed from schools.
The board approved new policies last fall with guidelines for educators and librarians in the district to follow. It includes making sure books are age or grade-level appropriate.
Laney Hawes, a mother of four in the district, has been vocal about the topic. She said she's concerned about recent books that have been removed from her son's elementary school library, not because of content alone, but rather age recommendation.
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"It is simply based on its grade or reading level. It doesn't even matter what's inside the book, it could be the most simple benign book in the world, but if it's reviewed for say, 13 years old, it can no longer be in my child's library and I'm angry," said Hawes.
The policy, which is posted on the district's website, has a chart that shows recommended ages, grade span and content access levels.
“I have a fourth grader who's reading at a sixth, seventh, potentially even eighth-grade reading level, and now, we have this policy that's come down that says, well, those books can't actually be in his school anymore," said Hawes.
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She said she learned through educators in the district that books like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 were being removed from elementary libraries based on their age recommendation.
"Harry Potter book seven is apparently reviewed for ages older than fourth grade and because of that, it can't be in the elementary schools anymore," said Hawes based on information she said she received from educators in the district.
In a statement Keller ISD said:
District policy requires that we twice annually review and confirm that books in our libraries align with grade-level recommendations from professional reviews. If more than 50% of the reviews are for a grade level that the campus does not serve, the book will be relocated to the next campus level. The majority of professional reviews for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows rate it for sixth grade and up, while Keller ISD’s elementary schools go to either fourth or fifth grade. Books in the Twilight series are rated for seventh grade and above, so they would continue to be available in our middle school libraries.
This review process is ongoing, so no books have been moved at this time. However, in the event that a book is ever moved to a higher grade level, students at any grade level can still request to check out available copies of the book via an interlibrary loan, with their parent or guardian’s permission.
Hawes said she reached out to the district and heard back from an administrator earlier this month. Hawes said was given a similar explanation and was told that professional reviews for that Harry Potter book are for grades six and up. At the time, she was told librarians had not removed any books because they had until the end of the school year to complete the review process. Hawes and her family could still have access to the book, they would just have to take an extra step.
"I reached out to the district and said I have a child who is an advanced reader and I want him to be able to check out Harry Potter number seven if he gets through one through six. And she said, 'Well, the way that it's working is you still can, you just have to request it be shipped from another library," explained Hawes.
She said that defeats the purpose of her son picking out a book for himself.
"What's frustrating about that is it takes away the magic of the library. Like the library is this magical place full of endless possibilities," explained Hawes. "If a child doesn't know that this book is available at another library, how is he going to ask? How's my son going to ask for the book he doesn't know exists? He can't, unless I specifically asked."
She said she agrees that illicit material should not be allowed, but expressed her concerns that a broad policy may have unintended consequences for books that have nothing to do with such topics.
On the district's website, there is a frequently asked questions page regarding books, policies and challenging books.
Parents are allowed to challenge books per the district's policy. If a book is removed due to a challenge, it will not be eligible for consideration to be added again for at least 10 years, according to the district website.
