When parents stumble across an inappropriate library book their child has brought home from the Grand Haven Area Public School libraries, they usually assume it was an oversight. After all, parents understand that the schools are ordering large quantities of books and do not have the time to read them all. What typically happens after the discovery is the parent sends an email to a school teacher, librarian or administrator notifying them of the inappropriate book, and a meeting is then scheduled between the parent and a school representative. During the meeting, the GHAPS representative will thank the parent for their concern, assure the parent that their concerns are understood, and assure the parent that their concerns are valid. The parent leaves assuming that the matter has been taken care of.
In some cases, however, parents schedule follow-up meetings with school administrators. During the follow-up meetings, when administrators do not make changes (which is typical), parents are told the school orders diverse books so they can serve all types of students. This is an odd response, because typically parents are not there to protest their students reading diverse books. Rather parent concerns typically center around their children being exposed to content that is not age appropriate, or parents are concerned that their children are being presented only one side of a controversial topic; usually being persuaded to a view that is different from the parent. During the follow-up meetings, school administrators neglect to address the fact that the books have inappropriate scenes, and instead try to make the parent feel guilty for being opposed to books with diverse characters. Again, this is odd because parents are not opposed to books with diverse characters.
School officials will then make the argument that they follow reviews of experts and don’t believe the book is inappropriate. After all, parents don’t hold teaching credentials? Experts know better than parents!
Parents leave feeling confused. Who is ordering these books and who is selecting these books? Are the librarians just going with the national flow and ordering books for GHAPS from lists used by schools nationwide? If these national book reviewers are pushing books that are inappropriate for children what can GHAPS do about it?
Well, it turns out that our local librarians in conjunction with local administrators are equally responsible for these inappropriate books in the GHAPS school libraries. Librarians decide what to order and orders are approved by administrators. The truth is that these librarians and administrators are working diligently to ensure the libraries are stocked with diverse books. They are in charge of ordering books for GHAPS, and they are working to fill the libraries with books that celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion and push beliefs such as you should be an antiracist, breast binding is normal, there are many genders and children get to select and change their gender, teen drinking is normal, and teen sex is normal. Unfortunately, many of the books in the school libraries are not age appropriate, should be rated and require parental permission before children have access to these books.
Surprisingly, it is the goal of several GHAPS librarians and administrators to influence GHAPS students and the Grand Haven Community to adopt their beliefs on these controversial topics. They do not believe that both sides of controversial issues should be presented, rather, they believe they are superior and that their views are the correct views. Here are some emails which demonstrate their thinking.
White Pines and Lakeshore Middle School librarian Sarah McElrath states that Dr. Seuss is perpetuating racist stereotypes and that she must provide books that provide inclusive messages.
Elementary School librarian Tom Stream is much more direct with his thoughts in this email below.
Tom outright says he is making an effort to order books featuring “non-traditional families” as he believes in this ideology and believes this is the directive from the district. While most parents do not have an issue with children reading books about characters who are different from themselves, they do take issue with books that contain age inappropriate material as well as books that teach only one side of a controversial issue.
This final email is from the Director of Instructional Services, Mary Jane Evink, and explains her reaction after she and other librarians have been caught pushing transgender books onto elementary students.
Her email does not state that she is opposed to pushing transgender books onto elementary students. It does not discuss age appropriateness of the topic of transgender, nor does it state they should be presenting both sides of controversial issues. Rather, it states that she doesn’t want the “community to scrutinize the book selection”. Her email is quite telling. Scrutinizing the book selection is exactly what the community must do.
One or two parents are not enough. It is only when we come together as a community that we will be heard. The following email was sent, not because the administrator doesn’t believe in the books being ordered, but because finally a large number of voices have been heard which spoke in opposition to the books that have been ordered. She is concerned with the public outcry. Not with the potential harm these books may cause to young people.
In reality, these parents are not at all opposed to books with diverse characters, they are opposed to their children being exposed to mature content and being indoctrinated to believe one side of a controversial issue which does not match their belief system. The public needs to know that there are many teachers opposed to these policies working to protect our children, but they must also be aware of the true intentions of certain school administrators and must stand up in opposition.