When parent concerns are ignored, problems fester and grow
Over the years, there have been a few books questioned for appropriateness in the Grand Haven Public School Libraries that were brought to the attention of the superintendent. In most cases the concerns and resolutions were similar. A parent questioned a book. A school official met with the parent. The parent was never heard from again. The book remained available to students.
Here are some specific examples of titles questioned for appropriateness at White Pines.
· The book One Man Guy was questioned in 2018. Because it featured graphic sexual scenes. It was moved to the Lakeshore Middle School library. Many concerned parents feel this book is not appropriate for any school library, yet it remains available to children 12 years old.
· The book This One Summer was questioned by a parent. The parent was sent reviews of the book and told it was appropriate for the school library. If she still believed it was inappropriate, she was told she could fill out some paperwork and ask for reconsideration. The parent was never heard from again regarding this book.
· The book My Darling was questioned by a parent approximately 20 years ago. The librarian, Sarah McElrath, read the book, provided reviews from the professionals and her opinion to the parent. The parent was never heard from again.
· The book There’s A Hair in My Dirt by Gary Larson was questioned. Mary Jane Evink gave Kevin Polston reviews and never heard anything more from the person who questioned the book.
· The book Hey Kiddo was questioned. Mary Jane Evink shared reviews from the credentialed reviewers and never heard back.
In each of these cases parents complained, school officials referred to credentialed experts, and parental concerns were dismissed. In every case the parent gave up. After all, how is one lone parent supposed to take on an entire establishment of credentialed experts?
These parents were some of the first to notice the creep of inappropriate library books into GHAPS school libraries. They raised the alarm only to be effectively silenced. Well, this problem has festered over the last 30 years and now it is out of control. There are over 300 books available to children in the GHAPS libraries that have been questioned by parents across the country.
This is quite a shocking coincidence, so the obvious questions are how and why are these books getting into school libraries? Although there are theories based on political motives, the why is a difficult question to answer. The how is clear.
School librarians order books for their school libraries. They take recommendations from students and teachers, but ultimately rely upon a few national organizations, comprised of professional reviewers, to rate and recommend books for school libraries. This process hasn’t changed much over the last thirty years with the exception of becoming more electronic. What has changed is the opinions and recommendations coming from the expert reviewers. Unfortunately, the school personnel have neglected to see the reduced quality of books available to children and the potential harmful effects of these books. The following paragraphs provide insight into the relied upon credentialed expert reviewers.
Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) Notable Children’s Books
The American Library Association (ALA) is a group of libraries that works together to develop, promote and improve libraries and library services. The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is simply the division that serves children. According to the ALSC strategic plan,
“They will become more diverse and inclusive, acting to promote these values in all aspects of library service to children. They will increase the intentional recruitment and retention of a diverse membership and reduce barriers to participation.”
The Association for Library Service to Children is focusing on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Instead of a meritocracy, they are working to hire a diverse staff. They focus on authors from underrepresented groups and are working to infuse these elements into all aspects of their books and resources.
Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)
YALSA is the young adult division of the American Library Association. Like the ALA and ALSC, YALSA has a similar mission of enhancing diversity, equity and inclusion.
Booklist
Booklist is another division of the American Library Association that helps librarians to find material for their libraries by offering reviews on many books.
Each year Booklist Online sponsors a multitude of awards given to books. Some of the more well-known awards sponsored by Booklist are Newberry and Cadelcott awards. In addition, Booklist also sponsors the following awards.
Asian/Pacific Award for American Literature, an award reserved for the promotion of Asian/Pacific American Culture.
The Rainbow List - “The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table and the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association are pleased to offer the 2021 Rainbow Project bibliography of recommended titles for youth from birth to age 18 that contain significant and authentic gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (GLBTQ) content.”
The Feminist Book Project - “Each year, the Rise: A Feminist Book Project (formerly the Amelia Bloomer Project), sponsored by the Feminist Task Force of the Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT) of ALA, selects a list of recommended feminist books, fiction and nonfiction, for young readers from preschool through age 18.”
The Stonewell Book Award - “The Stonewall Book Awards are sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Round Table (GLBTRT).”
The Purpa Belpre - an award for Latinos.
Booklist also offers Webinars free of charge for librarians and citizens. Hidden among topics such as Winter Library Preview and Phenomenal Picture Books, are webinars entitled How One School Leveled Up Their Library with Federal Funding, Dream Big: Secure ESSER Funding for Your School Library, and Anti-Racist Education: Building Your Inclusive Collection & Curriculum.
Although there are certainly good books within these recommendations, some of their motives and missions seem divisive. ALA, ALSC, YALSA and Booklist are all related organizations that schools across the country including GHAPS, rely upon as trusted sources of recommended books for our children.
School Library Journal
School Library Journal is another trusted source for book recommendations for our children. School Library Journal makes distributing LGBTQ books to schools one of their missions. Again, a book featuring an LGBTQ character is not a reason to place it on a questionable list, but a having a mission of pushing LGBTQ books onto children is a mission many parents may take issue with. Parents may prefer books provided teach positive moral values and supply children with tools they need to be successful in their future.
Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews - is another source trusted by schools around the country. Many of their books incorporate the principals of Critical Race Theory. “With Kirkus’ diversity collections for young readers, the groupings go beyond race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or disability to consider the desired reading “experience.” This consideration of experience—categorized as learning, identification, or inclusion—is integral to the effectiveness of Kirkus Collections’ recommendations, as it addresses the demand for contextual information around diversity content.” “A book in Kirkus Collections that is designated Lived Experiences is the product of a creator with insider experience of the marginalized identities depicted, whether they have to do with race, ethnicity, religion, immigration status, sexuality, gender, disability, or more. – “
Brown Book Shelf
“The Brown Bookshelf is designed to push awareness of the myriad Black voices writing for young readers.”
The definition of inclusion is an act of taking in as part of a whole, whereas exclusion is a situation in which someone or something is prevented from entering a place or taking part in an activity. According to the statement on the Brown Book Shelf website they are practicing exclusion. If the authors it publishes and the books it publishes are exclusive, it is practicing racism. Why is GHAPS supporting exclusionary businesses when one of the goals of Grand Haven Area Public Schools is Inclusion?
We Need Diverse Books
We Need Diverse Books recommends many books featuring characters from a variety of backgrounds. When characteristics are related to certain groups of people, and those characteristics receive hyper-focus in the curriculum, and those characteristics are tied to power and privilege in society, then the curriculum is teaching prejudice. When children are introduced to concepts of Social Justice and White Saviors, the line into racism has been crossed. When that happens, the curriculum begins to teach racism. We Need Diverse Books Resources for Race, Equity, Anti-Racism and Inclusion partners with a number of organizations. Some of these organizations are racist. We Need Diverse Books is one of the Credentialed Reviewers Grand Haven Librarians rely upon for selecting library books.
Common Sense Media
“Common Sense Media rates movies, TV shows, books, and more so parents can feel good about the entertainment choices they make for their kids. We offer the largest, most trusted library of independent age-based ratings and reviews.”
This sight seems like a it may be a promising place to reference ratings of children’s books.
The book Looking for Alaska, which is available to 12-year old children at the Lakeshore Middle School library in Grand Haven, is rated 16+ by Common Sense Media. Cemetery Boys, also available to 12-year old children at the Lakeshore Middle School library in Grand Haven, is rated 14+. Crank by Ellen Hopkins is rated 16+, Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda available at Lakeshore is rated 13+, and Speak available at Lakeshore, is rated age 14+.
Unfortunately, not all of the books parents in Grand Haven are concerned about are rated on this sight. In addition to ratings, Common Sense Media contains recommended reading lists which include Dr. Ibram X Kendi’s Picks: Anti-Racist Books for Kids, TV About Racism and Social Justice, and Books about racism and Social Justice.
Although some insight into book ratings could be gleaned from Common Sense Media, it may not be the best source as it contains questionable book list recommendations.
Selecting and rating books is a tricky subject, but Grand Haven Area Public Schools employs a variety of highly qualified educators that are capable of participating in a rating effort. In addition, there are many community members with diverse viewpoints willing to participate in an effort to enhance our school libraries. Our school libraries have been corrupted by national organizations pushing agendas onto our community. When school administrators ignore the concerns of parents, the issue only festers until more parents become aware. The issues have been growing over the course of many years and parent concerns will no longer be ignored.
Parents and community members understand that our librarians have a difficult time reviewing the large quantity of books available in the libraries. When parent concerns are ignored, parent concerns increase. In that case, librarians, teachers and administrators turn against the community concerns. Perhaps this is because of pride, or perhaps they really believe books with teen drinking and explicit sexual scenes are appropriate for children. Whatever the reason, not taking community concerns into account is a huge mistake. Parents don’t want to blame school personnel. They want to work with school officials to improve the libraries for all of the community children. Together we can reform GHAPS libraries to better serve our children.