Brittany Kelley
KYLE — Parents are taking a larger role in their child’s reading material, following the passage of Senate Bill 13.
The bill, voted in by the 89th Texas Legislature, focuses on two aspects: a formal challenge process and parental access to their student’s library activity.
According to Emily Herrin, Hays CISD director of Curriculum & Instruction, a “challenge” is when parents can file a formal report to the school or district regarding a book they feel may not be appropriate for students. This has always been available for parents, said Herrin, but, now, it involves a higher oversight.
The director explained that, previously, if a parent felt that a book should be removed from the library, it would often involve a principal, the school librarian and the parent to determine a solution. This was a process close to the origin of the issue. However, the bill now requires all challenges to be brought forward to the district’s board of trustees.
After a written challenge is submitted, the book must be distributed to a committee within five days of receiving the document. Then, the committee has 90 days to make a recommendation to the board of trustees.
These committees consist of a district leader, a school librarian, staff members and community members, who work together to determine whether the book is suitable for the subject and grade level and adhere to library standards, which include having positive reviews by academic experts, supporting the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), encouraging the enjoyment of reading and representing ethic, religious and cultural groups throughout Texas and the world, said Herrin. Additionally, the committee must identify whether the book contains any of the newly-defined words in the bill, such as:
• Indecent content, which “means content that portrays sexual or excretory organs or activities in a way that is patently offensive.”
• Harmful material to minor, as defined in Section 43.24 of the Texas Penal Code, “means material whose dominant theme taken as a whole: (a) appeals to the prurient interest of a minor, in sex, nudity, or excretion; (b) is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable for minors; and (c) is utterly without redeeming social value for minors.”
• Profane content, meaning “content that includes grossly offensive language that is considered a public nuisance.”
This recommendation is made to the board, where it will determine whether or not to remove the book.
New to the process, other than the additional oversight, is also the requirement to remove the book from the shelves during the challenge process.
Herrin shared that this has been a concern for many librarians.
“The biggest concern right now in the library community is the removal of the book until we get to the committee because that used to not be the case. It used to be that the book stayed, we had enough copies to give everybody to read the book and then, the decision was made after that,” she said.
This process is not only concerning to Herrin, but to other parents, as many have taken to social media to share worries of historical, religious or social books being removed through challenges.
“I think that has been unsettling for a lot of people because it very could look as … we’re taking that one off the shelf and that has historical meaning or that has religious meaning. So, I think that’s something we’re still working to navigate, but that’s part of the process,” said Herrin. “That’s why, when we look through the books, we get committees of people together and say, ‘What of this violates the law? Is this obscene? Is this appropriate?’”
She did share, however, that there is a difference between instructional materials and library materials. This being that instructional materials that may encourage civil discourse may be appropriate in a classroom, but not be allowed in a library, as the key difference is the student has “the selection of choice when we’re talking about that book … So, the conversation about [whether] that is relevant to our community” needs to be discussed with a committee.
The director stated that the formal process has significantly increased the amount of challenges received, with more than 150 to read, recommend and bring to the trustees. Though, because the process is arduous, no challenged books have yet been brought to the board.
Although the board has not made decisions on these books, it has been approving additional materials for the library. Herrin stated that the bill states that any new books the libraries wish to acquire must receive board approval. These books are determined by the previously-mentioned library standards and are a collaborative process by district librarians. Most recently, several new titles were adopted at the October board meeting.
Once these new books are adopted and purchased, they will be added to the online catalogue, where parents can browse and, now, determine whether they want their child to read the book.
The bill notes that parents already have access to several of their children’s records, such as attendance records, test scores, grades, disciplinary records and more, but now includes “records relating to school library materials the child obtains from a school library.”
This means that parents now can enter a portal that allows them to decide whether their child can check out a specific book by ticking a box that would alert a school librarian that the child must select a different reading material. These selections, said Herrin, follow the student throughout their academic career, until the parent alters the selection.
With this new portal are obstacles that the district is facing, said Herrin. Parents can currently browse all titles available at their school library, but the system is not able to determine which books are being challenged and, therefore, no longer available to check out.
Chief communication officer Tim Savoy stated that this has caused confusion amongst people, including several who spoke at the Nov. 18 meeting, since it still lists books that are no longer on shelves. Both Hays CISD staff members noted that the district is working to update the online catalogue to reflect an accurate depiction of library titles, while adding the challenged books to a separate document, which parents can also access.
Despite this, Herrin noted that she is an advocate of the portal, but also shared that challenged books could instead provide an opportunity for parents to educate their children.
One of the books, for example, is “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder,” said the director, which has been heavily circulated through the high schools. Upon researching it, Herrin discovered that it has been adapted into a popular Netflix show, which is most likely why students are picking up the book.
“It begs the other question of, ‘Why is that book popular?’ It’s popular because of the video component that comes along with it. Where are these kids accessing inappropriate materials? They’re accessing it on their phones; they’re accessing it watching Netflix or Hulu or wherever they have access to online stuff,” she said. “Some things are better conversations with an adult, so that they can help kids understand what is actually going on, [but] not everybody has conversations like that at home. I also have to fully recognize that.”
Another example the librarian provided was Junie B. Jones, which was challenged, due to the title character failing to find suitable solutions to her circumstances and calling others "stupid": “That’s a great opportunity for a parent to say, ‘Is that really how we should solve that [issue]?”
These conversations can also be had with a librarian, said Herrin, as she stated that she encourages parents to bring concerns to them, as the book may contain materials that they personally disagree with, that can be solved by restricting access to the child, rather than challenging.
“We have a very large community and we’re growing. We want to support parents and their child’s education and we want to partner together to make sure that we’re making the best choices for kids … It’s absolutely a balance and that’s where I really am a proponent of, if parents have strong feelings about certain books for their kids, I’m thankful for the portal. I’m glad that parents have an opportunity to go and say, ‘You know what? I don’t want my child to check that book out,’” emphasized Herrin. “That’s the beauty of living in this country. We can both agree to disagree and that’s okay. What’s okay for one person and family might not be okay for another and now we have a way in our library catalog for parents to be able to [exercise that].”
To read Hays CISD library policies, visit bit.ly/48m94Zz, under Section E — Instruction, or to learn more about the libraries, online resources and challenges, visit bit.ly/4oHuhSG.
