By Ryan Yuenger
ryany@wsjm.com
The books are alright.
After a lengthy review process, St. Joseph Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Kristen Bawks informed the School Board that a special committee has decided that 13 formally-challenged books will stay on the shelves of the St. Joseph High School media center.
The committee – made up of administrators, teachers and district parents – found all titles “were suited to the wide range of interests reflecting the abilities and maturity levels of the students served,” according to Bawks.
“The committee examined and evaluated the materials as a whole, not on the basis of passages being pulled out of context,” Bawks said. “Criteria used for the evaluation and assessment were gleaned from the American Library Association (ALA) and the Michigan benchmarks for school libraries in the 21st century.”
The review process found that the books in question:
- Were of high quality and contain depth on important topics relevant to the lives of many high school students.
- Supported the diverse developmental, cultural, and social needs of high school readers and are appropriate for the age and maturity level of the majority of high school students for which the content is specifically designed.
- Are all optional reading material, not required as a part of the written curriculum.
Some changes, however, are coming in order to better inform parents of the titles available for their children, as well as additional labels for books.
“Our media center assistant has been spine labels that clearly communicate “young adult” and “adult” interest level to all the books in the high school media center,” said Bawks, adding that staff is working on a draft of a form to be sent to parents that they can sign at the beginning of a school year to restrict access to certain books for their children.
Superintendent Jenny Fee said she was pleased with the conclusion of the committee, which spent more than 120 hours reviewing the books.
“The decision allows our students to have access to books that are really important for their growth ad their development and preparation,” she said. “But, it also gives parents the means to limit their child’s access to materials they believe might conflict with their personal beliefs or their value systems.”
She went on to speak of the value of school libraries.
“The books in our collection are windows to the outside world,” Fee said. “They allow our kids to see things they can’t see without that book and to understand things in our greater world. At the same time, they are mirrors … although the books might be disagreeable, or they might be uncomfortable, those are important things for our kids to be able to navigate through if they need to.”
The board also thanked the complainant, district parent Valerie Gehrke.
“She truly was a partner in this,” Fee said. “Although she didn’t achieve the end result she wanted … she did raise awareness and she pushed us to look at some of our processes and procedures, and that’s really important. We can always do better, and she helped us do that.”
To read our previous coverage of this story, click here.
