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A Texas school district is removing 41 books from library shelves while administrators perform a review using content guidelines that will be approved by their board of trustees.
Included in the list of books that officials from the Keller Independent School District are asking to be removed from library shelves are Anne Frank’s Diary (The Graphic Adaptation), The Bible and “All Boys Aren’t Blue.”
A spokesperson for Keller ISD told Acesparks Digital that campus staff and librarians are being asked to review books that were challenged in the st year to determine if they meet the requirements of newly approved policies from the board of trustees.
“Keller ISD’s Board of Trustees approved policies EFA (Local) and EFB (Local) at its August 8, 2022, Special Meeting. These policies relate to the acquisition and review of instructional materials and library books. Right now, Keller ISD’s administration is asking our campus staff and librarians to review books that were challenged last year to determine if they meet the requirements of the new policy,” the spokesperson said. “All of the books included in Tuesday’s email have been included on Keller ISD’s Book Challenge list over the past year.”
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Books that are deemed in compliance with the new policies “will be returned to the libraries as soon as it is confirmed they comply with the new policy,” the spokesperson continued.
Members of the community, rents and employees can challenge a book or instructional resource used in the Keller ISD educational program. Previously, a committee considered the challenges and determined if the books were “educationally suitable or pervasively vulgar.”
According to the district website, the book Gender Queer is no longer in circulation on its campuses. After “All Boys Aren’t Blue” was challenged in November 2021, a district committee determined that it would remain “in high school libraries and in classroom libraries at the high school level.”
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Charles Randklev, president of the Keller ISD Board of Trustees, responded to claims on social media that the district is banning books such as the Bible and Anne Frank, stating they are “false.”
“The district will be reviewing those books per updated policy using content guidelines pending board approval,” Randklev said. “For those who are unaware or need a reminder, the Board approved new policies on instructional materials (EFA and EFB local) to protect kids from sexually-explicit content, which has found its way into our schools.”
He said that the Texas Education Agency required the school district to approve content-based policies regarding library content. The new policy instructs school officials to reevaluate instructional materials that were previously challenged by community members, Randklev said.
Randklev added that books such as “Gender Queer” and “All Boys Aren’t Blue” are “replete with graphic, gratuitous, sexually-explicit content … and have no place in the hands of children.”
The book “Gender Queer” includes graphic pictures of sexual acts that take place between a boy and a man, and has been a subject of concern from many rents across the country.
