The Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, school board is considering a new policy on book challenges developed by the system’s 11 school librarians. The proposed rules would require parents to fill out a form detailing their objections. Librarians and school principals would initially respond, with appeals referred to a special committee and finally—if necessary—to the school superintendent.
Complaints are currently sent to the superintendent after initial review, a procedure that was followed in 2000 when Superintendent Jim Hoyle removed Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, as well as the movie based on the book, from school libraries after parents complained that they contained “some objectionable words.”
Some on the board feared that the new policy would favor librarians’ authority over parental control. “What it boils down to is parental involvement,” school board member Anthony Duplessis said in the August 15 New Orleans Times-Picayune. “I think only a parent knows what that kid can handle and can’t,” he said.
Secondary Curriculum Director Carol Roberts said the librarians intended the policy to prohibit discrimination against students using resources, not to usurp parental authority. “We hire qualified librarians who have been trained, who love reading, and who love kids,” she said. “I trust their judgment that they are going to purchase books that are good for kids.”
There have been no challenges in the district in the past two years. A vote on the policy is scheduled for the board’s next meeting in September.
Posted August 26, 2002.