7 books have been removed from Elmbrook school libraries amid an organized effort to ban books across Wisconsin
Months after the implementation of a new Elmbrook School District library policy, seven books have been removed from circulation.
The policy, last amended in February, makes checking out certain books harder and mandates that all student checkout data be sent to their parents. The seven books were banned as the district found they did not meet the policy’s new content and privacy standards.
Each of the seven books was also included on a now-public list that is nearly identical to one created, in part, by a Wisconsin GOP legislator and parents from outside the Elmbrook district as part of a coordinated effort to remove certain books from public libraries.
The list comprises 45 books, primarily those that feature any sexual content or the inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters or topics. Each of the seven books that has been removed from Elmbrook School District libraries fits those criteria.
The list was given to Jesse James, a Republican member of the Wisconsin State Assembly representing the 68th Assembly District. Since James received the list from his constituents, other parents across Wisconsin have used similar lists to try to get the books removed from their school districts.
In December 2021, a nearly identical version of the list started to gain attention in Elmbrook, as a handful of parents began to call on the district to remove the books. Then-school board member Glen Allgaier was contacted about the list, and by January of this year, the list was being reviewed by the district.
The review found that the Elmbrook district possessed 28 of the 45 books on the list. Of the 28 books, nine were made more restricted under the district's policy and seven were removed.
The seven books removed were “Embrace,” by Jessica Shirvington; “Perfect,” by Ellen Hopkins; “Queer: The Ultimate LGBTQ Guide,” by Kathy Belge and Marke Biesche; “The Infinite Moment of Us” and “TTYL” by Lauren Myracle; “Traffick: The Sequel To Tricks,” by Ellen Hopkins; and “This Book is Gay,” by Juno Dawson.
When asked why the books were removed, the Elmbrook School District declined to comment.
WILL pursued a similar effort in 2021
This is not the first time that an organized effort has been successful in removing books from the district.
In July 2021, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, a nonprofit conservative law firm, sent a letter to the Elmbrook School District on behalf of parents calling for the removal of three books that contained sexual content.
Two of the books, “Queer: The Ultimate LGBTQ Guide” and “This Book is Gay,” were also included on the list of 45 books to be removed and among the seven that were banned.
The last book, "Things Tom Likes: A Book About Sexuality And Masturbation For Boys And Young Men With Autism And Related Conditions," by Kate Reynolds, was removed separately.
Beyond calling for the books to be removed, the letter demanded that Elmbrook identify all sexually explicit books in the library, provide new training for staff and issue an apology from Superintendent Mark Hansen.
“The fact that Elmbrook has apparently made these materials directly available to children without parental notification and a reasonable opportunity for parental control violates state law and parents’ constitutional rights,” the letter said.
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What is the Elmbrook School District's new library policy?
Another demand in the WILL letter was that parents be given information on what materials students are downloading or viewing from Elmbrook sites. While this demand was not implemented in the district, a similar change was made in the district's recent practice statement 6361.1.
The district library now tracks and sends each student's library check-out data to their parents. Some parents, who felt the policy was hastily passed, are questioning the convoluted library policy that also makes checking out certain books harder.
“It just felt like they did all of this quietly without asking anyone and that's when I really found out how much power a school board has,” said Nancy Santiesteban, a former librarian and mother of two children in the Elmbrook School District.
Santiesteban said that she understands why parents would want to be aware of the content that their kids are consuming, but she feels the policy might put LGBTQ+ students who don’t feel comfortable discussing those topics with their parents in a compromising situation.
“I would say that if someone doesn’t feel comfortable talking about things at home, this policy is going to make them think twice about checking a book out because somebody is always looking over their shoulder,” said Santiesteban.
The library policy does not explicitly prevent any student from reading any book. However, according to the policy, each book must be evaluated by how age appropriate it is, and based on that evaluation it is assigned a minimum age that a student must be to read the book.
In order to evaluate the books, the policy identified 11 independent book-reviewing sources, including the New York Times and Common Sense Media, which guide librarians and district officials. The district said that sometimes a book hasn’t been reviewed by any of the independent sources, and in that case, it is reviewed by “professional staff, members of administration, and/or utilizes personal examination.”
The complexities of the policy mean that if a student wants to read a book that is determined to be above their age they must go through a parent-involved process to do so.
Chris Thompson, chief strategy officer for Elmbrook School District, said since the policy was put in place, “about 30 to 50” book checkouts were not approved by the district.
Santiesteban said the increased politicization of the Elmbrook School District is frustrating as a parent because although she accepts that it is OK for parents to think differently, she feels it is a whole thing altogether to want to apply those beliefs to other people's children.
“I completely understand if you don’t want your kid reading a certain book, but don’t try and take books out of other kids' hands,” Santiesteban said.
Thompson argued that the policy is complex on purpose to try to ensure that politics are eliminated from the system and that instead kids are reading age-appropriate materials.
“There are districts that are a lot more conservative and there are districts that are a lot more hands off, we don’t want to get into that conversation … we just want to make sure our kids are reading the appropriate books,” Thompson said.
Beck Andrew Salgado can be reached at Bsalgado@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Beck_Salgado.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Elmbrook School District removes LGBTQ-themed books from library
