Rapid City school board to vote on destroying 5 book titles
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The Rapid City Area Schools Board of Education will vote Tuesday on whether or not to destroy five sets of library books, two of which have been challenged as being inappropriate in other school districts across the country.
The Board of Education meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. inside the Council Chambers at Rapid City Hall. The five book titles are listed on the school district's surplus list as books "to be destroyed." The surplus list will be considered under the board's consent agenda, which is normally voted on without discussion unless a board member requests the item to be pulled for separate discussion and vote.
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According to the surplus list, 185 copies of "How Beautiful We Were: A Novel" by Imbolo Mbue, 35 copies of "Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic" by Alison Bechdel, 75 copies of "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky, 30 copies of "Girl, Woman, Other: A Novel" by Bernardine Evaristo, and 30 copies of "The Circle" by Dave Eggers are on the list of books to be destroyed.
According to the book's description from publisher Penguin Random House, "How Beautiful We Were: A Novel" is about a "fearless young woman from a small African village (who) starts a revolution against an American oil company." The book tells a fictional story about an African village who deals with multiple deaths of the village's children caused by illegal operations of a nearby American oil company.
Though it does include some scenes of violence, kidnapping the oil company's representatives and enlightenment on corruption, the book explores themes of a government or corporation repressing underprivileged people and how those people fight back. The New York Times listed Mbue's novel as one of the "10 Best Books of 2021." It was also named to the best books lists of The Washington Post, Esquire, Good Housekeeping and The Christian Science Monitor, among others.
It is unclear if the book has been challenged by other school districts, or why it is suggested as being destroyed by Rapid City Area Schools.
RCAS Public Information Manager Caitlin Pierson said the books were pulled from the reading list for English 12 classes.
"The building administrators and the Director of Teaching, Learning, and Innovation agreed on this decision, based on the content of the books," she said in a brief statement. "Each year, some used books are either destroyed or sold on palettes."
Last Thursday, the Journal also sent an open records request to the school district seeking information and correspondence related to removing books from school libraries. Per state law, the deadline for the school district to respond is 10 days from the original request.
"Girl, Woman, Other: A Novel" was published in 2019 by Hamish Hamilton of the United Kingdom and Grove Atlantic in the United States. It is a fictional novel that follows 12 characters in the U.K. over several decades. The author, Evaristo, writes about the struggles of these very different characters — mostly Black women — and includes a lesbian character, a gender nonbinary character, a teacher, an investment banker and a cleaner.
The book has received numerous literary awards.
"The Circle" was published in 2013 by Knopf and was adapted to film in 2017 starring Tom Hanks and Emma Watson. It's a science fiction story of a woman who is hired to work for the world's most powerful internet company that develops technology to surveil society — akin to George Orwell's "1984." The novel does have scenes of multiple romances with sexual references.
The other two books on the surplus list have been subject to controversy at several school districts across the country.
"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" was published in 1999 by Pocket Books and was adapted into a film in 2012. The book's author, Chbosky, tells a coming-of-age story of a self-described introvert — or wallflower. It tells of a high school freshman dealing with adolescence and some of the issues that arise while growing up. It addresses drug use, sexuality, rape and mental health.
According to the American Library Association, "Wallflower" last made the 2014 list as one of the "Top 10 Most Challenged Books." It was also listed as one of the most challenged books in 2004, 2006, 2007-2009 and 2013. The ALA said it has been challenged because of its depiction of drugs, alcohol, smoking, homosexuality, offensive language and sexually explicit material.
"Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic," is an illustrated, comic book-styled memoir published in 2006 by Houghton Mifflin. The author, Bechdel, tells a story about her youth and childhood — including a complex relationship with her distant father, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts and her coming out as a lesbian.
The book was a finalist for the 2006 National Book Critics Circle Award and won multiple awards from LGBT groups like GLAAD, the Rainbow Round Table of the American Library Association and the Lambda Literary Award.
According to Marshall University, socially conservative groups across the nation have complained about Bechdel's book and have requested it be removed from several school and university libraries since it was first published. The groups cited depictions of drug use, graphic sexual violence and anti-religious sentiments as their main concerns.
In 2021, one group, the Power2Parent organization, successfully had the book removed from a Clark County, Nevada school's 10th grade honors English class reading list.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Rapid City school board to vote on destroying 5 book titles
