Willard parent calls for 'full audit' of school library for sexually explicit material

A prominent member of the Willard community recently addressed the school board, calling for a "full audit of the K-12 libraries" to weed out any inappropriate or sexually explicit content.

J.C. Loveland, former director of parks for the city of Willard, said a large advisory board of parents and school officials is needed to scour library books — there are roughly 50,000 — for the offensive passages using, among other things, a set of keyword phrases.

"Don't take the easy political way out of this situation. Stand up and be a leader for Willard," said Loveland, a parent and assistant vice president of a local bank. "You're not a leader for the rest of the world. We chose you to be a leader of this community for our morals, ethics and values."

A state law that went into effect Aug. 28, banning "explicit sexual material" in public and private schools, prompted the district in northwest Greene County to proactively launch an internal review of its library collection months ago.

School employees who violate the law face up to a year in jail.

Shane Dublin, assistant superintendent of academics, said librarians are leading the lengthy, ongoing process.

"They're currently in the middle of that," Dublin said Monday in a follow-up interview. "They've already (concluded) the sexually explicit image piece and to our knowledge there is nothing of that nature in our library. It would just be continuing to review books for other sexually explicit or inappropriate material."

Dublin said the district wants to hear from parents and community members and is committed to communicate what steps it is taking to review library collections as well as individual books challenged by patrons.

"Our goal is to work together as a community to ensure that all materials that students are provided are instructionally appropriate and aligned to the values of our community," he said.

"We value that feedback and we highly value transparency."

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One book restricted, another removed from Willard library

At the Oct. 20 meeting, Superintendent Eric Wilken said the district received formal challenges to two books in recent months, including:

• "How It All Blew Up," a 2020 book by Arvin Ahmadi, was challenged at the middle and high school;

• "Oryx and Crake," a 2003 book by Margaret Atwood, was challenged at the high school.

The News-Leader obtained the request forms. The same parent challenged both books, saying the Ahmadi book had "curse words," innuendo and "very graphic sex scenes."

Of the Atwood book, the parent wrote the intent of the book was to "pervert and groom kids."

The district, following board policy, formed a committee with patrons and school employees to review each book. The committees decided to remove the Atwood book and to restrict the Ahmadi book at the middle school but keep it on the shelves at the high school.

The committee-level decisions can be appealed to the superintendent.

Loveland was not the patron who challenged the two books but noted he and other families have found the content of those books unacceptable.

"It's apparent that there are some staff, some leaders in place in Willard that might not have the same beliefs that I do. Having sexually explicit material in libraries ... they think is essential to learn, to do their expression," he said.

Loveland argued that behavior depicted in the books violate the expectations set forth in the student handbook.

"This is sending mixed messages to the students about what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior in a school setting," he said. "There needs to be a consistent message."

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He also said the committees set up to review challenged books are too small and more parents ought be involved in a widespread review.

"I just really urge you to think outside the box and don't strive to be like other boards," he said. "Strive to be Willard's board."

The News-Leader left a message seeking comment from Loveland but it was not returned.

At the Oct. 20 meeting, the administration explained the district's book review process, outlined in board policy. While sitting in the audience, parents started asking follow-up questions, which is a break from standard protocol, but board and school officials responded.

They wanted to know, among other things, how parents will know which books have been reviewed or weeded out by the librarians. They asked if there will be warnings on library books with potentially inappropriate material.

Dublin told the parents that the district does not yet have a system set up to handle restricted books, which require parent permission, but a meeting is scheduled Monday to work out the details.

Claudette Riley covers education for the News-Leader. Email tips and story ideas to criley@news-leader.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Parent calls for 'full audit' of Willard school libraries by patrons