Why would Boyle County school officials make a bad bill even worse by banning books? | Opinion
There is something extremely alarming about any educator who thinks books should be banned.
Anyone devoted to our children’s teaching and learning should find books sacrosanct, even the bad ones. That Boyle County school officials went the extra mile to remove more than a 100 (100!!!) books from its school libraries is nothing short of appalling.
They said they were obeying Senate Bill 150, which states: “Any child, regardless of grade level, enrolled in the district does not receive any instruction or presentation that has a goal or purpose of students studying or exploring gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation.”
State Department of Education officials assured them that books are not considered instructional materials
Superintendent Mark Wade also said “books were removed because they did not align with the curriculum or standards being taught.”
Those books included the usual bogeymen of LGBTQ-friendly fare, but also such helpful tomes as books on teen parenting, which unfortunately is still a problem in our high schools, and worst of all, “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.”
This is merely considered an international classic, written by a young Jewish girl hiding from the Nazis. Also on the list is a Captain Underpants book, which happen to be the books that convinced my children that reading was cool, but I guess poop jokes are just a bridge too far these days.
No, Captain Underpants “does not align with curriculum.” Library books are there to foster fun and creativity when the curriculum and standards are too boring.
For me, and I’m sure many of you, school libraries were what got me through school, and very few of the books I read were “in alignment.” They took me out of dull classrooms into other worlds less depressing than this one.
It’s plenty depressing now, with a tiny minority of book banners attacking libraries everywhere. The Washington Post reported that just 11 people were responsible for the majority of all book banning requests in 2021-2022. One Virginia woman challenged 71 in her children’s school district. The Daviess and Paris Public Libraries also have multiple challenges being mounted by just a few people.
Of course, SB 150 is a terrible bill — vicious,vague and confusing. But when you’re the only district who thinks you should go the extra mile to get rid of books, then I have to wonder if you’re using legislation as some kind of cover for personal, unstated goals. There are plenty of parallels in history with what happens when citizens are overzealous in the application of bad laws, but since Boyle officials already tossed “The Diary of Anne Frank,” I don’t suppose they’ll understand.
Another bill, Senate Bill 5, does have is a process that allows parents to complain about books. The Senate flat-earthers who passed this bill certainly did not expect to have school officials complying so ardently; they see educators as their enemies, not allies.
Some Boyle parents complained about the process and a few books were returned. But they should return all of them. School librarians are trained professionals who chose them for a reason, which is to help kids. Big-footed administrators need to stay in their lanes and well out of the divisive and destructive politics in Kentucky these days.
This story was originally published October 19, 2023 at 10:04 AM.
