Books likely to return to DPS library shelves have not been banned, officials say – Presse et Guide

Dearborn Public School officials said Wednesday that the recent removal of six books from their shelves was a one-time thing, as they revamped their book review process, and that no books would be removed at the time. future before a strict review process.

In a meeting with multiple media outlets, district officials said six books recently removed from the shelves will go through the review process, and if staff do not find them offensive, they will be returned to the shelves and that at the future, the books will not be removed. until the end of the review process, and only if deemed unsuitable through that process.

Several times during the meeting, officials including Communications Direct David Mustonen reiterated that parents can remove their children from any book or specific book they choose, but are not permitted to take this decision for children other than their own. .

The district plans to continue to offer a “robust and diverse” collection of reading materials to its 20,100 students, but is creating a more formal structure to review the age-appropriateness of materials, particularly around issues such as sexually explicit or violent content. .

Officials said they’ve always had a review process, but it hasn’t been reviewed or updated in “some time.”

The new guidelines will be officially unveiled at the October 10 School Council meeting.

The district has also created a digital form that parents can use to limit the specific titles their child can access. The Parent Opt-Out Form for Media Materials will be posted on the District website under the Parent/Community Member Portal page.

This option has “always” been in place according to Mustonen, but will now be more accessible to worried parents.

Parents can use the form to block their child from accessing certain materials or to completely block their child from checking out any media center items. This is similar to the option parents have long had to withdraw their child from reproductive health classes.

“We realize the community has many strong feelings on both sides of the issue of limiting student access to certain books,” Supt. Glenn Maleyko. “We are working hard to ensure that our schools are welcoming and safe spaces for all students, and our libraries will continue to reflect this as well. However, we are also aware that the vast majority of students under our care are minors, still learning about life and the world, and are not emotionally or intellectually ready to process certain content.

The district is starting to review their inventory of books and removing books that no longer fit in the collection, an example they gave would be books that have not been checked out for a while or are damaged.

Mustonen said many books were borrowed during the pandemic and then destroyed in the floods that hit the area, so the school system also needs to check that the books still exist in the collection.

This process, called weeding, begins in high schools and will continue for the foreseeable future, and it is expected to take more than a year to complete the first pass.

Dearborn Public Schools has nearly 500,000 physical books, representing more than 300,000 unique titles in its library catalog system. Schools are currently undergoing a two-pronged approach to reviewing their collections. First, employees perform full inventories to ensure that the catalog reflects the books that are actually on the shelves and that missing titles are removed from the list.

The district also has its media specialists, who are also all certified teachers, review books to ensure they are properly cataloged in the correct age groups.

Media experts have several resources they can use to help determine the appropriate age, including the publisher’s recommended age rating and a number of organizations that specifically review books for students. Given the size of the district’s collection, this weeding process is not expected to be completed this year.

Students and parents can find their child’s library book catalog on the district website under the Parent/Community Member Portal page.

“We realize that our families have a wide variety of perspectives on a number of issues, and it’s unrealistic to think that our school libraries can meet every individual need,” Maleyko said. “We encourage parents concerned about specific titles to use the unsubscribe form. And of course, we encourage all parents to help their children use the wonderful Dearborn Public Library to find reading material they feel is appropriate for their child.

Dispute a book

Parents who believe a specific book needs reviewing can still file a complaint that will trigger an investigation into specific titles under the new policy.

Books will only be removed from the shelf after review, and only if they are not approved.

This process begins with a parent contacting their child’s school media specialist to request that a book be re-evaluated. The parent book challenge should include the title of the book, the author, and some specific reasons why the parent thinks the book is not appropriate for this grade level.

A panel of at least five media experts from across the district will then re-examine the age-appropriateness of this book, taking into account the specific concern of parents in addition to the recommendations and reviews used to initially include books in the district collection.

The parent who filed the challenge will then be notified of the results of this initial review.

In-depth review

If media experts believe the book should remain in the collection, the parent will have the option of requesting a reconsideration of the book.

When this happens, a small committee of district staff and parents will read the book and rate it against the district’s age criteria. The committee will consist of a rotating group of staff and parents or community members with a moderator provided by the district.

The Book Review Committee may choose to allow the book to remain, limit it to a higher grade level, or remove it from school libraries.

Whatever decision is made by this committee is valid for at least five years, without further review allowed.

A book going through this committee will also remain on the shelves until a decision is made.

Parents interested in serving on the committee can request to be added via the volunteer book review member form. To serve on a committee, a volunteer must agree to read the book in question in its entirety, review information about why media experts have deemed it appropriate, and participate in a civil discussion about whether the book is appropriate for this grade level.

The updated guidelines for selecting and reviewing media materials state that “each parent or guardian has the right to determine the suitability of library resources for their children and should grant the same right to other families.”

Six books that have already been submitted to the district for a book challenge will be the first to go through the initial review process.

The books in question are “Push” by Sapphire, “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson, “The Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold, “Eleanor & Park” by Rainbow Rowell, “Red, White and Royal Blue” by Casey McQuiston and “This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson.

“And They Lived” by Steven Salvatore, was also the subject of complaints, but it was not in any of the libraries run by DPS.

Depending on the outcome of this review, the parent who raised the concerns could then request a review of the book.

The district is also working with Wayne RESA on options to limit certain titles through their digital school library program for parents who request it and hopes to soon offer digital books to students again.

“We appreciate the patience of our parents and community members as we implement this new process,” Maleyko said. “Reading and critical thinking are extremely important life skills, and we always strive to strike a balance between encouraging our students to explore the wonders of the written word, while ensuring that they can do so with equipment appropriate for their age.

Demonstrations for and against the banning of certain books took place in Dearborn last month. Shortly thereafter, Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud announced that the city would not remove any books from the shelves of the Dearborn Public Library no matter what the school decided to do with its libraries.