Mat-Su book review committee concludes, some books returned to shelves

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District agency located successful Palmer Alaska. May 30, 2024. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)

A citizen’s committee charged pinch reviewing challenged books for nan Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District has completed its work. The committee reviewed 35 books complete nan past twelvemonth and voted to permanently region 19 from schoolhouse libraries. A lawsuit complete nan removed books is ongoing, and is group to spell to proceedings adjacent year.

The Mat-Su School Board has not taken action connected each committee recommendations, but has voted to region 7 truthful far.

In nan outpouring of 2023, Mat-Su residents raised questions to schoolhouse committee members astir whether definite room books violated obscenity statutes. The 56 challenged books were pulled from shelves past outpouring while nan committee conducted its review.

District officials said nan measurement of book challenges overwhelmed nan existing reappraisal process, and nan schoolhouse committee picked members for a caller committee to reappraisal nan books. Prior to nan statement of nan citizen’s committee, nan reappraisal process called for nan personification who challenged nan book to meet pinch nan librarian and main astatine nan school, and could escalate to reappraisal by a six-person committee, each while nan book remained successful circulation.

At a June schoolhouse committee meeting, Superintendent Randy Trani said nan territory has worked to streamline their book review process and nan citizens committee is nary longer needed.

“If a person, opportunity a parent, has a interest astir a book, it’s not a process that takes months and months and months, that it’s overmuch much streamlined. So we’re trying to make an effort truthful we don’t extremity up successful this business again,” Trani said.

The board’s existent argumentation connected nationalist complaints concerning instructional materials says that complaints astir books brought to nan schoolhouse committee will beryllium wished by nan superintendent aliases nan superintendent’s designee, and tin beryllium appealed to nan schoolhouse board.

At nan committee’s final meeting past month, members voted to region 3 retired of nan 4 books they reviewed, including Tricks by Ellen Hopkins, Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott and a schematic caller type of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. The committee voted to clasp Perfect by Ellen Hopkins astatine precocious schools only.

The Northern Justice Project and American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska sued nan territory past November connected behalf of six students and 2 parents, claiming that nan books should person remained connected shelves while nan reappraisal took place. Although 28 books person been returned to shelves, Savannah Fletcher pinch nan Northern Justice Project said nan 8 plaintiffs are still seeking damages from nan district.

“First of all, location are still nan books that were afloat banned. So now that they person been reviewed, they person been banned, and we person not yet wished arsenic a squad which of those we work together with,” Fletcher said. “There are a mates of we’ve already stated we were not disputing, but not each of them necessarily, do we deliberation we’re decently banned outright.”

Another 15 challenged books are nary longer successful nan district’s collection, and nan committee did not reappraisal 2 books that will beryllium near to nan territory management to find if they will beryllium removed. The schoolhouse committee is expected to ballot connected nan committee’s last recommendations astatine their adjacent gathering connected Aug. 7.