Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Library Materials Appeal topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board hears appeal process for challenged title; committees recommend keeping The Kite Runner in high school libraries
Summary
Administrators described the district's multi-stage review of a library challenge to Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, including an initial review, a subjective review, an appeal, and an objective review committee that met Jan. 28 and recommended the book remain in high school libraries but not middle schools.
The Cache County School District board received an update on a recent sensitive-materials appeal concerning Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner. District staff described the multi-step reconsideration process and the committees that reviewed the book.
Britney Foster introduced the item and said the district received the original request for reconsideration on Oct. 2, submitted to Ridgeline High School office staff. Ashley Addis described the review steps: an initial review (required within 10 days), a subjective review when the initial evidence was judged insufficient, and an objective-review committee when additional excerpts were provided.
Addis said the subjective committee — made up of an administrator, a teacher librarian, a high school teacher and four parents (one from each high school) — chose to keep the book in high school libraries and noted it should not be in middle schools. She said, "they did make note that it shouldn't be in the middle school." The requester appealed on Jan. 6 and provided additional excerpts; the district convened an objective committee of new members that read the submitted excerpts and met Jan. 28. That committee also decided to keep the book in high school libraries, finding it did not cross the district's "bright line" standard for removal.
Addis told the board the district has updated procedures: reconsideration requests should be submitted to the school librarian (not a secretary) so the librarian and parent can discuss the material, and when initial evidence is insufficient the district will return the request and ask for additional evidence rather than automatically advancing to objective review. She said the district also now plans to proceed to objective review whenever the initial evidence is sufficient.
Board members asked about committee selection; Addis said parents volunteer through a parent memo and the pool was small (13 names) so the district has tried not to overuse volunteers and has sought geographic representation. Members also asked whether librarians can remove books without committee review; Addis confirmed librarians can remove titles under selection/deselection policy and that has happened.
The board asked staff to provide committee member contact lists and the meeting transcripts/checklists, which staff agreed to share.
