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Residents, staff urge board to reverse removal of Lillian Duncan from district libraries
Summary
Multiple teachers, parents and community members told the board it disregarded a near-unanimous book review committee recommendation when it removed Lillian Duncan from library shelves and urged the district to consult professional library policy guidance and to restore access.
Several teachers, school staff and members of the public told the Gardner-Edgerton USD 231 Board of Education that its removal of Lillian Duncan from district library shelves disregarded the recommendation of a district book review committee and risks harming students who seek representation in literature.
Amanda Bird, the library media specialist at Gardner-Edgerton High School, told the board the decision "disregarded the recommendation of the book review committee, a group of highly educated and invested professionals appointed by this school district." She said removing the book "sends a harmful message to students like Lily" and urged the board to consult the American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom for policy guidance.
Residents and other speakers repeated similar concerns. Dave Druvetta said he was disappointed because the committee process was followed and resulted in a "near unanimous recommendation to keep it on the shelf." Kristen Schultz cited research from The Trevor Project and argued that access to social narratives in literature can help students who otherwise feel isolated.
Other public commenters criticized the board's process and defended access to books. "There are electronic systems in place that parents can use to restrict their own child's access; removing a book districtwide removes representation for students who need it," said Kami McKeever, president of Gardner Pride and a substitute teacher in the district.
One speaker, Carrie Schmidt, read aloud a passage from a different book she had asked to be reviewed and said the district's vetting process for adding books is broken; the meeting record shows that several speakers used strong language and personal attacks during comments. Another commenter, Emma Jones, directly criticized a board member's prior remarks about the novel and described harassment of board members and parents in the broader public debate.
The board did not take a new action during the public comment portion of the meeting; speakers directed the board to reconsider the prior removal and to follow or clarify the district's review procedures.
