TWIN FALLS, Idaho — More than 100 books in the Twin Falls School District are under review after a community member challenged them as inappropriate for children, claiming they contain sexualized materials that could harm kids.
The Twin Falls School District is forming committees to evaluate each book.
Hear how the district addresses challenged books on an individual basis
Superintendent Brady Dickinson said the volume of challenges is unlike anything the district has seen before.
"This is my tenth year as superintendent. Prior to this year, we'd had one challenge. In the last three months, now we've had over 100," Dickinson said.
The district, like many across Idaho, follows a formal policy for responding to book challenges.
"Our policy is to form a committee that involves community members to review the material and make a decision in recommendation whether the material should remain within our schools, be removed, or [have] other restrictions placed upon [the material]," explained Dickinson.
In December, one individual began submitting challenges to 103 books, citing concerns about sexualized content. In response, the district has formed 83 committees, with 101 community members, teachers, and librarians participating. Each committee reads the challenged book in its entirety before making a recommendation.
So far, 12 committees have completed their reviews. Two books have been removed entirely from the district, and 7 have been relocated to a parental permission section.
The removed books, both authored by Ellen Hopkins, are titled Tricks and Traffick.
Dickinson noted the challenged books are not from elementary school collections.
"None of these books that have been challenged have been from the elementary collection, and most of them have all been from the library at the alternative high school," Dickinson said.
Not everyone in the community supports removing books from school libraries. Sue Irish, who has managed the Paperback Bookworm for 50 years, said she believes it is a parent's responsibility to monitor what their children read rather than restricting access for everyone.
"And I was very careful with my kids — unless they were hiding something, we talked about what they were reading," Irish said.
Irish said she personally may disagree with the content of some of the challenged books, but does not believe her views should be imposed on others.
"In everyday world, nothing should be taken away. I don't agree with the things that some of these books are about, but that is my opinion — that is not what I feel that I should put on someone else. Those people in my purview, my children or someone that I'm responsible for, I can say that, but I don't want someone else saying the same thing," Irish said.
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