Casey Smith, Indiana Capital Chronicle, and Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism Staff
“Garbage in, garbage out.” That’s what
a Rome City resident thought of Sherman Alexie’s “The Absolutely True Diary of
a Part-Time Indian.”
The complaint filed with the East Noble School Corporation
told administrators the book didn’t belong on library shelves but in the trash
can.
“The material is persistently racist, encourages ‘white
guilt’, contains many unhealthy over-generalizations, glorifies masturbation,
uses offensive gay slurs, uses the word n*gger [sic], is repeatedly sexual —
including attraction to school staff, portrays Christianity in a negative
light, openly mocks Jesus Christ, and thanks God for self-gratification,” the
May 2023 complaint read.
But East Noble’s school board disagreed and denied the
request and subsequent appeal to keep the award-winning book in the curriculum.
Public records from East Noble did not say why the board opted to keep Alexie’s
book.
In Indiana, it’s rare for school districts to ban books
from libraries and classrooms. Since 2020, at least six districts banned books,
two moved books to other libraries and 17 received complaints, according to an investigation by the
Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism and the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
But a new law — House Enrolled Act 1447 —
opens the door to more public scrutiny of school library catalogs and has districts anticipating more
challenges to what books students can read.
“I’ve heard from some parents locally that there has been
some reviews and that there is some frustration with the processes some schools
have created,” said Rep. Martin Carbaugh, R-Fort Wayne, who authored the
legislation. “The end goal is transparency for parents and ensuring kids aren’t
exposed to materials that aren’t age appropriate.”
Republican Sen. Jim Tomes, of Wadesville — who has tried to
pass some version of the new law for years — authored the initial bill that the
language appeared in. He declined to comment for this story.
Much of the outrage has
come from conservative groups like Moms for Liberty and the Indiana chapter of
Purple for Parents Indiana. A few loud fights in key cities caused the issue seem like
a statewide “crisis.”
The Arnolt Center and the Indiana Capital Chronicle
contacted around 440 school districts and charter schools in Indiana — 249
responded to the requests and 191 are still processing the requests.
But advocates for schools and libraries contend the issue
goes beyond claims about pornography in libraries or legal defenses available
in state statute. More broadly, they say the issue stems from “fundamental
differences” in values and opinions over what material is “appropriate” for
Hoosier youth.
Effective Jan. 1, HEA 1447 requires Indiana school
districts to establish procedures for responding to complaints about library
material alleged to be “obscene” or “harmful to minors.” Districts must review
requests at public meetings and hear appeals if necessary. Schools must also
maintain public catalogs of library materials.
Beneath the surface of the school library discourse is
contention from Hoosier parents who say their local school boards have rejected
their challenges of certain materials, leaving books some deem to be “obscene”
and “objectionable” accessible to kids in school libraries.
Still, obscene material is already illegal under Indiana code and
federal law, and material harmful to minors is unlawful for people under 18 to
access. Those terms have very specific definitions in state law — with a high
bar to meet.
Outlawed materials must, as a whole:
- describe or represent, in any form, nudity, sexual conduct, sexual
excitement, or sado-masochistic abuse
- appeal to the prurient interest in sex of minors
- be patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community
as a whole with respect to what is suitable matter for or performance
before minors
- lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for
minors
Librarians and other opponents of the new law maintain such
materials are not — and haven’t been — present in school libraries, given that
librarians already have a duty to vet what’s appropriate.
Critics have said, too, the
new law will have a “chilling effect,” particularly because school librarians
found in violation could be charged with a felony.
Diane Rogers, a librarian at Ben Davis Ninth Grade Center
in Indianapolis and president of the Indiana Library Federation, said for the
most part, the law didn’t change much for school libraries. Many Hoosier
districts already had public-facing catalogues, as well as processes in place
for parents to request review of books and other educational materials.
Even so, she said “it wasn’t necessary to have this bill,”
noting that a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirmed school personnel have
discretion over the content of their libraries, but can not remove books
because they dislike the ideas contained in those titles.
“It’s been illegal to have those materials in libraries,”
Rogers said. “Most of our decisions, we’re not really thinking in terms of
obscenity because most of us were not even considering those books to begin
with.”
“It seems to me that the bill has caused that chilling
effect to happen already, which is what many of us were afraid of,” she
continued. “By further specifying criminal charges and taking away defenses
from teachers … you’re putting fear into people.”
Superintendent Derek Arrowood, of the Hamilton Heights
School Corporation in Arcadia, also objected to the General Assembly’s
intervention.
“The legislature pulls the trigger on whatever they do,”
said Arrowood. “We’d prefer it if they did nothing and left me alone [sic].
We’ve got this – it should be a local decision.”
Districts
take preemptive action in anticipation of complaints
Even before the new law took effect on Jan. 1, school
districts attempted to get ahead of potential challenges.
Jim White, Superintendent of Bremen Public Schools in
Bremen, said in an interview that the local library within the district
recently came under fire on Facebook for circulating the book “Genderqueer,”
and he worried that the anger would make its way into the schools.
“Not that we have that book, but the people start looking
for anything to be unhappy about,” White said. “We were fortunate it didn’t
make its way over.”
Lake Central School Corporation in Saint John and Adams
Central Community Schools in Monroe reviewed lists of commonly banned books,
including those from Purple for Parents and Moms for Liberty.
Concord Community Schools in Dunlap reevaluated books
subject to previous complaints and opted to require parental approval for
students to check out some titles or moved books from the junior high to high
school library.
Lake Central Superintendent Larry Veracco said many
districts preemptively removed titles they thought would be harder to defend to
be safe.
“We’re willing to fight but not when we know we’re gonna
lose,” Veracco said.
The fear of challenges has administrators watching
what books libraries are buying.
Arrowood, of Hamilton Heights, said the district is
cautious when selecting new library materials because of political groups as
well as the new law. District librarians were concerned enough that they met
with the county prosecutor about the new law, he said.
“We just sat down with him and said, ‘Hey, listen, are you
gonna start arresting my librarians if there’s a book in the library that
somebody on one of those fringes thinks is horrible and awful?’” Arrowood said.
Rogers maintained, though, that school librarians are
trained to follow best practices from the American Library Association (ALA)
and use multiple professional review sources — including Kirkus and Horn Book
reviews and the School Library Journal — before adding titles to their
collection.
“I don’t think the new law us necessarily going to cause
more books to be found to be obscene, because I am of the opinion that we don’t
have obscene materials on the shelf already,” she said. “A librarian is going
to make a decision for what is appropriate to be in their collection. They have
a certain age group of students — so you have books that don’t come anywhere
near meeting the standard of obscenity, but perhaps you choose not to purchase
that book, or you choose not to have that book in your collection because it’s
for older students. But mature does not mean obscene.”
Literary value staves off
challenges across districts
Despite complaints, schools more often retain challenged
titles, finding that the books merit places in libraries and classrooms.
Arrowood said the schools offer alternative reading to a
student if a parent objects to the content of an assigned text. He said he
views a required reading differently from a library book, which students can
choose to read.
“We view people as coming from different places, but that
also doesn’t give you the right to exclude everybody else from what we think is
really good literature and a great teachable moment,” Arrowood said.
A retired teacher challenged Courtney Summers’ “All the
Rage” with administrators at the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation in
March 2021 saying the book was inappropriate. The district ruled against
banning the book because of its numerous awards and honors, including the
American Library Association Young Adult Award, but did limit access as the
title is labeled age appropriate for grades 10 through 12.
At Rush County School Corporation, there were two parents
who expressed concern over the book “Making Bombs for Hitler,” by Marsha
Skrypuch, but neither filed a formal complaint. Out of precaution, Rachel Monk,
the corporation’s media specialist, researched the book and verified that it
was appropriate for children ages 8-12, and the book was not removed.
MSD Southwest Allen County Schools received a review
request for “Anya’s Ghost,” by Vera Brosgol in October 2021, but documents did
not detail the reason for the challenge. The review committee wrote that the
book has a darker theme but is appropriate for young adults and decided to keep
the book in circulation.
Not all school districts explicitly require review
committee members to read a work in its entirety, according to policies
reviewed by the Arnolt Center. Although that runs counter to the “harmful” and
“obscene” evaluation criteria laid out in state code, schools retain the
ability to take down or move books for other reasons, like age-appropriateness,
and can additionally prevent just some students from checking out
particular materials.
Timelines for the review and appeal process also vary.
Garrett-Keyser-Butler, in Dekalb County, requires that committees report their
recommendations to superintendents within five business days of their
formation, whiles southwestern Indiana’s Washington Schools allows up to 120
business days.
Further, board policies vary on whether materials can remain available to
students during the consideration process. In districts with longer timelines
that also allow withdrawal during the reconsideration process, materials could
become unavailable to students for months while they are debated.
Lake Central’s process requires complainants to say if
they’ve read the book, can summarize it, list positives, list the objectionable
material and its risks to students, and describe the teacher’s purpose in
assigning the book. The district’s policy also offered a teacher response form.
Veracco, of Lake Central, said a parent complained
about “The Berlin Boxing Club,” which was assigned reading, citing a passage
when the main character says a goal was “to get in someone’s pants.” The book
is about a Jewish child living in Germany amid the rise of the Nazis and World
War II.
Veracco said he did not believe that a single passage could
overwhelm the value of the book.
“And that’s really what librarians across the country are
saying, right,” he said. “You need to look at the piece in its totality.”
Rogers pointed to the ALA, which recommends that
challenged materials be kept available to students during the review process.
“However, that is something that’s locally-controlled,” she
said.
Districts expect more
complaints, challenges
Superintendent Ralph Shrader, of the Metropolitan School
District of Warren County in Williamsport, said legislators viewed the issue of
reviewing library books as important but the topic isn’t a top priority.
“Those kinds of things to us aren’t very pressing in the
realm of education,” he said.
But the law has opened the door for districts to deal with
increased challenges.
Veracco said now people can view the library catalogs and
look for books they don’t like. He said his concern is that people from outside
the district will initiate complaints despite the law saying formal requests
must be from either parents or district residents.
Greg Walker, superintendent of Paoli Community School
District, said while he has not yet received any complaints, he fears the new
legislation will invite out-of-state groups to dig through online catalogs and
find books to challenge.
“What really concerns me is that someone from outside of my
school district, someone in another state, could challenge a book that we have
and they don’t even have children that go here, and I don’t think that is
right,” Walker said.
Carbaugh said lawmakers are monitoring how the new law
rolls out across the state and suggested changes could come in the future. No
such bills are pending in the current legislative session, though.
“For now, it may be too early to know what tweaks, if any,
are necessary to the current law,” he said. “As schools continue to refine
protocol, I think we’ll all be watching and gathering information from parents
and educators.”