Hudson board looks into school library books
In response to concerns raised by some parents, the Hudson school district has removed a few books from the high school library while officials review the process for adding books to the shelves.
At a recent school board meeting, a parent said she objected to the inclusion of the book “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison in the library’s collection. She noted the book had a lot of sexual content that she believed was inappropriate for students.
“Who is going to be held accountable for this?” asked April, who said she did not want to share her last name and address because she received “hate mail” after speaking at a past meeting. “This needs to stop … I just would like to know who is in charge of protecting our children … I would like to know when this stuff is going to stop.”
On Wednesday, several parents also raised concerns about the books “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe and “A Girl on the Shore” by Inio Asano, according to Jennifer Reece, the district’s spokesperson.
Superintendent Phil Herman sent a message to families on Wednesday to update them on how his administrative team was responding.
“I am deeply troubled about the content that was brought to our attention, particularly the blatantly sexual drawings,” Herman said. “This clearly requires further review, which is already underway. We will remove these books from circulation until that process is completed.”
He said he is launching a review of the process used to add books to the high school library’s collection.
“While we want to make sure we continue to provide our students with a broad range of materials designed to foster knowledge and broaden their world view, we also want to select materials that clearly contribute to educational or personal growth,” Herman said.
‘Gender Queer’ and ‘Lawn Boy’ criticized by parents nationwide
“Gender Queer” and “Lawn Boy” were honored by the American Library Association with Alex Awards, given to 10 books annually with “special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18.”
But both also have been criticized by parents in other states demanding the books be pulled from school library shelves.
In a statement to The Washington Post responding to the Fairfax County, Virginia, school district’s decision to pull “Gender Queer” from its high school libraries, Oni Press Publisher James Lucas Jones said the book is an important resource for students who identify as genderqueer or nonbinary and that “limiting its availability is short-sighted and reactionary.”
“Lawn Boy” author Evison told The Washington Post that he has received death threats since his book drew national headlines last month, when a Texas mother criticized it at a school board meeting. Evison defended his book, which he said addresses capitalism, wealth disparity and racial assumptions.
Book with sexually themed writing prompts removed from course
Hudson’s Reece said she does not have a time frame on when the district’s internal review will be completed.
“When the review is finished, we will share any changes that will be implemented,” Reece said.
This is the second instance in which the district has dealt with criticism regarding books it makes available to students. The district was recently in the national spotlight after Mayor Craig Shubert called on board members to resign or potentially face criminal charges over a book provided to high school seniors in a college-level writing course.
A group of parents attended the Sept. 13 board meeting to raise concerns about some sexually themed writing prompts in the book “642 Things to Write About.”
The book has been removed from the course by the district.
Reporter Phil Keren can be reached at pkeren@thebeaconjournal.com, or on Twitter at @keren_phil