GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Northview Public Schools Thursday announced their plan for addressing a request by a community member to remove eight books from school libraries.
The plan comes after the school district held a closed-door meeting Wednesday with a complaint review committee consisting of two board members, staff and community members.
The committee announced that they'll be reviewing each of the books in question over the next two months and plan to regroup in December to present their recommendations to the districts superintendent.
The books that are being considered by the committee are:
- Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
- Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
- Push by Sapphire
- All Boys Aren't Blue by George M Johnson
- Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
- Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
- Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
All of the books listed above are optional reading and only available to students in grades 7 through 12.
The books' themes range from sexual abuse by a parent, exploring teenagers' sexuality, and coping with death and racism in America. Several of the books also contain LGBTQ+ themes.
Northview Public Schools provided the following statement about their plan:
“As part of the formal review process under Board Policy 9130, Northview Public Schools is proceeding with the requested review of several books identified by a member of our community. After the initial meeting yesterday, which was held to listen to the community member’s complaint, a timeline was set for the review process. The committee will review the books in question, which are available as choice reading to students in grades 7-12 only, over the next several weeks. The plan is to regroup in early December. The committee will make a recommendation to the interim superintendent who will then make a decision on this matter. At Northview Public Schools, we firmly believe that people working together toward common goals can accomplish anything.”
Cal Morton, who is the secretary for the Kent County chapter of Moms for Liberty, submitted the complaint about the books.
"I asked them, 'Please, just to go look at the content and the material. And read it yourself,'" said Morton. "I asked him this question, and I asked the committee as well, I said, 'When you review this content,' I asked, 'would you sit down with your grade school child, and show the pictures to them, and also read the material out loud?'"
The Executive Director for the Michigan Library Association, Debbie Mikula, says that the age of students is important to consider when deciding on appropriate reading material, but cautions against a blanket-ban on books for students across all ages.
"You have a choice. You have a choice whether to read it or to put it back up on the shelf. And I really do believe that we have the ability to, you know, figure out what is right for us personally, and I think that we have to be given that kind of choice," Mikula said.
The school district sent a letter to parents about the decision on the books and asked for the community to share their thoughts.
"In our ongoing dedication to fostering a strong partnership with our families, we value your thoughts. As such, please do not hesitate to attend an upcoming public board meeting and share your voice. A schedule for board meetings can be found HERE," the district wrote in the letter.
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