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Fayetteville School Library Book debate
Fayetteville resident Laurie Taylor has made a proposal to place certain Fayetteville Public School library books she considers to be inappropriate for students on a restricted access shelf. Fayetteville School District patrons received a chance to voice their opinions on whether to restrict student access to certain school library books at a special town hall meeting. The Fayetteville School board eventually decided by a narrow margin not to restrict access to certain books. The stories below cover the issue from its beginings through the decision by the school board and the aftermath.
- School board spends much of 2005 debating books (01-01-2006)
- Taylor becomes public figure with war against books (01-01-2006)
- Times Editorial : A good sign (10-06-2005)
- Taylor joins UA debate team for discussion of library books (10-06-2005)
- School committee says ‘crude’ book to stay in FHS library (10-05-2005)
- UA debate team addressing school’s recent book issue (10-05-2005)
- Books wonít be restricted (09-16-2005)
- Times Editorial : Back to the books II (09-15-2005)
- The great book debate (09-14-2005)
- Times Editorial : Back to the books (09-13-2005)
There’s a new organization in town — Parents Protecting the Minds of Children.
Fayetteville parent Laurie Taylor, who has been waging an ongoing campaign to restrict student access to sexually explicit books in school libraries, announced the formation of the group at a public meeting she organized Thursday evening. About 60 to 70 people, mostly in support of Taylor, attended.
This summer, Taylor released the titles of 54 books in Fayetteville school libraries that she wanted reviewed because of questionable content.
She followed that up by filing a formal complaint Aug. 2 against the book "Push" by author Sapphire. Superintendent Bobby New said officials are in the process of forming a review committee to evaluate the book.
Taylor followed up her Aug. 2 complaint on "Push" by filing a complaint Aug. 15 on the book "Deal With It."
New responded that the district could not immediately review the second complaint. "At this time, the school district does not have the resources available to consider additional requests," he wrote.
However, New said he does plan to have the request evaluated. Now is a very busy time with the school year starting, he explained. "I plan to move this first request through the process and then take on the next challenge," New said. "I don’t think the timeliness is as critical as the quality of the decision."
In another letter to Taylor dated Aug. 15, New wrote, "Due to the seriousness of your repeated inquiries, I no longer feel it appropriate to respond to you via e-mail. Furthermore, as we move forward, I will only accept written correspondence from you."
New said e-mails are a convenient way to communicate but aren’t the best means for official correspondence. Letters are more formal, and his decision to no longer respond by e-mail is not meant to thwart any communication by Taylor. "Absolutely not. I’d hate for us to become adversarial," he said. "I just simply wanted to make sure we accommodate her in a fashion that was more organized. ... It’s really for her benefit as well as ours."
New added he has been sending school board members copies of his reply letters to Taylor.
At Thursday’s meeting, Taylor reiterated that the school should form a parentled committee to evaluate school library books and place the ones with questionable or offensive content on a restricted access shelf. Students could then only check out books from that shelf with a parent’s permission.
She also expressed frustration that the school board and administration had been slow to address her concerns.
Taylor has spoken to the school board about her concerns during the board’s "citizen participation" time at various meetings, but she has only been formally placed on the agenda once. That was in May when the board considered appeals on complaints she filed against three other books.
She complained in an interview Thursday before the meeting that citizen participation time wasn’t very effective. The board hasn’t formally responded to her claim that there are more than 70 books with questionable content in school libraries.
Board President Steve Percival did recommend to Taylor last month, though, that she file individual complaints on specific books. Taylor has argued that the process isn’t designed for numerous complaints.
At Thursday’s meeting, Taylor suggested supporters could take certain steps to force the school board to address the issue.
Others should step forward to file individual book complaints and volunteer to serve on the book evaluation committees.
She also suggested parents write their schools an "opt out" letter stating that their children are not to have access to the library until the issue is resolved. "We are not powerless," she said, adding that forming a group to take a stand on the issue should help.
Taylor said the "opt out" letter would be a non-invasive form of civil disobedience.
Taylor also told the crowd it must focus on correcting the problem, not placing blame on school officials. It took a long time for the books to accumulate in the libraries, and things won’t change overnight, she suggested. "The only concern I have is that our children are safe," she said. "I have no interest in litigation. I can assure you it will be a last resort."
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