Taylor becomes public figure with war against books
Posted on Sunday, January 1, 2006
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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)
Local resident Laurie Taylor’s tenacious campaign for restricted access to school library books sparked a huge debate within the community and made her the Northwest Arkansas Times’ choice for 2005 Newsmaker of the Year.
Taylor said she never set out to become a public figure, and she never imagined her requests would spark an uproar. Hundreds showed up for meetings as the school board tried to determine how to handle her requests to remove explicit books, and the controversy dominated local discussions, radio talk shows and letters to the editor for months.
Taylor first approached the school board in February about her concerns over books with sexually explicit content available to elementary children. She mentioned the book "It’s Perfectly Normal" during citizen participation, a time where patrons can speak to the board on school issues.
She admits her original expectation was school board members would be so flabbergasted about the books that they would immediately order them off the shelves. Instead, board President Steve Percival asked her to be patient until a review com-
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