At the May 24th Mat-Su Borough School Board meeting, members voted six to one to appoint community members to the Library Citizens Advisory Committee. District 7 Member Ted Swanson was the only dissenting vote.
Prior to this meeting, more than 300 community members submitted applications to be selected for the Committee. The group will be responsible for reviewing a list of more than 50 books. The new Committee will include one community member from each district, two school librarians, two staff members, and two school board members. The community members will now be appointed by each School Board District member, instead of being drawn in a lottery.
To date, it is unclear how an ad hoc committee created the initial list of books to be reviewed. The original book list contained two columns referring to Common Sense Media and BookLook ratings. The version of the list released to the public did not contain those columns.
Throughout the meeting, several members referred to the Alaska Statute passed in 2021 that prohibits providing sexually explicit or pornographic materials to minors. Member Kendal Kruse argued the purpose of the Committee was “to evaluate the law against the books that were recommended.”
The references to the ratings in the initial book list did not specifically compare the book list to the Alaska statute. Swanson asked if there would be attorneys appointed to the new Committee since the issue was applying Alaska statutes to specific books. District 6 member Ole Larson responded.
“Point of order. There is nothing in the policy that states that. The policy states that the committee will review the books, the existing books on the law, and then they will go to the Superintendent. If the Superintendent then wants to run it by the attorney, the committee’s recommendation, because the committee holds no power, then the Superintendent may do that.
Swanson later notes that the review and selection of certain books invites litigation from individuals and that district members would be able to appoint anyone they choose to the Committee.
“I hesitate to support this if it’s not random and if we don’t use lawyers to recommend through a legal lens.”
Jillian Morrissey, Chief Communication Officer of the Mat-Su Borough School District has responded via email to KTNA’s inquiries about the adjustment to the selection process.
“Each School Board member will be responsible for recommending a community member to represent their respective district. They are requesting that current valid applicants be contacted with an additional questionnaire to claim any employment connection with MSBSD.”
Morrissey has still not responded to questions about how the books were selected, why they were removed before the review process, and who was on the initial ad hoc committee. The American Libraries Association has not yet responded to requests for comment.
