School Library Advisory Committee Holds First Meeting

The Mat-Su Borough School District’s Library Citizens Advisory met for the first time last Thursday.  Much of the meeting covered introductory material for the committee members. That included a discussion of the state statute that members will be applying to determine whether the challenged books will remain in district libraries.

The statute, which is labeled “Distribution of Indecent Materials to Minors,” lays out multiple tests to determine whether a book can be made available to people under sixteen years old. The content covered by the law deals primarily with simulated or actual depictions of sexual acts. The book must also be found to be harmful to minors.

Saul Friedman, an attorney for the school district, pointed out that the mere presence of objectionable material may not be enough to remove the book, since one of the requirements for a publication to be considered harmful to minors is that it “taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, educational, political, or scientific value for persons under 16 years of age.”

Friedman says that means it is important for the committee to read the challenged books in their entirety.

“I think it’s important to recognize the term ‘taken as a whole’ has a purpose behind it, which is the book should be read to understand in what context these things—to the extent they’re in the book—why they’re there.”

That point was also reiterated by Justin Ainsworth, and associate superintendent for the district who will serve as the committee’s chair for clerical purposes.

The committee chose four books on Thursday to be discussed at the next meeting on September 14^th. They include the graphic novels It’s Perfectly Normal and Drama as well as the novels The Lovely Bones and The Bluest Eye.Of those Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye is currently part of the curriculum for advanced literature classes in Palmer.

More details of how the committee will function will also be decided at the next meeting, including how books will be chosen in the future and the rubric for evaluating them.