General Discussion

MagickMuffin

(17,212 posts) Fri Aug 18, 2023, 11:47 AM Aug 2023

Fort Worth Independent Schools have shut down the libraries

To look for “objectionable” books.

FORT WORTH, Texas — The Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD) has closed all of its district libraries to take inventory of all books on shelves, according to a district spokesperson.
The district told WFAA "every campus library will be closed through August 25 so catalogs can be inventoried.” While 128 libraries are closed, a separate process is underway: more than 100 titles will be transferred from campus libraries for further review.

A spokesperson indicated officials are reviewing material in a way they haven't before to comply with a new state law taking effect Sept. 1. The House Bill 900 by Frisco Republican Rep. Jared Patterson – known as the READER Act – was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott. It aims to keep sexually explicit content away from children across nearly 9,000 Texas K-12 campuses.
Under the new law, “sexually explicit” books will be taken off shelves, and “sexually relevant” books will go through a first-of-its-kind ratings system before they're made available to students and will require parental consent.
In a Thursday interview with WFAA, FWISD Interim Library Director Dr. Ross Teller told WFAA district leaders hope to complete the review of roughly 100 books "as soon as we can."
The books under question have already been removed from shelves, according to a district spokesperson. "We are committed to having a safe and welcoming space for all students in our libraries," Teller said. "We're just concentrating on ensuring we have the most welcoming inviting and appropriate collection available. The Texas Library Association (TLA) has voiced concern over the READER Act. Shirley Robinson, executive director of the TLA, said the law will cause some “chaos and confusion” for librarians across the state.
“It’s going to take some time for everyone to figure out how this is going to work,” Robinson said earlier this summer. “There are going to be discrepancies in how it’s administered without very clear guidelines.”

https://www.wfaa.com/video/news/education/schools/75000-students-impacted-by-fort-worth-isd-shutting-down-all-libraries/287-11aec515-79ea-4276-b1e4-f2d7552e4d19

I called the fwisd office and spoke to a man about how to remove books. He spoke for a while and he asked if there was a particular book I wanted removed. I asked if there were any holy bibles and he replied there was. I told him that’s the book that I would like to remove. I also told him that I was against banning books or burning books but I do not like other people telling people what they can read. He mentioned the stupid state law which targets sexually explicit content. He said the Bible definitely has sexual content especially Proverbs.

I also pointed out the mission statement and how can anyone be critical thinkers when there are those amongst us who want to do the thinking for everyone. He didn’t appear to like the situation he has been tasked with doing.

The mission of FWISD school library programs is to ensure that students and staff are:

effective users of ideas;
empowered to be critical thinkers,
enthusiastic readers, and
ethical users of information.

https://www.fwisd.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=2550

At the link you can fill out a form to object to books. I asked if the information we provide would be used against us and he assured me it was only so they could contact us.

Anyway fun morning.