Osseo school board passes policy allowing residents to challenge library books

Editor’s note: This story was updated to include a statement from Osseo Public Schools.

At the end of an emotional meeting Tuesday night, the Osseo Public School Board voted 4-2 to revise its policy on how books in school libraries are chosen and challenged.

The revised policy lists procedures under which residents of the school district — as well as students, parents or guardians — can raise concerns about library materials.

Opponents call the measure a pathway to banning books — one that goes around a new state law widely referred to as a “ban on book bans.” Earlier this year, the Minnesota legislature passed a law blocking public schools from banning books because of the viewpoints or messages they contain.

Osseo Public Schools board member Tamara Grady, who voted against the policy change, said parents have the right to intervene in what their own children are reading, but other residents should not be able to do so.

“Why would they need to come to the school board unless it is part of a concerted, coordinated effort to remove books from our system, to ban marginalized identities and to remove the academic freedom for our students to learn to read and learn about themselves?” Grady said.

School board member Heather Douglass voted in favor. She and a spokesperson for Osseo Public Schools said the implication that the change is a precursor to book bans is misleading. She said residents already had the ability to give input on books in classrooms and libraries and the purpose of the change was to edit language to comply with a state law.

Douglass added, as taxpayers, all residents of the district have a stake in what happens in schools.

“We rely on our community for a great many things, including passing referendums and bonds in addition to property taxes so that we might better serve our students,” she said. “The majority of our voting community members are not parents, but there are stakeholders just as much as any parent, student or district employee.”

This debate is a recent example of the heightened political atmosphere hanging over libraries and school boards around the country.

“It’s certainly front of mind for all of us,” Edina elementary school librarian Ashley Krohn said. She spoke with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer from Rochester, where she and other librarians from across the state gathered Thursday for the Minnesota Library Association’s annual conference. Krohn is the group’s intellectual freedom chair.

To hear the Krohn interview, click on the audio player above. The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity

As you heard, supporters say it is not a book ban, but a small change in policy to give residents a little more input into some of the books available. What do you think of this?

I think it’s very interesting. Intellectual freedom is something that has been very near and dear to my heart, and I’ve worked on policies like this, both in public schools. I used to work at Minneapolis Public Schools, heading up their school libraries. I’m also a Hennepin County board member, and we’re currently working on our collection development and management policy where, what some folks refer to as book bans, it’s really the idea of a reconsideration for a work.

I think what’s really important for everyone to know is that it really, truly is about what aligns with an individual’s needs and what needs they are going to get met when they go into the library. It can get a little tricky with schools, because schools act as in loco parentis, but as you know, Minnesota is a diverse place and is just becoming more diverse.

For school libraries, it is not a place where students are required to check out anything. We invite them in. We invite it in as a place of choice. So it’s curious to me when folks want to sort of dictate to others, because we really want to make sure that we have a wide variety of materials that help everyone get their needs met, that align with their values. But since we serve so many people, we have to represent many perspectives and have a diversity of materials.

You’re not buying the argument that that taxpayers, all residents, should have a right to raise concerns over what books are available in schools?

It’s something that I definitely ponder on. I do understand taxpayers being concerned about what their money is being used for, and when I hear of situations like this, sometimes it can feel fraught. I’m so glad folks are engaged and are concerned about how is it impacting all of us. It is sometimes curious when there are folks who don’t currently have students being concerned about what is there.

I think we just need to bring it to that every family is responsible for what their student is reading. When a student goes to the school library, their families, whether it’s their parents, legal guardians, anyone their family has taught them what the values are for their family and how to guide their students to choose books that align with that.

And if there are questions, our school librarians certainly welcome that discussion. We want to connect with families and we want to make sure that we have a wide variety of materials. We love sparking curiosity in the library and what sparks curiosity and interest for one student is going to be different from another.

So the decisions come to the feet of librarians really, right?

Yes. In terms of collection development, school librarians in the state of Minnesota need to complete a graduate-level degree. We all have master’s degrees to get certified as a school librarian. We take multiple courses in collection development, understanding developmental needs, making sure that information is current, making sure that we’re representing a wide variety of literature and information.

And that doesn’t just stop when we finish school. That is one of the things that is ongoing. A lot of times we’ll use the analogy that a library is like a garden and gardens thrive on biodiversity. So we don’t want to have just single things that are represented.

I myself, I’m at two schools. I’m teaching about 1,500 students this year, and even between the two schools, some of the materials that we have are different because kids have different interests or there’s a different programmatic focus. One of my schools is Spanish dual language, so we're going to have more Spanish-language materials.

The Minnesota Legislature passed a school library-aid package, and it’s now possible for every school to have at least a part-time licensed library media specialist who is highly trained and continually working on this. When there are concerns, we certainly do want to hear from the community and let them know how we are ensuring that there are a diversity and an inclusivity of the materials that we have.

What are you hearing from colleagues?

Yeah, that we refer to that in libraries as sort of self-censorship, and that’s always been a little bit of a concern, because every environment is a little bit different. It also depends, how long have you been at your library or school? How well do you know your community? It really does get into that deep relational basis that can be a concern.

We’ve certainly seen some librarians who’ve done that or it’s been dictated to them. What makes me kind of sad about that is that when we restrict access to knowledge, we’re really restricting people’s abilities to decide for themselves. It is not my job as a school librarian to dictate to a student what they should be interested in, or what they should read. My job is to just grow that love of reading that then students align that with what their family values are, or they’re developing values and ideas for that exploration.

Literature and information is a great way to learn about more things to discover who you are or who you want to be in the world, or what you believe. And so when there is that limiting, whether it’s coming from outside the community or inside, it really hurts all of us.

Do you expect the Legislature to dive more deeply into this issue? Are you satisfied with what the Legislature did last session?

Yeah, the statute you’re referring to is 134.51 about library, materials and access. I think what that Legislature really did was be able to say, from a state level, we believe in intellectual freedom and access to information, and we trust communities that they are going to have robust policies and practices in place, whether that’s public, academic or school libraries, for selecting materials.

And should there be a concern there is a robust process when there is a challenge or a reconsideration of a work. I see this as a first step to ensuring that all Minnesotans have access to information and books that may align with their values or expose them to new and different ideas. Really, the library is for everyone, and so we must build our collections and our programs and our services in order to meet the needs of the diversity of Minnesota.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.