North Cook News

The Arlington Heights school district board of education met on March 14 where they received an update about removing or banning books from their school library.

Legal Counsel Tony Loizzi spoke with the board about procedures for adding and removing books, as requested by parents as well as members of the district. He said they asked him to do research and bring explanations after a January board meeting where parents questioned some books in the elementary school libraries. Parents were once again at the meeting, with some reading from the books they felt were inappropriate due to their sexual nature. They asked that the books be removed and replaced with age-appropriate material. Board member Rich Olejniczak said it is better to have a policy in place about what is being added.

“You know, we talked a lot about banning, which is the removal of something versus what Tony talked about and even the courts have talked about,” Olejniczak said. “It's a lot better to make sure we have a policy that talks about what's being added. What are the criteria that our books should have.”

He said that he doesn’t want to call this the easier route, but rather the safer route. He noted that there have been examples where they have removed books due to content and they were deemed inappropriate.

“So, I think if we have a better policy that talks to these are the aspects, not ideas, but these are aspects that we should be looking at in the types of books that we bring in so that we're in line with the laws,” Olejniczak said.

Loizzi explained that requests for book banning have skyrocketed in recent years and the district has had record numbers in the past two school years. According to the American Library Association, most banned books have storylines pertaining to LGBT or minority race groups. He explained that parents and stakeholders are allowed to challenge books in the library but the library can also challenge censorship requests to ensure first amendment rights are not violated or laws are broken. There are several laws banning the discrimination of books based on race or gender identity, and also require them for curriculum.

“There are committees that will look to those lists to see what books have been banned in other districts and other public libraries,” said Loizzi.

The board discussed the information and issues in the district. They have recently updated their library book challenge system and created a committee to read and debate a book when challenged. The committee is made up of teachers, parents and staff. They then vote on whether or not the book remains in school.

The board stressed that they value the input of parents and have concerns for the safety of students, but would not make drastic changes. They will be making a policy committee to address the issue head on that will be presented at a later board meeting for a vote.