Nine books were evaluated this time around. In mostly split votes, the Board acted to retain the titles ‘More Happy Than Not’ and ‘Leah on the Offbeat.’
They voted to remove ‘Thirteen Reasons Why,’ ‘Burned,’ ‘Glass,’ ‘Sold,’ ‘Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl,’ ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower,’ and ‘Nineteen Minutes.’
Chair Matt Cross said that the passages in some of the books were too explicit even to be read at the meeting.
“When we’re talking about whether it’s legal, we could face legal charges if I read this book out loud at a public school board meeting, but it’s okay to go back into the library in our public schools,” Cross said. “And if there’s nothing wrong with the book, we should all be able to recognize it from the podium of what’s in those books. And I’ve got a big problem with that.”
Superintendent Dr. Larry Shifflett reminded folks toward the end of the meeting that any judgement made regarding those books is ultimately subjective.
