Rutherford Schools remove 30 books deemed obscene: 'It's not OK to limit books for my kid'
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Rutherford County Schools banned 30 books considered obscene by April 24 this year, including 29 since Feb. 21.
The removed books include eight by best-selling author Sarah J. Maas after the fantasy fiction writer made a Feb. 7 national TV appearance on "The Kelly Clarkson Show."
Rutherford County Library Alliance founder Tiffany Fee contends the book removal is taking place without due process and transparency starting with the materials review committee of school librarians, principals, teachers and parents.
"Those books should still be in the library," Fee said.
The book removal started Aug. 29 with "Flamer" by Mike Curato (a young adult graphic novel that explores sexual identity) based on a Murfreesboro community decency standards ordinance approved June 2023, according to the Rutherford County Schools Library Services webpage.
"It’s setting us up for lawsuits," Fee said.
Note: The list of removed books was at 26 when The Daily News Journal first published article online in the early morning April 24 before Rutherford County Schools added four more on same date for a new total of 30 banned books.
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23 of banned school books available through public library
The Murfreesboro City Council has since repealed the community decency standards ordinance as part of a federal First Amendment lawsuit settlement reached by early February that included a $500,000 payment to the annual BoroPride LGBTQ+ festival organizers and the American Civil Liberties Union.
Rutherford County Schools removed 25 more books soon after the Murfreesboro government settled its BoroPride and ACLU case.
Families wanting their children to read the banned books do have options through the Rutherford County Library System, such as 15 being available in print and eight available in digital form, Fee said.
The Rutherford County Library System Board also has banned books, including "Flamer" and three others pulled in August in response to the Murfreesboro government's now repealed community decency standards ordinance.
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Schools spokesman explains book removal policy
Rutherford County Schools spokesman James Evans said state law requires school districts to remove obscene materials.
"So when there are books with graphic content that can be harmful to children, we are obligated to remove it," Evans said. "If we don’t remove the materials immediately, the law states the librarian can be charged with a misdemeanor."
District policy also allows others to provide requests to pull books from school libraries.
"The second way materials can be removed is through a review committee after any parent, student or employee requests for certain materials to be reviewed," Evans said.
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School district description of obscenity includes nudity
Rutherford County School's Library Services webpage says the district supports principles of intellectual freedom inherent in the First Amendment of the United States.
The webpage goes on to explain the book removal policy:
"Any book, pamphlet, magazine, printed matter, however reproduced, or sound recording, which contains nudity, sexual conduct, excess violence, or sado-masochistic abuse or which contains explicit and detailed verbal descriptions or narrative accounts of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence, or sado-masochistic abuse, and which is harmful to minors as defined by state law, shall be immediately removed from all libraries within the school district."
The same rule applies to photographs, drawings, sculptures and films.
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School board member Caleb Tidwell asks for books to be removed
Fee said she heard about the recent book removal from upset school librarians, teachers and parents after she qualified in December to campaign in the Aug. 1 election for the Rutherford County Board of Education Zone 3 seat. She's competing as the Democratic nominee against Republican incumbent Caleb Tidwell and independent Lorri Johnson.
Fee learned through public records that Tidwell asked Schools Director James "Jimmy" Sullivan through email to remove books.
A Feb. 19 email from Tidwell to Sullivan suggested that district policy requires the removal of five books by Maas, three by Ellen Hopkins and two by Casey McQuiston
“Sexually explicit material is to be removed from the libraries immediately," Tidwell's email said. “Sexually explicit material is not required to go through the district committee.”
Sullivan replied Feb. 20 to Tidwell's email by thanking the board member for calling attention to the 10 books that ended up getting removed by Feb. 21 after the schools director said he consulted with his staff.
Tidwell serves on a seven-member school board that oversees the director. The board recently extended Sullivan's contract through April 4, 2028.
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Fee: 'No one person should have that amount of power'
Fee contends the materials review committee should always be examining complaints on books first before an appeal can be made to the schools director and then to the elected board.
"No one person should have that amount of power," Fee said. "Dr. Sullivan is taking orders from Tidwell in this situation."
Tidwell said anybody can submit concerns about books to the school district.
"People fear from backlash," Tidwell said. "People have asked me to submit books, which I have done."
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Policy observed, parent reaction positive Tidwell says
Tidwell said the issue is about following the seven-member board's unanimously approved obscenity policy.
"Obscene material is to be removed immediately," Tidwell said. "Feedback from the community once they’ve seen the content is overwhelmingly positive."
Tidwell contends the role of the materials review committee should be to determine the age appropriateness of books rather than initially examine all removal requests.
Parents wanting their children to have access to the removed books can still pursue many of them through the Rutherford County Library System or buy them through Amazon, Tidwell said.
Books in school libraries have a different purpose, Tidwell said.
"We have to look at things that are educationally sound," Tidwell said.
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Free speech expert questions school board book removal
The national Free Speech Center Director Ken Paulson sees flaws in the school board's policy on book removal.
His office is at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro where he also works as a media professor.
"The problem with policies like these is that they essentially use a checklist to remove books when a thoughtful analysis of each book is really what’s called for," said Paulson, who's also the former editor-in-chief of USA Today. "These books are not required reading. They’re often checked out by students who want to know more and don’t know where to turn. It’s incumbent on reviewers not to remove books that are valuable to some, if not all, students."
The list of the school district's removed content is long and vague, Paulson said.
"The real challenge for enforcement is that everything on this list has to be harmful to minors before it can be removed, according to the policy," Paulson said. "The question is how do you know it's harmful to minors."
It’s also important to remember that minors are age 17 and under, and the upper end of that age group has been exposed to as much violence and sexuality as video games and the internet will allow, Paulson said.
"Policies on removing books need to carefully reflect the relative maturity of multiple age groups," Paulson said. "If you apply the specific terms of the policy, removal of books should be very rare. After all, it prohibits references to sexual conduct and excessive violence if they are harmful to minors. That doesn’t mean if they make parents or students uncomfortable.”
Courts have established a much higher standard for barring content for minors only if as a whole it is salacious and without any redeeming value, Paulson said.
"A controversial passage in an award-winning book doesn’t meet that test," Paulson said. "I can’t imagine any book in a school library meeting that test if the standards are applied properly."
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Fee contends book removal violates state law
Advocates such as Fee contend that school officials are removing books based on descriptions on certain pages rather than considering the books as a whole.
Fee said the district is failing to follow Tennessee state law that includes the U.S. Supreme Court ruling for a three-pronged "Miller Test" to determine if a books are obscene and harmful to minors:
The average person applying contemporary community standards would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest;
The average person applying contemporary community standards would find that the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct; and
The work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
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School district materials review board allows 2 books to remain
Not all book complaints have led to removal. Sullivan supported the materials review committee examining complaints on two books and recommending each be retained for older children:
“The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James" by Ashley Herring Blake, retained at the middle school and above level Feb. 8;
“Pumpkin” by Julie Murphy, retained at the high school level only Feb. 26.
The parent who requested the book, "The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James," to be removed complained about a description of a young girl kissing her friend.
"A child will rethink their sexuality based on the persuasive writing in this book," the parent wrote on the complaint form. "The author writes as to convince girls that they could be 'in love' with their best friend."
The complaint goes on to say that the parent does not think the book "is appropriate for any age group of kids with a school library."
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Fee: Families should have literature available for their children
Library book advocates such as Fee say, it's "OK for a parent to find a book objectionable for their kid."
"It's not OK to limit books for my kid," Fee said.
Fee said families like hers want literature to be available for their children to help develop empathy for others and critical thinking skills.
"I think most books are a learning opportunity and a learning among family," said Fee, the mother of an 11th-grader. "We discuss books that we're reading."
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Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@dnj.com. To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription.
Rutherford County Schools removed books and removal dates
Book removal based on Murfreesboro ordinance
“Flamer” by Mike Curato: Aug. 29, 2023
Note: Murfreesboro City Council repealed community decency standards ordinance used to ban "Flamer" to settle First Amendment lawsuit with BoroPride organizers
Books removed per board policy
“A Court of Frost and Starlight” and “A Court of Mist and Fury” and “A Court of Silver Flames” and “A Court of Wings and Ruin” and “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas: Feb. 21, 2024
“Traffic” and “Impulse” and “Tilt” by Ellen Hopkins: Feb. 21, 2024
“One Last Stop” and “Red, White, & Blue” by Casey McQuiston: Feb. 21, 2024
“Kingdom of Ash” by Sarah J. Mass: removed by board policy on March 1, 2024
“People Kill People” and “Identical” and “Fallout” and “Crank” by Ellen Hopkins: removed by board policy on March 1, 2024
“Like a Love Story” by Abdi Nazemian: March 1, 2024
“Life is Funny” by ER Frank: March 1, 2024
“Empire of Storms” and “House of Earth and Blood” by Sarah J. Maas: March 19, 2024
“Red Hood” and “What Girls Are Made of” by Elana K. Arnold: March 19, 2024
“Beautiful” by Amy Reed: March 19, 2024
“You” by Caroline Kepnes: March 19, 2024
"Infandous" by Elana K. Arnold: April 15, 2024
"Breathless" by Jennifer Niven: April 24, 2024
"The Haters" by Jesse Andres: April 24, 2024
"The Nerdy and the Dirty" by BT Gottfred: April 24, 2024
"Damsel" by Elana K Arnold: April 24, 2024
Source: Rutherford County Schools webpage
This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: TN school book bans include 8 from best-selling author Sarah J. Maas
