Feature photo by Shauna Reynolds
Story by Shauna Reynolds
The Rutherford County school board voted Thursday to remove six of seven questioned titles from school library shelves. These books, including a Pulitzer Prize winner, join 29 titles banned by Rutherford County Schools during the 2023-2024 school year.
A noisy standing-room-only crowd filled the Rutherford County Board of Education meeting room before the board started their regular biweekly meeting. Many were anxious to hear the board’s promised decision about seven books under review for explicit content.
The titles in question were:
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky
“Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi
“Queen of Shadows” by Sarah J. Maas
“Tower of Dawn” by Sarah J. Maas
“Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” by Gregory Maguire
“Beloved,” by Toni Morrison
“Skin and Bones” by Sherry Shahan
“Beloved” was of special concern for those opposing the ban. The Advanced Placement English Literature exam frequently references the book, including as recently as last year. “Beloved” garnered numerous literary awards since its 1987 publication, including the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1988. In 1993, Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, becoming the first Black woman to win a Nobel Prize in any discipline.
Another banned title, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” is featured in the American Library Association’s list of most challenged books of 2023.
The two titles by Maas join eight others that were part of the 29 books previously banned by the school board. Maas’s work is a staple on bookstore shelves and New York Times bestseller lists. Lists of banned books also frequently feature Maas’s books.
Two hours into the meeting, there had been no vote, no decision and no clarity. After a recess, the confusing debate about the criteria for review continued. A motion to create a restricted section in high school libraries for the challenged material failed, and eventually, the vote came to the table.
Caleb Tidwell, who initially proposed the removal of these books, voted for the removal of all seven. Katie Darby and Tammy Sharp also voted to remove all the books in question. Board Chair Claire Maxwell and recently elected board member Stan Vaught voted to retain all the titles, and the remaining board members cast mixed votes. At one point during the voting process, Frances Rosales left the room, and when a motion for another recess failed, the voting continued without her.
“Skin and Bones” was the only title to evade expulsion.
Before the board voted, speakers took the podium to share their concerns with board members. Some defended children’s rights to read and teachers’ and librarians’ abilities to choose appropriate material.
“Our public libraries and schools should be a safe haven for intellectual freedom, not a battleground for ideological wars,” bookstore owner Lindsay Schultz said. “We must remember that books are not dangerous. It’s the ideas they contain that some people fear.”
Other speakers used their three allotted minutes to read objectionable material from the challenged books. Any intended shock value was diminished as dissenters repeated material read by previous speakers.
The speakers may have chosen their passages from bookreviewrc.com, a website Tidwell promoted at Tuesday’s board work meeting. The recently registered domain highlights potentially offensive material found within books, ending each listing with a word-by-word “profanity count.”
Retired high school librarian Xan Lasko exposed Book Review RC for its dubious content.
“BookReviewRC.com, the site that Mr. Tidwell directed you to, is not backed by professional librarians,” Lasko said. “This site takes excerpts directly from the website booklooks.org. That organization was started by Moms for Liberty.”
Representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee were on-site observing the board meeting. On Sept. 16, the ACLU sent a letter to the board on behalf of concerned students and parents stating that “the First Amendment does not permit school board members to remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained within those books.”
“I was hopeful that adherence to our First Amendment constitutional protections would prevail,” ACLU of Tennessee Policy Director Bryan Davidson said. “And I was, you know, hoping for a bit of clarification as to what the process is for reviewing and banning books. And unfortunately, I think tonight just left us with more questions than answers.”
Many attendees left the meeting disappointed, but one activist was pleasantly surprised by an aspect of the meeting.
“I’m surprised anyone voted to keep any book,” Keri Lambert, vice president of the Rutherford County Library Alliance, said. “If I’m being perfectly honest, I expected everything to be removed unanimously, and I’m surprised anything got saved, or anyone was able to vote no. I’m very proud of those people that were willing to vote no.”
Shauna Reynolds is the Lifestyles Editor for MTSU Sidelines.
To contact the Lifestyles Editor, email lifestyles@mtsusidelines.com.
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