School administrators in Wisconsin are considering changes to their book banning policy after one parent requested 444 titles be removed from the library.
Jason Tadlock, superintendent of the Elkhorn Area School District, said the same parent asked on Nov. 30 that 163 books at Elkhorn Middle School and 281 books at the high school be removed, and the books were taken out of circulation per district policy and are being reviewed by school principals, reported Wisconsin Public Radio.
"To be frank, we probably never anticipated somebody bringing forth a challenge that would create such a disruption in the school environment," Tadlock said. "It takes a lot of time and effort, and I’ll be honest, there is a certain amount of frustration."
Principals are evaluating the books for grade-level appropriateness Common Sense Media, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon, and Tadlock said he doesn't anticipate that any of them would be banned by the district and some have already been put back onto the shelves.
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"We might have an age restriction based on the book, meaning they might need a parent’s permission," Tadlock said, "but I don’t think any of the books will be removed from circulation."
Some of the challenged books include: "Anna Karenina," by Leo Tolstoy, "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," by Betty Smith," and "The Grapes of Wrath," by John Steinbeck.
"I don’t know if there has been a challenge of this size in the entire nation," Tadlock said. "We’ll look to make this more practical in the future."
