Currituck County School Board Votes to Keep Challenged Library Book on Shelves
The Kids’ Right to Read Project (KRRP) is celebrating a 4-1 vote by the Currituck County School Board that will keep Tanya Lee Stone’s A Bad Boy Can Be Good for A Girl on high school library shelves. A parent filed a formal request that the book be banned because of sexual content and language.
The Kids’ Right to Read Project is a grassroots advocacy initiative founded by the National Coalition Against Censorshipand the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and supported by the Association of American Publishers and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
The book was brought before school and district-level committees, which re-evaluated its inclusion in the Currituck County High School Library. Both committees recommended that the book be retained.
In a letter to the district on September 4, KRRP wrote: “The role of the library is to allow students and parents to make choices according to their own interests, experiences, and family values. Parents who object can enforce their own rules and standards about what their own children can read. They cannot, however, impose their view on others by denying the option to other students whose parents do not object to the book. that removing the book.”
“We commend the School Board for upholding the professional judgment of the district’s educators,” said Acacia O’Connor, Kids’ Right to Read Project Coordinator. “Far from encouraging one behavior or another, Tanya Lee Stone’s book provides a safe space for adolescent readers to examine authentic characters’ choices—and potential consequences of those choices—regarding issues they themselves will likely face in the near future.”
Stone was active on Twitter, with solidarity from fans and other authors, supporting KRRP’s fight against the book challenge.
KRRP has seen a spike in book challenges: in the last six week it has provided direct advocacy in 13 active book-related censorship issues in nine states.
The National Coalition Against Censorship promotes freedom of thought, inquiry, and expression and opposes censorship in all its forms. Our diverse coalition of over 50 national organizations, representing the artistic, educational, religious, and labor communities, join together in the interest of protecting First Amendment rights. Learn more about current campaigns at http://ncac.org.
