The Birth of Library Exposed: A Look at How the Project Came to Life (Part 2)
Although the Rockwood School District had never tried to conceal Destiny Discover, parents became increasingly concerned as word of the platform spread and they began to investigate the books available to their children. Destiny Discover is designed to provide a user-friendly way to access a diverse range of resources, including eBooks, audiobooks, interactive books, and both free and subscription databases in school libraries. It offers a single interface with search options for title, author, and topic.
Parents who investigated their children's access to books through Destiny Discover were surprised to find titles that contained explicit sex scenes, profanity, drug culture, and violence. Some books also dealt with controversial themes such as sexuality, gender identity and social justice. The discovery of these books prompted concern among parents, who were surprised that librarians had approved some of these titles for children's access.
Parents were particularly concerned about several books that contained explicit sexual content, including Crank, Looking for Alaska, All Boys Aren't Blue, and Lawn Boy. The graphic novel Gender Queer was considered especially egregious for its explicit visual depictions of sex scenes. Another book that caused concern was Living Dead Girl, which tells the story of a 10-year-old girl who was kidnapped and repeatedly raped by her abductor.
Parents were also troubled about the book It Feels Good to be Yourself, which discusses gender identity and was found in nearly every elementary school library. An excerpt from the book reads, "See, when you were born, you couldn't tell people who you were or how you felt. They looked at you and made a guess. Maybe they got it right, maybe they got it wrong." Some parents expressed concern that this book could potentially confuse young children about their gender identity and may not be age-appropriate for elementary school students.
Parents soon discovered that removing these books from school libraries was not a simple matter. The Rockwood School District has a formal process in place to challenge a book's inclusion in the library, as outlined in Regulation 6241. This process requires parents to contact their child's teacher or librarian to determine whether the book is available in the library and what access students have to the material. If the parent feels that their concerns have not been resolved with the librarian, they can then escalate the issue to the building principal. If the issue still cannot be resolved, the parent may submit a Challenge Materials Form to convene a committee and begin the formal challenge process.
Parents took action by challenging not only the books mentioned above but also several others. In the fall of 2021, 13 books were formally challenged by parents. To their surprise, all 13 books were retained by the Challenge Committees, despite the controversial themes and explicit content they contained. Seven of the 13 books were further appealed, but all seven were ultimately retained.
The lack of action taken by the Challenge Committees and the appeal process frustrated many parents, leading them to bring their concerns to the Rockwood Board of Education in person.
Read Part 3 to learn what happened next.