Madison County schools place 10 books in restricted circulation

The Madison County School Board voted to place ten books in restricted circulation at their Monday meeting.

The district originally placed the books in restricted circulation in April, which means students must have parental permission to view the book, after parents expressed concern at school board meetings and on social media.

A team of educators reviewed the books for “mature content” and recommended that the district return the books to circulation in three ways: full circulation for grades 6-12, full circulation for grades 9-12, and books that will require parental consent to be verified from grades 9 to 12. Full circulation means anyone can view a book.

The books in full circulation for students in grades 6-12 are:

• “Assemble Me” by Renee Watson
• “The Perks of Being an Octopus” by Ann Braden
• “Touching Spirit Bear” by Ben Mikaelsen
• “Uglies” by Scott Westerfeld

The books in full circulation for students in grades 9-12 are:

• “All American Boys” by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
• “Black Friend: Being a Better White Person” by Frederick Joseph
• “Dear Martin” by Nic Stone
• “Kite Coureur” by Khaled Hosseini
• “Love, Hate and Other Filters” by Samira Ahmed
• “Discovering Wes Moore” by Wes Moore
• “Speak Up” by Laurie Halse Anderson

Restricted circulation books for grades 9-12 are:

• “Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie
• “Chinese American” by Gene Luen Yang
• “Beloved” by Toni Morrison
• “Eleanor and Park” by Rainbow Rowell
• “I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Girl” by Erika Sánchez
• “Let Me Hear a Nursery Rhyme” by Tiffany D. Jackson
• “Out of Darkness” by Ashley Hope Pérez
• “Queer, there and everywhere” by Sarah Prager
• “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison
• “The Hate You Give” door Angie Thomas

“Monday’s Not Coming” by Tiffany D. Jackson, originally on the restricted books list, was not discussed at the meeting.

Mississippi native and author Angie Thomas, whose book ‘The Hate U Give’ was on the restricted books list, responded on Twitter in April, saying “The county I once called home. I don’t couldn’t leave Mississippi fast enough. My heart goes out to the black and LGBTQIA kids in Madison County who aren’t allowed to read books that show their experiences.

Nationally, book bans have increased over the past year, reaching a record high since the American Library Association began tracking the challenges 20 years ago. The association also said the majority of the contested books were written by or about black or LGBT people.

Libraries in Mississippi have also seen a decline in materials in Ridgeland and Biloxi, although no library materials have yet been pulled from shelves.

Lindsey Beckham, a parent who spoke out against the books at one of the school board meetings and president of the Madison chapter of Moms for Liberty, a national conservative nonprofit that advocates for parental rights in schools, previously told Mississippi Today that she first became interested in the library’s content as part of her concerns with critical race theory.

Critical race theory was at the center of this spring’s legislative session, as lawmakers passed an anti-CRT bill over the objections of all black lawmakers. The Mississippi Department of Education has previously stated that the theory is not present in any K-12 curriculum, but it is sometimes found in institutions of higher learning.

READ MORE: Inside Mississippi’s Only Course in Critical Race Theory

Beckham, who was present at Monday’s meeting, said she was concerned about how some books had been sorted.

“‘The Hate U Give’ is soft compared to some of the ones that are in full circulation,” Beckham said. “Of course, I don’t want any of the 22 books in full circulation. I don’t want to ban or burn a book, but these books are available in our public libraries, on Amazon or in a bookstore – they are not suitable for children.