March 5, 2013

Board of Education McPherson USD 418 514 N. Main Street McPherson, KS 67460

Dear Board of Education Members, We applaud the recent decision by the districts materials reconsideration committee to keep The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls in McPherson High School pre-AP English classrooms. As organizations concerned with the freedom to read, however, we are concerned about the committees recommendation to red flag challenged books. We acknowledge the importance of informing parents about the books their children read and explaining their educational value. However, calling attention to the fact that certain titles have been challenged by someone, somewhere will not only undermine those goals but is also likely to generate more challenges and more controversy. The fact that a book has been challenged or banned someplace says nothing about the educational value of the book. It merely signifies that someone objected to something about it. While complainants are entitled to their opinions and to guide their own childrens reading, their opinions may have no relevance to other parents or students who may have very different views and concerns. Moreover, emphasizing that a book has been challenged elsewhere will likely encourage more challenges and create on-going controversy in the district. A red-flag list would necessarily give a biased perspective, casting a nega tive light on listed books and stoking alarm over their content, regardless of the validity of the complaints or the literary worth of the books. It would emphasize the views of the tiny minority of people who object to a bookoften for random, personal, or ideological reasonsrather than the thousands who have read, taught, enjoyed and valued the book. More importantly, such a list inescapably elevates the concerns of would-be censors over the professional judgment of your districts own teachers in selecting these books. Literature is more than the sum of its parts, as your Director of Instruction, Angie McDonald, noted when she said she believes there is a lesson in each and every book, especially in the hands of a gifted teacher. Instead of giving books a scarlet letter, the school board should encourage teachers to explain to parents how and why they select certain materials and what educational purposes these materials serve for their children. Focusing on the educational criteria for

curricular selections would provide a meaningful, sound and defensible way to evaluate books. We would be happy to advise you further on other, more constructive ways to inform parents about the books their children read in school and why they were selected. We are also attaching the NCAC Guideline to Book Challenges in Schools and the NCTE Guide to Teaching Challenged Books. You might also refer to the American Library Associations Policy on Labeling (http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/qa-labeling). The recently published Keep Them Reading: An Anti-Censorship Handbook for Educators written by former teachers ReLeah Cosset Lent and Gloria Pipkin is also an outstanding resource. Sincerely,

Joan Bertin Executive Director National Coalition Against Censorship

Chris Finan President American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression

Charles Brownstein Executive Director Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Kent Williamson Executive Director National Council of Teachers of English Judith Platt Director, Free Expression Advocacy Association of American Publishers

CC: Angie McDonald, Director of Instruction Bret McClendon, Principal, McPherson High School Diane Marshall, Library and Media Specialist, McPherson High School Gentry Nixon, teacher, McPherson High School Alice Toews, teacher, McPherson High School Rhonda Wince, Curriculum Coordinating Counsel Amy Worm, Curriculum Coordinating Counsel