A district in Texas temporarily banned The Diary of Anne Frank from school libraries and classrooms along with several other books including the bible.
According to reports, the Keller Independent School District Board of Trustees sent an email to schools with a list of books that would have to be temporarily removed as they are books that have been challenged through the district’s formal complaint process in the past school year.
Texas School District Bans Anne Frank
The Keller school district allows parents, employees and district residents to file formal objections or challenges, to books and instructional materials used in schools.
A committee then considers whether the materials are educationally suitable and makes a decision on whether the material will remain in schools, the district website says.
As an outcome of this several books were challenged and reviewed including the graphic novel adaptation of Anne Frank’s diary.
the board then released a statement saying: ‘Right now, Keller ISD’s administration is asking our campus staff and librarians to review books that were challenged last year to determine if they meet the requirements of the new policy.
‘All of the books included in Tuesday’s email have been included on Keller ISD’s Book Challenge list over the past year. Books that meet the new guidelines will be returned to the libraries as soon as it is confirmed they comply with the new policy.’
Complaints on LGBTQ+ books
Several books that received complaints were books that covered or featured LGBTQ+ themes such as Jack of Hearts (and other parts) and Gender Queer, which, according to the Keller list, are ‘no longer in district/campus circulation’.
Other books did make the cut, however, All Boys Aren’t Blue, by George M. Johnson will be kept in high schools still, the committee decided.
However, the issue comes for one Twitter user as they claim to have been on the committee that was voting about the challenged books and says books they agreed to keep on shelves, including The Diary od Anne Frank, have been put on the list that the district is requesting to be pulled from shelves.