Books with violent, vulgar, and sexualized content have flooded into our schools and into the hands of students from kindergarten on up. In the last few years, parents have pushed back to protect kids.

Following is a fraction of the reports of parents attempting to have school boards hear them on this issue:
Northview Public Schools
Rockford Public Schools
Allendale Public Schools
Forest Hills Public Schools
Spring Lake Public Schools
Grand Haven Area Public Schools
Hudsonville Public Schools

The number of books challenged each year is increasing. In 2023, there was a 92% increase in book challenges compared to 2022.

How is it that school boards refuse to remove books that many parents deem inappropriate for children? Legally, they are able to base their decisions on Michigan statue.

According to our Legislature, sexually explicit material is defined as “harmful to minors” only when: “considered as a whole” the material appeals to the lustful interests of minors, “considered as a whole” is patently offensive to community standards for minors, and “considered as a whole” lacks serious literary, artistic, political, educational, and scientific value for minors.

Additionally, Michigan’s obscenity laws provide exceptions to schoolteachers and administrators, as well as school and public libraries.

Section 5 does not apply to the dissemination of sexually explicit matter to a minor by any of the following:

(b) A teacher or administrator at a public or private elementary or secondary school that complies with the revised school code, 1976 PA 451, MCL 380.1 to 380.1852, and who disseminates sexually explicit matter to a student as part of a school program permitted by law.

(d) A librarian employed by a library of a public or private elementary or secondary school that complies with the revised school code, 1976 PA 451, MCL 380.1 to 380.1852, or employed by a public library, who disseminates sexually explicit matter in the course of that person’s employment.

According to Alliance 1.14:

In late 2018, the Michigan Department of Education’s (MDE’s) HIV/STD Education Consultant, with input from “national leaders” in sex education, created a Sexual Health Education Guide for school districts. The guide outlines how Sex Education topics might be delivered during non-instruction times, without the Sex Ed Advisory Board approval and parental consent required by law for Sex Education (p. 8-9).

“Sex education content may appear in a variety of venues throughout the school. The following are not considered part of the instructional program; therefore, they do not require the approval required by state law. Each has its own process for approval:

• School newspapers: The content of school newspapers conforms with the policy for student publications

• School library holdings: These are governed by library policies

• Classroom book collections: These are not subject to the sex education laws.”

This guide—which was first recommended by MDE to the Intermediate School Districts (ISDs), and then was actively promoted by the ISDs to the school districts—opened the door to obscene and sexualized content being freely available in schools.

By 2020, the rollout was observable in local school districts.

Schools select books under the guidance of a variety of sources: American Library Association, Michigan Library Association, Library of Michigan, grants, author contests, and professional reviews from sources such as School Library. Many of these organizations partner with each other as well as set the criteria for the book awards.

The 2023-24 president of ALA, Emily Drabinksi, describes herself as a “Marxist lesbian.” In a 2021 talk entitled “Teaching the Radical Catalog,” Drabinsky admitted her “queerness includes the subversion of … ‘normal family types.’” Under her direction, ALA offers gender identity material and conversation support for children from birth on up. Their document “Interpretations of the Library of Bill of Rights” includes:

The ALA website provides several “resources” for those fighting to keep lewd, violent, and disturbing books in easy reach of children. Financial and legal support is provided, as well as guides on how to incorporate sexually graphic books into teaching. There also is a database to help school administrators, board members, and teachers defend individual books that outside of the classroom would be deemed obscene and indefensible.

DEI ideology is prominent throughout the ALA site, where it states: “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion are fundamental values of the association and its members, and diversity is listed as one of ALA’s Key Action Areas.”

In Michigan, MLA’s 2023-2025 Strategic Plan continues the priorities set by ALA. One of MLA’s objectives is to establish a core group to develop an Equity, Diversity, Accessibility, and Belonging action plan. MLA states that as book challenges become more pronounced, one of their goals is to develop relationships with EveryLibrary, Equality Michigan, the ACLU, GLAAD [a non-profit organization focused on LGBTQ advocacy and cultural change], the Freedom to Read Foundation, PEN America, the National Coalition Against Censorship, etc.

MLA is focused on advocacy through their partnerships—one being the ACLU, which lobbies our Michigan Legislature. Additionally, MLA has a committee that has set up a “Right to Read” hotline and parent coalition that opposes any attempts to restrict pornographic or sexualized books inappropriate for minors.

ALA and MLA work hand-in-hand to normalize radical content through events like Banned Books Week.

Last year the Michigan Legislature passed a resolution to declare October 1–7, 2023 as Banned Books Week. The Lakeland Library Cooperative is one of the participants, with Grand Haven’s Loutit District Library expanding the celebration to the whole month of October.

MDE is promoting “Diverse Classroom Libraries,” libraries that include not only students of a different race, but also the many different social identities of gender identity, sexual orientation, gender expression, and religion. There is a $10,000 grant that will be awarded to school districts for the purchase of “diverse texts for the model classroom library.”

The lone Republican members of the State Board, Tom McMillian and Nikki Snyder, continue to advocate for the protection of our children. On January 9, 2024, McMillan read a resolution calling to remove exemptions allowing Michigan public school librarians to distribute sexually explicit materials to minors without penalty. The six Democrat board members voted to allow librarians to distribute sexually explicit materials to minors.

MLA provides professional development for librarians. One of their offerings, Think Space, focuses on DEI for public libraries.

Several state libraries have had enough. Alabama, Montana, Wyoming, Missouri, Texas, and Florida have cut ties with ALA. State libraries considering withdrawal but haven’t completed the effort are Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania. As Alabama State Rep Susan DuBose wrote:

In addition, the Protect Child Health Coalition has worked to revise obscenity laws in a number of states—many states share similar language and thus similar vulnerabilities to the tactics being used by sexuality activists to impact the education system today.

Michigan continues to be in need of a revision to the exceptions allowed in its obscenity laws.

Until then, voters need to be aware that policy decisions are made by elected officials. Some stand for protecting the innocence of children, some do not. From local school board, to local library board, to state board of education, to the state legislature, to governor, all the way to president, so many voices are influencing decisions made on behalf of our children.

Parents can stay informed by visiting sites such as No Left Turn in Education, Moms for Liberty, and Capitol Resource Institute which work to educate and empower parents on advocating for appropriate books and other school issues. BookLooks is a rating site to help parents monitor their children’s books.