Osseo School Board Rejects Ban of Book in 4-2 Vote
The Osseo Area School Board voted down a request to remove a book from one of its school libraries.
The board rejected the request on June 25 in a 4-2 vote.
A resident asked the school district to remove the book “What Girls Are Made Of” by Elana Arnold from the Osseo Area Learning Center library collection.
Initially, a district committee rejected the request.
That decision was appealed to the school board.
Britt Stuessy, who filed the request to remove the book, said its content wasn’t acceptable for a school setting.
“The rationale behind this book challenge is not about limiting access to information, it is about calling into question the appropriateness of sexually explicit and obscene materials in publicly-funded school libraries,” she told the school board. “The book in question, ‘What Girls Are Made Of,’ is sexually explicit, obscene and pornographic. It openly promotes and normalizes sexual behavior to impressionable teenage girls.”
The Osseo Area School Board rejected a request to pull “What Girls Are Made Of” by Elana Arnold from the library shelves at the Osseo Area Learning Center.
Osseo Area School Board Votes to Keep Book
Osseo Area School Board Member Sarah Mitchell supported pulling the book from library shelves.
“Does this book enhance or enrich our district’s curriculum? I do not believe that it does,” Mitchell said. “Is sexually explicit content appropriate for minors? I believe that the majority of stakeholders and parents would say no, it is not … does this book devalue a young teenage girl’s self-worth? And is that a message we want our district portraying? My concern is that this book does not value a teenage girl’s self worth or image, which is the opposite of the mission statement on the wall behind me.”
Board member Heather Douglass also cast a vote to pull the book.
Others spoke against banning books.
“Historically we know that book bans work to erase marginalized communities, and we’ve seen that over the past year with book challenges that have targeted LGBTQ students,” said Osseo Area School Board Member Tamara Grady. “What this book challenge shows is that book bans also seek to remove the freedom for students to learn about themselves and others.”
Board Member Jackie Mosqueda-Jones said the book could be “very beneficial for certain students. Do I think every child should read it? No.”
See also: Newsmakers: Rep. Frazier Calls Book Ban Legislation ‘A Net Positive’
