Book banners bring story time to Washoe County School Board, read ‘American Psycho’ to trustees • Nevada Current

Nearly two hours of public comment during the Washoe County School Board meeting on Tuesday revolved around the book ban.

There was no agenda item related to the Washoe County School District’s book curriculum that prompted discussion. None of the board members indicated that they would take action against book bans in the future.

Silver State Equality, an organization that advocates for the civil rights of the LGBTQ+ community, warned trustees that the increasing number of calls for book bans were being caused by “out-of-state LGBTQ+ extremists” seeking to overturn an inclusive curriculum.

“They are creating a huge panic about LGBTQ+ people in literature instead of working to solve real problems in our school district,” said Bri Schmidt, a program associate at Silver State Equality in Nevada.

The flood of public comments calling for the district to restrict reading materials comes amid a nationwide increase in books banned from schools and local libraries.

PEN America, a national organization that advocates for free speech, found that there were 4,349 book bans nationwide between July and December 2023, but not a single one was reported in Nevada.

The bans target books that deal with LGBTQ+ issues, especially literature with transgender characters or books about race and racism.

District librarians and teachers pushed back against a vocal minority, opposing attempts to remove books from the library and pointing out that the school district already has a policy that allows parents to prohibit their children from reading certain materials.

“Parents have every right to determine what is appropriate for their children to read, and we have processes in place to ensure that their values ​​and wishes are considered and followed,” said Nikki Buhrmann, a librarian at WCSD. “We don’t need outside people to select books for each child to read.”

Speakers calling for a book ban argued they were concerned about the well-being of students and denied being influenced by out-of-state groups, with some pointing out that they had their own grandchildren or children enrolled in the district.

But those calling for a book ban are reading – sometimes without context – excerpts from the same books that are already being targeted by right-wing groups in other countries.

According to PEN America, these include books such as “Looking for Alaska” by John Green, which was banned 27 times last year, and “Very Blue Eyes” by Toni Morrison, which was banned 29 times.

Parents also read excerpts from All Boys Aren’t Blue and The Lovely Bones and questioned certain passages in these books. Some said the content was vulgar and obscene.

A man began reading a passage from “American Psycho” that included several swear words and described a sexual encounter, despite trustees warning speakers against using that language in public. After several warnings to the man, trustees took a brief break to restore order.

Debi Stears, director of collection development for the Washoe County Library System, spoke out against possible book bans and said Many of the books mentioned at the school board meeting were the same titles that Book Banners wanted to remove from the public library system.

She said she had read the books mentioned and “found neither obscenity nor pornography in them, as your opponents claim.”

“Instead, I read stories of young people struggling with life’s big issues,” she said. “What does it mean to pursue the American dream when you come from an immigrant family? What devastating consequences can dangerous choices have? How do I find who I am in the world? How do I turn to my faith in times of need?”