Scottsdale Parents Rally for Removal of Explicit Content in School Libraries

By Staff Reporter |

Parents and community members within the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) are advocating for the removal of sexually explicit books from school libraries.

Last week, a coalition of parents’ rights and educational organizations submitted a letter to the SUSD governing board, calling for the elimination of these books. Most of the controversial books are housed in high school libraries, with one exception located in a K-8 school library.

Organizations such as Scottsdale Unites for Educational Integrity, Arizona Women of Action, Restore Parental Rights in Education, and others were involved in this request. Individuals including Shiry Shapir and Dan Kleinman also joined the effort.

The petitioners argue that the books in question are “pervasively vulgar” or “educationally unsuitable” and should be removed based on Arizona laws that prohibit furnishing harmful items to minors. They also referenced a 1982 Supreme Court ruling that empowers school boards to remove unsuitable materials.

The groups noted that the books lack “serious educational, artistic, literary, political, or scientific value.” They also sought the implementation of a book maturity rating system, advocating against future purchases of books not suitable for minors.

“This request is not to ban books,” the parents clarified. They emphasized that the books are readily available through various retail outlets, but schools must be selective due to limited budget and shelf space.

The SUSD has yet to respond to this request.

The list of books proposed for removal includes titles like “A Stolen Life” by Jaycee Dugard, “Doomed” by Chuck Palahniuk, “Lucky” by Alice Sebold, “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews, “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison, and others.

These titles are present in all five high schools: Arcadia, Chaparral, Coronado, Desert Mountain, and Saguaro. One book, “Sold” by Patrick McCormick, is located in Desert Canyon K-8 school.

Parents highlighted that these books contain explicit material such as depictions of child molestation, rape, bestiality, incest, prostitution, drug use, suicide, and self-harm.

Arizona law prohibits distributing harmful items to minors, which includes explicit content. The Supreme Court case Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School No. 26 v. Pico was cited to validate SUSD’s authority to remove the books immediately without review.