Image Credit: Jefferson County Schools & Canva.
Article by Paula Gomes, Tennessee Conservative News –
Some books have been removed from circulation in Jefferson County Schools (JCS) in order to comply with Tennessee’s Age-Appropriate Materials Act passed in 2022.
According to JCS Director of Schools Tommy Arnold, the list of 34 titles found not to be in compliance with the law is the result of district librarians searching inventories and no other removals are planned at this time.
The law requires that schools maintain a catalog of all materials in their libraries. Local boards of education must have a procedure that evaluates feedback regarding materials in the collections whether it comes from parents or guardians, school employees, or students.
Most of the books were removed from district high schools over their sexual content.
Half the titles were listed by the district without authors.
- “A Shadow in the Ember” by Jennifer Armentrout
- “Roar” by Cora Carmack
- “A Stolen Life: A Memoir” by Jaycee Dugard
- “American Gods,” and “Stardust” by Neil Gaiman
- “As She Fades” by Abbi Glines
- “All the Ugly and Wonderful Things” by Bryn Greenwood
- “Carrie,” “The Bazaar of Bad Dreams,” and “Bag of Bones” by Stephen King
- “Gods and Monsters” and “Serpent & Dove” by Shelby Mahurin
- “Kingdom of the Cursed” by Kerri Maniscalco
- “A Feast for Crows” by George R.R. Martin
- “A Beautiful Wedding,” and “Beautiful Burn” by Jamie McGuire
- “Gravity’s Rainbow” by Thomas Pynchon
- “My Dark Vanessa” by Kate Elizabeth Russell
- “Not That Bad”
- “A Clockwork Orange”
- “A Spark of Light”
- “Because I’m Worth It”
- “Breathless”
- “Forever for a Year”
- “Forever”
- “Like a Love Story”
- “Me Being Me Is Exactly as Insane as You Being You”
- “Nineteen Minutes”
- “Rabbit & Robot”
- “Romeo and or Juliet: A Chooseable-Path Adventure”
- “Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls”
- “The Freedom Writers Diary”
- “This is Kind of an Epic Love Story”
- “When the World Tips Over”
According to Arnold, students may bring their own copy of any of these books to school to read despite their removal from school shelves.
The review of the 34 titles was given to Arnold by the school board who completed the task before the issue can be taken up by the board again. Arnold will present his findings at the board’s scheduled meeting this week but doesn’t expect much discussion regarding the matter as the books have been removed from circulation.
JCS board commissioner Doug Ibbetson has said that enforcing the law is a priority but Arnold has stated that identifying every single book that may violate the law is difficult with a catalog of 25,000 books and just two librarians.
Board commissioner Michelle Jinnette brought the nature of the books to the attention of the board during a meeting earlier this month, stating that she was “taken aback about how sexually explicit some of the material was.”
Sources:
WATE.
WVLT.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
