Attempts to ban literature bring out fighting spirit

Anaheim librarian Chris Enterline called in the American Civil Liberties Union when the district tried to keep her from making sure diverse populations of students could find something relevant in the school library.

Librarian Chris Enterline hardly looks like a freedom fighter as she neatly stacks the shelves. But when her district tried to ban books about gays and lesbians in the school library where she worked, she got fighting mad and went to bat for students’ First Amendment rights.

At the time, the Anaheim Secondary Teachers Association (ASTA) member was a librarian at Orangeview Junior High School in Anaheim.

When the murder of a gay youth named Matthew Shepard made national headlines, she worried that gay students might be having a difficult time at the school and were in need of some positive role models. She also wanted to dispel negative stereotypes among straight students and increase their compassion and understanding.

To accomplish these goals, she ordered a series of 10 biographies focusing on the contributions of gay people to society, titled Lives of Notable Gay Men and Lesbians. The books profiled Georgia O’Keeffe, Martina Navratilova, Oscar Wilde and Liberace, among others.

Enterline took the books, which were recommended for students ages 14 and older, to her principal, who noted that the books focused on the accomplishments, not the sex lives, of their subjects. “She flipped through them and said, ‘I don’t see a problem.’ I figured it was finished and that it was not going to be a big deal.”

She figured wrong.

A few days later, the books were off the shelves, ostensibly to be “previewed” further. When they stayed missing, the librarian asked when they might be returned and received no answer. When she inquired about the books again, nobody seemed to know where they were. Finally, she met with three administrators, who asked her point-blank if she had ordered the books because of the subjects’ accomplishments or because they were about gay people.

“I said both,” says Enterline. “The books were all about people who were noteworthy in their respective fields, and I was also trying to make sure that diverse populations were represented in the library.” She explained that she had been trying to beef up the biography section in a variety of reading areas and interest levels as well as adding works representing minority groups and people of faith.

When the superintendent said that gays were a “different” minority, Enterline said, “Yes, it’s a different minority, but still a minority.”

After going around and around with her administrators, she called in the American Civil Liberties Union. A lawsuit was filed on behalf of a student who had an older gay brother. The district argued that the books were inappropriate because they were geared to students in high school (14 and older), not junior high.

Eventually, a compromise settlement was reached: The books would go to a high school in the district, and Enterline could order 10 new books on the same subject matter, but geared to middle school students. The district was required to establish a “selection policy” under which librarians would be encouraged to order books that represented diversity within the student body, including sexual diversity.

“We won, but the issue doesn’t go away,” laments the librarian, who now works at Cypress High School and Lexington Junior High School. “I suppose I was brave at some level, but I was so angry by the time it was through, it didn’t feel like bravery — it felt like frustration. I think gays are one of the few minorities where people think it’s still okay to discriminate against them. Public schools should be advocating for all our kids and trying to build their self-esteem. Gay kids in particular have a rough time of it.”

Glynda Rickard, an English teacher at Western High School in Anaheim and an ASTA member, was less successful in her fight to use the book Beloved  in her class.

Several years ago, teachers were encouraged to “pilot” books in their classes as core novels. Rickard chose the Pulitzer Prize-winning book about slavery by Toni Morrison.

“It felt like we had freedom to try new things and new books,” recalls Rickard, who chairs the English department. “At that time the senior literature courses were pretty much all classics. I have nothing against the classics, but they are difficult for a lot of students, and other books are more accessible. I tried out a number of books. Beloved worked extraordinarily well with my students.”

Some adults voiced objections to the book, which Rickard admits is “difficult and edgy” and describes sexual abuse. When the school board determined that teachers could not use the book in their classrooms, the controversy made the newspapers.

“In the Los Angeles Times, one of the  school board members admitted he hadn’t actually read it, but voted against it anyway. It’s still off the list. The school board has the right to determine what’s read in the classroom.”

Afterward, Rickard figured teachers would face more censorship from the school board, but that hasn’t happened. She’s afraid it may be because of “prior censorship” on the part of teachers. “What happens is that teachers don’t propose books they think the school board will vote down.”

Such self-censorship means teachers are reluctant to try new books their students might relate to. “Sometimes it’s not a choice between Jane Austen and young adult writers,” she explains. “Sometimes it’s getting students to read at all.”

When a community member decided to challenge her right to use the book "Aways Running" in her college prep English class at Beyer High School, Melissa Alvarado got the Modesto Teachers Association, her superintendent and her principal to back her up when she went before the school board to defend the book.The board voted 4-3 to allow her to use it.

Inside Melissa Alvarado’s 11th-grade college prep English class at Beyer High School in Modesto, a spirited discussion is under way about Ray Bradbury’s futuristic novel Fahrenheit 451. Students decide the author’s message is about self-expression and censorship.

“But what if something offends someone?” asks Alvarado, a member of the Modesto Teachers Association. “Should we still say it?”

“It’s one thing to offend someone else,” says student Anemone R. Jones. “It’s another thing to get the government involved.” Alvarado smiles at the response. Yes, she agrees, it is completely different.

A few years ago, Alvarado took on the local government — her school board — to fight for the right to use the book

“I was looking for literature that some of my lower-level students could connect with,” explains Alvarado. “I had a very diverse group of kids, and not all of them could connect with authors who were all dead white guys.”

She looked at the district’s supplemental reading list and decided to request permission to use

“I was surprised that it was on the list because it was so current and interesting,” Alvarado remarks. “I talked to my assistant principal in charge of curriculum, told him I was interested in teaching the book, received permission, placed the order and started using it in 2003-04.”

The students connected to the book in a big way, she says. Classroom participation increased, critical thinking skills were expanding and assignments were being completed enthusiastically.

Then one day a visitor showed up in her classroom unannounced, and asked if the students were reading

Always Running. Alvarado answered yes, and the woman left without saying another word. Later, Alvarado learned that her visitor was a community member whose own children were home-schooled, but who nonetheless had taken on the role of monitoring morality within Modesto classrooms. The visitor considered Always Running to be immoral.

Within a few days, the principal came into Alvarado’s classroom, apologized and said he needed to “pull” the book under orders from the superintendent and the school board.

Alvarado contacted the Modesto Teachers Association (MTA), which promised its full support. “I was crying, not because I feared for my job, but because I felt it was unfair. I hadn’t had a voice in the decision-making at all, and it was a real letdown for the kids. Nobody focused on the maturity my kids were showing as a result of this book or how much learning was going on. They only focused on the part of the book that had foul language and sexual abuse.”

After reassuring the students that she wasn’t going to lose her job, the discussion segued into censorship. She encouraged her outraged students to “fight with their heads” and write letters to school board members describing how they felt about the book and why they should be allowed to read it.

Alvarado defended the use of the book before the school board and, much to her relief, received strong backing from her superintendent and principal. The school board voted 4-3 to allow use of the book.

By the time of the decision, months had passed, but Alvarado and her students opted to immediately resume Always Running.

The whole experience “was really stressful for me,” the teacher recalls. Being featured in the local newspaper and suffering a lot of upsetting “cheap shots,” she developed a thick skin. “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

The fight was definitely worth it, says Alvarado. “I was reaching kids with this book. I have students who come from broken homes, have problems with the law, problems with truancy — and a whole gamut of kids at risk of not graduating from high school and ruining their lives at a young age. Because of this book, we had honest discussions about what kids thought about. We talked about the author’s purpose and agreed that the gang problem cannot be tackled unless you look at the reasons people join gangs in the first place.” During the controversy, Imogene Engebretsen, a librarian and MTA member at nearby Johansen High School, decided to invite the author of Always Running to visit the district. Luis Rodriguez was unavailable to appear at the school board meeting, but accepted an invitation to an all-day Minority Affairs Event sponsored by MTA and CTA. “I have had several copies of his books in the library and many of them have been stolen because it’s so popular,” says Engebretsen.

“During this controversy, the Modesto Bee called me and wanted the names of students who read the book. I told them that this violates privacy. But a Bee reporter went to the library and talked to the kids and got lots of positive comments. Students just love the book; I can’t keep it on the shelf.”

At the MTA-CTA Minority Affairs Event, some school board members and administrators showed up to meet with the author and discuss the book. It was, says the librarian, a good showing of support for academic freedom.

“The book was written to steer kids away from gang life,” says Engebretsen. “That was his intent. He wanted to get the message out that it’s dirty and violent. And we helped him to do that.”

“It was important to take a stand,” says Alvarado. “I really think that teachers are the best judge of how to reach their students. As long as curriculum is standards-based, teachers should have some flexibility to bring into the classroom what they think will motivate kids. A lot of the curriculum is decided for us, but there has to be some creativity left for the teacher.”