Books

Books Under Fire in Walla Walla, Washington: How To Support the School Board’s Decision

A pair of white women calling themselves “For Our Kids Walla Walla” is staging its second pre-school board meeting public prayer session tomorrow, Wednesday, February 9, in order to create support for removing numerous books from the Walla Walla school district’s shelves.

The women filed a reconsideration request for Gender Queer, All Boys Aren’t Blue, The Hate U Give, and The Bluest Eye. After following the procedures outlined in the school district’s reconsideration process, the Library Materials Committee voted to keep the books on shelves.

Both women filed an appeal of the decision, and now the discussion is back on the public school board agenda for this week. All of the details of the complaints, as well as the Library Materials Committee timeline and decisions are available to the public here, as is the information about tomorrow night’s appeal.

If you’re in Walla Walla, now is the time to email your school board in support of their decision. The meeting is scheduled for in-person at 5:30 pm local time, if you’re able to show up in person. Contact information for each member of the board is available here.

Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.