Senator Charles Perry told the Lubbock ISD board last week the Legislature will take action if the district fails to remove books from school libraries he described as obscene, vulgar and derogatory.
Perry spoke at the June 25 trustee meeting – and provided excerpts of a particular book to board members without naming the book and author.
Perry told LubbockLights.com a day later, “I did not read them publicly. I didn’t want to give credit to the author nor the text. It’s trash and shouldn’t be there.”
Superintendent Kathy Rollo said, “The books that Senator Perry was concerned about, I have the same concerns. I mean, it was not something I would want my own child to be reading and so it shouldn’t be something that’s in our library.” But she added it’s against the law for her to remove books.
Other people also spoke during the meeting about books – including Anne Ivey who took issue with “Kingdom of the Cursed.”
“On the LISD website, it describes this book as a New York Times bestselling author – a sweepingly romantic sequel. In the world of reality, this book contains dark content, assassinations, murder … animal cruelty, death, drug and alcohol use, explicit obscene sexual activities, gore, torture, and excessive profanity. … I ask you, does that sound romantic?” Ivey said.
Rollo said Lubbock ISD followed the law exactly, creating a special committee last year to review and pull books off the shelf when needed.
We asked Rollo how objectionable books got into the libraries in the first place.
“A lot of times librarians would order books in bundles,” Rollo said.
Books would be bundled based on what was popular and award-winning.
“We have since learned that that’s not always going to be a safeguard for some books,” Rollo said.
Lubbock ISD stopped ordering new books for a year-and-a-half while things were under review, Rollo said.
“But that doesn’t necessarily help us with some of the books that had been ordered in previous years,” Rollo said.
Perry unhappy with LISD’s SLAC process
Lubbock ISD created the Student Library Advisory Committee which reviews books and votes on whether they are okay for elementary, middle school and high school libraries.
SLAC met for the first time in November.
Nancy Sharp, board president, told LubbockLights.com, “We felt like the process had been followed according to the legislation as it was laid out. As you may know, this legislation passed last June and we immediately had to implement it. And so, I think we have followed the law as clearly as possible.”
Perry said, “To LISD’s credit, and to their point, they followed the statutes. Now, it took them an inordinate amount of time to get around to doing it. … But here’s the thing. They made it extremely difficult to find out what books are on the library shelves. They’ve made it extremely difficult to have a book removed.”
Rollo said there are difficulties in state law – for example how to handle requests for an appeal if a book stays in the school library when it was already approved under previous versions of state law. Even with help from the Texas Association of School Boards, it’s been difficult, she said.
It is against the law for me to go into the library myself and pull books off the shelves. I mean, that is absolutely against the law.
kathy rollo
“It is against the law for me to go into the library myself and pull books off the shelves. I mean, that is absolutely against the law,” Rollo said.
“The senator was very concerned because the book does have some very inappropriate language throughout the book. And he shared that with me, and I did not disagree with him,” Rollo said.
Perry put more emphasis on results than process, saying, “The Legislature has made it extremely clear, not one session, but probably three, and they’ve consistently gone after this material for the right reasons.”
“This book that I spoke about last night went through the process. It was already on the shelves, and it was put back on the shelves through the process, and then a reconsideration form was filed – properly and timely – and the five-member board voted 3-2 to put that book back on the shelf,” Perry said.
Some attorney “got real cute,” when creating the LISD process for reviewing books, Perry said.
“What’s on the shelves today is not where we want to land,” Perry told the school board.
Then he mentioned possible revisions to state law.
I will take back the SLAC committee processes and we will have statute revisions if necessary. I hope this board can appreciate that.
charles perry
“I will take back the SLAC committee processes and we will have statute revisions if necessary. I hope this board can appreciate that,” Perry told the school board, adding, “I wouldn’t want to be on the SLAC committee for love or money.”
“I would ask that you entertain a different process for removing what should never have been on shelves to begin with. … There are smarter ways to get to where we need to end,” Perry said.
Most Texas districts “got the message” about library books. But if there is new legislation, he has not quite decided yet what it should look like, Perry said.
“I will consider all options on the table. We have not had punitive – if you will or financial – consequences of not complying with state law,” Perry said.
“I’m not hoping to go there,” Perry said.
Perry plans to meet with district officials again in the coming weeks.
What’s the book and why is it controversial?
Perry did not mention the book by name, but LubbockLights.com independently confirmed the book is “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.”
The book by Jesse Andrews tells the story of a high school senior who reconnects with his childhood friend who has been diagnosed with cancer. In the storyline, he made a movie about her, but it was screened without his permission. Shortly after this, she died. After a period of personal struggle, he decided to apply for admission to film school.
The American Libraries Magazine reported the book was the seventh most challenged book on library shelves in 2024, making the top 10 list a few years in a row. In 2021, the magazine’s website said some considered the book to be “sexually explicit and degrading to women.”
It was also made into a movie in 2015 that was rated PG-13.
Click here to see excerpts – reader discretion is strongly advised.
How SLAC works
Parents, employees or even residents of the district can fill out a form to challenge a book, according to the LISD website.
“It goes straight to the chairman of the SLAC committee. And again, the SLAC is appointed by our board,” Rollo said.
“The chairman will assign it to one of the committee members to read, and then the committee member brings it back to the SLAC at the next meeting and shares what they believe needs to happen with the book,” Rollo said.
SLAC has voted to remove books, Rollo said.
“That recommendation goes to our Board of Trustees at the next meeting,” Rollo added.
We do not have complaints from students. And we really don’t have complaints from parents very often either. It’s more community members.
kathy rollo
“We do not have complaints from students. And we really don’t have complaints from parents very often either. It’s more community members,” Rollo said.
Protections are in place
Safeguards were put in place, Rollo said. Librarians have additional oversight.
“We have since, in the last four to five years, developed a district-wide process where there’s vetting that goes on for each and every acquisition before it is made,” Rollo said.
Books have to be listed on the district website before final approval for purchase.
Sharp told Lubbock Lights there are two ways parents can oversee their kids’ library activity.
Lubbock ISD parents can say, ‘I don’t want my child to read this book and this book and this book,’ whatever books they choose. And they’re flagged.
nancy sharp
“Lubbock ISD parents can say, ‘I don’t want my child to read this book and this book and this book,’ whatever books they choose. And they’re flagged.”
“The librarian or clerk says, ‘I’m sorry. Your parents do not want you to read that book.’ So, they are not allowed to check it out. We’ve already got that process,” she said,
“Every parent gets an e-mail letting them know, ‘Your child has selected this book, and it is in their hands.’ So, we’ve got two ways for parents to be able to exercise control of what their child reads,” Sharp said.
The electronic download library was taken offline, Sharp said, after Senate Bill 13 in the most recent legislation session. She said the system could not send an email to parents.
But keeping physical books in a library is important, she said.
“We feel like having books and librarians and people who can go and help kids learn how to research and utilize materials is an important learning tool,” Sharp said.
Rollo said, “I will tell you that our circulation rate for library books is relatively low. We don’t have a lot of kids checking out physical books anymore, which is sad, but they have access to so much content on their phones and tablets.”
The book that got Perry’s attention was off the shelf for a year while it was under reconsideration.
“It had been checked out – I think – 24 times since 2012 at one campus, 40-something at another and like a dozen at another site,” Rollo said.
That works out to a little more than six times a year, if it was on the shelf for 12 years total.
SLAC voted on the book in March.
“They decided to go ahead and ratify any decisions that had been made by previous committees,” Rollo said.
It went back to the high schools only, not middle schools or elementaries.
In defense of the books
In the most recent SLAC meeting in May, Vera Rose Giemza, a senior at Lubbock High School, and her mother, spoke during public comments.
“This is a pattern that we’re seeing increase over time. People are deliberately targeting public schools and essentially punishing staff,” Giemza said.
“Books are not at all the largest threat,” Giemza said.
“Many of the people involved with book banning at this current time have simply not been in school recently enough to really know many of the premier concerns that many of our students are facing. … they’re really just ensuring that these public schools are even less equipped,” Giemza said.
Access to controversial literature was vital for students to learn critical thinking, she said.
“This is how we learn. We do not learn by having our own beliefs reinforced over and over again or having our parents’ beliefs reinforced over and over again,” Giemza said.
Her mother said, “Many of these challenges were driven by political websites rather than people actually reading the books they wanted removed. This was an abuse of the process.”
Sharp had another concern – taking the book off the shelf at school does not stop anyone from finding it.
“‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’ is in the city/county library. I checked one out myself last week, and nobody’s protesting at the council meeting,” Sharp said.
