Hermon survey reveals residents help screening college library books for sexual content material
Hermon residents who weighed in on whether or not the college committee ought to put in place a coverage to undertake age-appropriate requirements for library books containing sexual content material supported the thought by 58 %, based on Councilor Danielle Haggerty, who spearheaded the hassle.
The council in January by a vote of 4-3 authorised spending as much as $6,000 to survey residents’ help for a coverage that might establish books with sexual content material within the city’s three colleges. The outcomes of the survey have been made public at Thursday’s council assembly.
Of the 5,095 surveys mailed, 1,146, or 22.5 %, have been returned. Of these, 581 strongly supported the coverage, 64 considerably supported it whereas 44 respondents considerably opposed the thought and 425 strongly opposed it. Some surveys have been returned that weren’t stuffed out.
The survey was not mailed to residents in Carmel and Levant, whose college students attend Hermon Excessive College.
Early this yr, the Hermon College Committee by a vote of 5-1 rejected the proposed coverage change. It was unclear Thursday what impact the survey would have after Hermon Excessive College Principal Brian Walsh introduced earlier this month that library books with grownup themes and content material can be positioned on a reserve shelf behind the circulation desk. Starting this fall, college students will want parental permission to take a look at the books and examine them out.
Voters on June 13 ousted incumbent college board member Kristen Shorey and elected Brian Veneziano, an advocate for a e book score system. He joins Haily Keezer, who was elected final yr. Keezer was the one member who supported altering the coverage to display books for sexual content material.
That applies solely to the highschool library so Walsh didn’t want board approval to implement the plan. It doesn’t apply to the center or elementary colleges however a gaggle of fogeys who screened library books claimed to have recognized 80 books with sexual content material. All however one e book was in the highschool library, based on a report on the screenings.
Keezer on Thursday praised the council for asking the neighborhood to weigh in, which “the college board was not keen to do.” She additionally praised Walsh’s efforts.
“I can’t say that might have occurred with out this suggestions from the neighborhood,” she stated of Walsh’s plan.
Deb Farnham known as the survey “a waste of taxpayer {dollars}.”
“It was a transfer to make some extent and that was not accountable,” she stated.
Haggerty, who was tasked with overseeing the survey and dealing to compile outcomes, stated that the response to the survey was excessive and confirmed that the difficulty is essential to Hermon residents.
The group of fogeys who advocated for adjustments to the library e book coverage claims its purpose is to not ban books however to steer the college committee to create a rankings system just like these used to price motion pictures, tv applications and video video games. Maine lawmakers in Augusta final week rejected a invoice that might have created such a rating system.
Conservative organizations throughout the nation have made comparable proposals however with little success so far in Maine.
The controversy in Hermon started when mother and father expressed concern over a show of LGBTQ+ books in the highschool library in late 2021. For greater than a yr, a gaggle of fogeys has organized and advocated for the college committee to implement a coverage that might establish library books that comprise sexual content material, however wouldn’t take away or ban them.
