SEQUIM — The Spoken Word Revolution (slam, hip hop & the poetry of a new generation) will stay in the Sequim High School library because its poetry opens up the wider world.
That was the Sequim School District Board of Directors’ decision in a special meeting Monday.
They responded to a complaint about Revolution from parent Tim Richards, who said the book’s inclusion in the library showed him the district needs clearer boundaries when it comes to obscene content.
Richards said he read Revolution after his 17-year-old son checked it out while conducting research for a literature project.
The book contains profanity and references to sex, drugs and mistreatment of women, Richards said, that are inappropriate for young teens.
He asked the School Board to consider instituting a policy in which librarians would send home postcards listing which library books students check out.
“This just keeps parents abreast of what their kids are reading,” Richards said.
‘Redeeming book’
Sequim High’s social studies department chairman, Michael Lippert, called that a fine idea.
But high school students aren’t always going to comply, he said, and librarians are overloaded with work already.
“Overall, this book is a very redeeming book,” Lippert added.
And if every book with something offensive between its covers is taken out of the library, “30 to 40 percent of the books could disappear from the shelves.”
Then Sequim Middle School librarian Jo Chinn pleaded with the board to keep Revolution available. Students need a variety of materials to read, she said, so they can vicariously explore communities outside their own.
Chinn’s daughter, who is African American, needs books such as Revolution to reveal the literature composed by people of color, she added.
