Redlands school board discusses changes to library policies aimed at balancing viewpoints

REDLANDS, Calif. — The Redlands Unified School Board continues to grapple with how to interpret policies centered around library materials. During a Sept. 8 Board of Education meeting, trustees discussed how the district should provide balanced viewpoints while giving librarians and administrators clear guidance for selecting appropriate materials.

The discussion focused on proposed changes to Board Policy 6144 and Board Policy 6163.1, which address instructional materials and library media centers.

The board did not take a vote on the changes during the meeting. Instead, members reached an agreement on revisions to the proposed language and discussed moving much of the implementation guidance into an administrative regulation.

Why it matters: The existing BP 6163.1 already states that library materials should represent opposing viewpoints on controversial issues. The proposed changes would further emphasize the district's goal of providing a balanced selection of library materials.

The debate, however, highlighted differing interpretations of what constitutes a controversial topic, what an “opposing viewpoint” means and who should be responsible for making those determinations.

Details: Superintendent Cabral said his concern about the implementation of the policies arose after he received a list of books and was asked to determine which titles should be considered controversial and require an opposing viewpoint.

Among the titles discussed were books about Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, Barack Obama and other public figures, as well as works of fiction such as The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan and Insurgent by Veronica Roth. 

“I don't have a problem with balanced books and I know we have a policy,” Cabral said during the discussion. “But what was being asked of me is to look at these lists of books and deem them controversial and then provide a balance.”

Board members disagreed over how broadly the concept of balance should be applied.

Board Member Candy Olson argued that the district should make a “reasonable effort” to ensure students have access to opposing viewpoints across political, social, economic and religious topics. Olson also pointed to what she described as an imbalance toward neutral or left-leaning materials. 

“We need opposing sides of every issue to be able to raise up critical thinkers,” Olson said.

One public commenter, Gina Porter, a Citrus Valley High School librarian, called into question whether the board really desired true balance, particularly when it came to religious texts.

“When the librarians came back in August, each of us received a copy of the Bible, the purchase of which, as I understand it, was mandated by the school board,” Porter said during the Sept. 8 meeting. “We were instructed to get these into our collections. In the interest of balance, fairness, and equity, I want to know where are the holy books from the other major world religions? Why are those not being added to our collection?”

Board member Melissa Ayala-Quintero questioned how the policy would be applied in practice, asking whether an “opposing viewpoint” would mean providing alternative perspectives on controversial topics. Examples raised during the discussion included whether teaching about slavery would require materials presenting an opposing viewpoint, whether books about evolution would need to be balanced with books about creationism, or whether materials about the Holocaust would require an alternative perspective.

The discussion also raised questions about whether the political views or public activism of authors and public figures should be considered when determining whether a book is controversial.

Board members examined the examples involving books about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, with Ayala-Quintero questioning why books about the entertainers should be considered politically controversial if the books primarily discuss their careers and personal lives.

“The goal shouldn’t be to balance the count of books coming in. The goal should be a library collection that contains books that are historically accurate and include a variety of viewpoints,”  Resident Michael Paisner said during the public comment period. “If Ms. Olson wants to curate libraries, she should go earn a master’s degree in library science.”

Cabral emphasized that the district already has several safeguards in place for library materials and that the issue was not whether individual books were appropriate, noting that the titles in question had gone through the district's existing approval process and were appropriate for the grade levels where they were placed.

According to the discussion, library orders are subject to an approval process, with principals ultimately approving orders. The district also allows parents to opt their children out of particular books and requires parent notification when students will have access to library books.

“I’m embarrassed by what you guys have done to the libraries,” Pat Molnar, an English teacher at Redlands High School, said during the public comment period. “In budgeting, leaders lead by example. Who’s faced the most cuts? Librarians. Who’s faced the most onerous requirements? Librarians, teachers, nurses.”

Policy changes discussed: Board members ultimately agreed to revise the proposed language in BP 6144 so that it would refer more broadly to “age-appropriate materials and a balanced selection of library content” rather than specifically requiring balance among books about U.S. presidents, as was previously discussed.

Members also agreed to remove a proposed paragraph from BP 6163.1 that would have specifically assigned responsibility to each school librarian or designee. Instead, board members discussed placing the remaining language concerning the process for selecting and ordering materials into an administrative regulation, which would provide guidance for implementing the existing board policy.

The proposed language would direct school librarians or their designees to make a “concerted effort” to provide a balanced selection of materials when ordering and reviewing available content.

Members also agreed that the language focusing on the purchase of materials presenting opposing viewpoints should include the qualification “if appropriate” to account for situations where an opposing viewpoint may not be suitable or necessary.

Moving forward: The discussion highlighted a continuing question for the district: how librarians and administrators would determine when a particular book or topic warrants an opposing viewpoint.

Board Member Jeanette Wilson noted that the district operates 26 schools and that library collections vary from campus to campus. Cabral said any new policy would need clear enough guidelines for staff to implement consistently.

“If we pass a policy, I want to implement it, and I want to make sure that it gets implemented correctly,” Cabral said.

The board ultimately agreed during the discussion to keep BP 6163.1 largely unchanged while adding an administrative regulation addressing implementation. Members also agreed to revise the language in BP 6144 to focus on a balanced selection of library materials rather than specifically books about presidents.

The board will need to formally consider the proposed policy and administrative regulation changes at a future meeting before they can take effect.

The Sept. 8 discussion was listed as a discussion item, and no vote was taken on the proposed changes during the meeting.