School board majority votes to remove 2 more books from school libraries

During the regularly scheduled meeting of the Matanuska Susitna Borough School District (MSBSD) on April 17, 2024, which was held at Butte Elementary School, the MSBSD accepted the Library Citizen’s Advisory Committee (LCAC) recommendations to The School Board commissioned a Library Citizen Advisory Committee (LCAC) recommendations from their March 28, 2024, the meeting, which finalized recommendations related to five additional titles.

The LCAC unanimously voted 11-0 that one book, ‘Ugly Love,’ met the elements of criminal obscenity under Alaska Law, and additionally, another book, ‘A Court of Mist and Fury,’ in “a near unanimous vote of 8 to 1 (with two pending votes),” met the elements of criminal obscenity under Alaska Law. The LCAC recommended removal and the school board voted

The LCAC also advised that three titles might meet the elements of criminal obscenity under Alaska Law. These titles were ‘Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,’ ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses,’ and ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.’ The LCAC recommended these titles to be remanded to the MSBSD administration for a final decision if the books were ‘obscene’ and/or whether to restrict access to the title.

To date, the MSBSD school board has made final decisions related to 23 of the LCAC’s recommendations, with each of the previously reviewed titles determined by the school board to either be retained in circulations with any restrictions as determined by the Administration, removed from circulation, or remanded to the Administration for further review. There was no discussion when it came for a vote and the board approved the motion 6 to 1, with member Ted Swanson issuing the vote against the recommendations.