DC School District Restores Gay-Themed Titles to Summer Reading Lists

By Rocco Staino -- School Library Journal, 7/2/2009

The Washington, DC, school district that had previously scrubbed gay-themed books from its summer reading list has restored all of the titles following objections from librarians and the capital’s gay and lesbian community.

The District of Columbia Public Schools added nine LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning) titles—including Justin Richardson’s And Tango Makes Three (S & S, 2005) and Todd Parr’s The Family Book (Little, Brown, 2003)—to its final list after a meeting between the school district and the District of Columbia Public Library on June 18—a few days after local schools had already closed for summer vacation.

A preliminary summer reading list that had omitted several gay-themed titles had appeared on the district’s summer reading Web site last week. Although it said the list was tentative and that a completed list would be released on June 26, pdf versions of each list, broken down by grade levels, were marked “Final”.

SLJ last week reported on a comment posted on the American Library Association’s GLBT listserve stating that “The DC (District of Columbia) Public Schools decided to scrub their summer reading list of all GLBT related books.”

The post, made by Jeanne Lauber, a librarian at the DC Public Library on the Yahoo! discussion group “Lezbrian,” went on to say, “Apparently the public library system told the schools which books were GLTB (not knowing why they were being asked) and the schools removed them.”

Both the DC Public Schools and the DC Public Library said they had no knowledge of the situation.

Among the titles now included are: Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You (Farrar, Straus, 2007) by Peter Cameron, Totally Joe (S & S, 2005) by James Howe, and Luna (Little, Brown, 2004) by Julie Anne Peters.

Was it odd that a final reading list was released after schools had closed for the summer? In short, yes, because these lists are typically distributed prior to the end of the school year and oftentimes they're shared with local public libraries, says Carole Fiore, past president of the Association for Library Service for Children and the project manager of Dominican University’s national leadership grant, “Do Public Library Summer Reading Programs Impact Student Achievement?”

The District of Columbia Public Schools says its lists were developed in conjunction with the public library, but that preliminary lists were posted online before the end of the school year to provide teachers and parents with a basic framework to work with.

Jennifer Calloway, a spokeswoman for DC public schools, says a final list was delayed because a number of books spanning all grade levels—including LBGTQ-themed titles—were still under review. A selection committee had planned to meet on June 18 to decide which books would appear on the final lists, she explains.

“All of the LGBTQ books reviewed are on the final list,” Calloway adds.

A complete list is now available on the district’s Web site and printed copies will be available at DC public libraries for children and parents.

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