AGE INAPPROPRIATE BOOKS ARE REMOVED FROM THE SORA STUDENT ONLINE LIBRARY
Recently, age-inappropriate library books were removed from New Hampshire’s Sora Student Online Library App. New Hampshire schools that use the SORA Library App share a catalog called “The Shared NH Collection”. The collection has been heavily criticized by parents who have found dozens of age-inappropriate sexual books throughout the collection. They report that the Sora Student Library is filled with junk and lacks quality student reading materials. There are zero Steinbeck books to read, yet 98 Pokémon books are readily available. Two hundred books appear after searching for the term “sex”. Unvetted sex education books are available by the dozen. Parents found that some of their children’s sexualized school library books even contain embedded hyperlinks to dangerous sources like adult dating apps and other adult-specific online sites.
Many schools that receive complaints about library content ignore parents and avoid addressing the problem. One Hillsboro Deering school board member said on record that she didn’t want anyone to have to read any of the books brought up by parents. Some schools require one book challenge at a time, with additional constraints on those policies limiting parents’ ability to protect their kids from the flood of pornography. The response to vocal parents in the Hillsboro Deering district has been to ban their children from using the schools’ libraries. They didn’t take out the porn; they removed the children. How is that logical? The library is FOR the children. Will other New Hampshire public schools follow their lead and ban students from libraries parents deem dangerous? Will they attempt to make accommodations? How many banned library students would lead to a change in school library cultivation practices? Who is your school library serving, the children or the adults?
The book “This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson was previously read aloud at Hillsboro Deering school board meetings by parents and even a local state representative. Concerns were voiced about the book’s embedded hyperlinks that take readers (school children) to Match (the adult dating app) in the part of the book that teaches… “How Sex Apps Work.” The link ostensibly traffics school children to sex seeking adults and goes on to teach the readers how to perform sexually for the adults they meet. It goes into graphic, inappropriate sexual detail and contains a significant amount of sexual misinformation.
As a writer and therapist, I strongly support the freedom to read, and I even support many school sex education programs. I do not support unapproved sex misinformation for children or hyperlinking them to ANY outside unvetted sources through their school devices, especially ADULT dating apps. Books with open embedded hyperlinks can lead our children to perilous places. Places no one notices but the opportunistic offender.
WHY NOW?
What worked to remove the dangerous content after all these years of parents’ complaints? AI. Artificial Intelligence. Parents began asking AI what was illegal about the hyperlinks in “This Book is Gay” and following through with the advice given. AI gave multiple suggestions about potential agencies to report the content to. Parents started by reporting the illegally embedded hyperlinks that are promoted to New Hampshire students.
Most hyperlink data mines information (collects and stores). It’s actually illegal to mine data from children under the age of 13. It violates “The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.” At least one parent filed a formal complaint with COPPA, claiming middle school students (kids under 13) in her district were being hyperlinked through their school library books. Parents followed through with ALL of the AI recommendations. One parent even spoke to the interim State Librarian, who was responsive. The State Librarian looked up the hyperlink herself and agreed to contact the Sora App developers (Overdrive).
Within a week of following through with all of the AI suggestions, the highly criticized book, “This Book is Gay,” quietly disappeared from the Shared NH Collection of the Sora Library App. Parents say they noticed other books that contained similar embedded hyperlinks were “on hold” or removed from the catalog. The Shared NH Collection of the Sora Library App no longer provides school children open hyperlinks to adult dating sites. The parents were finally heard.
Age-inappropriate sexual content still exists in school libraries (even the Sora Library), but the books with hyperlinks have been notably changed. Books with these links were either removed from the catalog, put into “on hold” status, or moved away from the under-13 readers. “This Book is Gay” was removed altogether. This is a big win for parents, but they say the few books removed were only a handful within a sea of age-inappropriate sexual content that still exists in their school libraries.
BOOK CHALLENGES
Challenging one inappropriate school library book at a time hasn’t been a logical solution. Dozens (sometimes hundreds) of age-inappropriate books are present in children’s school libraries, and the insertion of these books appears unstoppable. Only school policies or new state/federal laws will bring an end to the widespread problem of age-inappropriate school library content. Book challenges are a slow process, and school boards set many limitations on how often they can be done.
The process of removal is designed to be slower than the process of getting the inappropriate content IN. Organizations WANTING this content inserted into schools are sending free books (or book bundles) to school libraries in hopes of changing the culture (aka grooming the school community). Because many of these books have awards on them, the librarians believe they have greater value and shelve them (without reading them). Librarians often have no idea of the severity of the age-inappropriate content that has made it to their shelves. Once on the shelf, librarians take a hard stance on removal unless the book is culled out for a documented lack of interest. The American Library Association has guidelines on how to prevent the removal of books. These guidelines are not protective of children. They instead protect the distribution of age-inappropriate content and pornography to children. The World Library Association is a safe alternative to the American Library Association, but most schools follow the ALA guidelines.
BANNING
When the highly criticized children’s book “Flamer” was brought up by parents four years ago at a Hillsboro Deering School Board meeting, the school board chose to ban the parents’ children from the H-D school libraries as their solution. Is that a solution??? Those students ARE safer by not using the library, but why would taxpayers fund a sex library for the other SAU34 students? Shouldn’t the goal be to provide a safe, age-appropriate library accessible to ALL students? Sexual books can be sourced by other means if needed.
Book banning is really just a fallacy. ANY book is still available through other sources. The Bible is not present in any of the H-D school libraries, but no one claims they “banned” it. For some reason, it was omitted or never included. The most-read book in the world is not in every school library. OK. Parents can understand that (and access it elsewhere), but most parents are unaware of why there is adult-only content in a library primarily used by children. Can’t parents access any wanted sexual content for their kids on their own? Why put unvetted sexual content into SCHOOL libraries?
Ideologues and sex offenders will never stop trying to insert their ideologies wherever they can. Children are an easy target and can be manipulated to engage in learned inappropriate sexual behavior for years to come. They carry the message and practice what they learned. Sexual content without parental permission is NOT welcome in schools.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
If you don’t want age-inappropriate sexual content in your K-12 schools, demand that appropriate school library content/cultivation policies be developed and support bills that set age-appropriate boundaries around school children. Challenge inappropriate books, but know that without good school policies, there will likely be another age-inappropriate book to challenge. Ending the practice of including ANY age-inappropriate sexual content around children makes more sense. Set the boundaries BEFORE the inappropriate books get in.
Hillsboro’s Fuller Public Library does NOT engage in the same practices as the nearby Hillsboro Deering School District. Instead, the Fuller Library received the 2023 Library of the Year Award for its excellent work. The Fuller Library is a great role model for the Hillsboro Deering school board to follow. How can these two libraries be so close, yet be SO different?
Parents and taxpayers, which would you rather…unvetted adult sexual library content available to K-12 students, or cultivated age-appropriate content? I choose the cultivated age-appropriate content for my kids and ALL kids. Boundaries are expected around all children and always have been.
Thankfully, now Hillsboro Deering students (and all of the other NH students who use the Sora Library App) will no longer be linked to adult dating sites via the Sora Library App. Hopefully, school districts will begin to set new policies around exposing students to age-inappropriate sexual library content. Parents are expecting it.
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