CHEYENNE — Wyoming’s largest school district is considering a library book procurement policy for controversial sexually themed materials that, if passed, would likely be the strictest in the state.
Laramie County School District No. 1 in Cheyenne is discussing a policy that would prevent new books containing “sexually explicit content” of any kind from entering elementary schools and discourage them from being included in junior and high school libraries.
People opposed and supportive of the proposed policy agree it would be the most stringent policy in a state where many school districts are tightening their regulations.
What’s defined as sexually explicit relies on a wide-sweeping definition covering all sexual acts.
In short, if a book contains a sex scene, the district’s librarians would be at least discouraged from buying it.
Since the school district established a new policy for identifying books with sexually explicit content in its circulation last year, there have been 21 titles added to it, almost at the high school level. Any member of the public can nominate books for this disclaimer.
“It's important, because current policies are not being properly followed and have allowed sexually explicit books into our school libraries, a place with which they do not belong,” said Patricia McCoy, chair of the Cheyenne chapter of Moms For Liberty.
Marcie Kindred, one of the lead organizers of Wyoming Family Alliance for Freedom, is opposed to the proposed policy, which she said amounts to a book ban based on too wide a definition of “sexually explicit.”
“Sexually explicit does not mean without value or merit,” she said. “Sexuality is a part of our life. Teenagers are involved in that with their developmental understanding.”
She said the proposed policy also confirms the suspicions she’s had all along about people wanting to revise the district’s library book policies.
“It confirms they’re trying to keep out books they don’t like personally,” Kindred said.
LCSD1 Board of Trustees Chairman Tim Bolin declined to comment on the proposal as it’s still in its 45-day public comment period.
How It Works
Selection of library materials at the elementary level will be supervised by a district librarian or content area coordinator and cannot contain sexually explicit content.
Selections made at the junior and high school level shall be made by district librarians, who must “endeavor” to select materials, whether free or purchased, that do not contain sexually explicit content.
Materials that meet state and or federal legal definitions for pornography or obscenity will not be included in district library collections.
Kindred said this removes the element of parental choice.
A public records request performed by Cheyenne attorney George Powers shows that 29 of the first 33 nominations were made by a single person, according to an op-ed he wrote for the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.
Kindred also pointed to the fact that during an April school board meeting on this topic, an excerpt was read from a sexually explicit book that is not in circulation in any school library in Wyoming, as proof those fighting for the book policy changes are using “misinformation and sensationalism to scare the public into believing their lies.”
When her daughter was a freshman and sophomore at Cheyenne South High School, McCoy said she checked out books with sexually explicit material and knows other parents who have dealt with similar issues.
When McCoy attempted to read a passage from one aloud at a LCSD1 board meeting, Bolin would not let her.
Check-Out Changes
The new policy on procurement would not apply to books already in the library system.
Last year, the LCSD1 board of trustees approved a new policy that removed the district’s “opt-out” policy and replaced it with an “opt-in” policy for checking out sexually explicit books from its school libraries. This changed the responsibility to the parents to actively decide if they want their children to access sexually explicit books rather than only deciding if they don’t want to access them.
Under that change, parents and guardians have an ability to opt-out their children from being allowed to either check out any books flagged for containing sexually explicit content, allow their children to only check out specific titles containing this content, full access without restrictions, or no access to any books.
Context
In 2023, Park County School District 1 in Powell passed a new book selection and adoption policy for its school district. According to the Powell Tribune, this includes considerations such as supporting standards, user appeal, maturity, favorable reviews from “authoritative sources,” diversity of viewpoints, and representation from religious, ethnic and cultural authors.
In addition to the criteria, the librarians there are supposed to take input from stakeholders in accordance with the district’s mission and values.
The school district also created more options for the removal and restriction of existing books by developing a scoring rubric for a book’s content and the creation of a committee to review removal requests.
Sheridan County School District 1 in Big Horn is also considering new policies for removing library books from its shelves.
In Gillette, the head librarian of the Campbell County Public Library System was fired in 2023 after refusing to move contested books from the juveniles’ sections of the libraries to the adult sections.
McCoy said she is very confident the LCSD1 board will approve the new policy.
“I have faith in our community and many people I have spoken with are in favor of the new procurement policy,” she said. “It is up to us as educators, parents, and community members to protect our children's innocence and allow them to be children.”
The policy’s review period will be open until 4 p.m. May 23. The board of trustees will decide whether to pass the procurement policy at its June 3 meeting.
NOTE: Wyoming Family Alliance for Freedom is not affiliated with Wyoming Family Alliance.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
