Last modified: December 5, 2023

4021 P1: Process for Removal of Library Materials

Download 4021 P1: Process for Removal of Library Materials

School library specialists, under the guidance of a district library specialist, periodically remove library materials from the school library for the following reasons:

Poor physical condition
Lack of use/check-out by students
Inclusion of inaccurate or dated information

Books will also be removed if they are found to violate state law regarding sensitive materials; in this case, sensitive refers to pornographic or indecent materials. This process will be used if a District student, parent/guardian of a District student, or District employee petitions to have a book/library media removed from a library on the grounds of pornographic or indecent material.

District student (who is enrolled and attending), parent/guardian of district student (who is enrolled and attending), or employee of district submits F2: Request to Remove Library Material. This request requires the parent/guardian or employee (but not student) to attest they have read the entire book/visual media prior to submission. Each person may submit a maximum of three F2: Requests to Remove Library Material per school year. Individuals may choose to submit requests for library materials reviews via the Utah State Board of Education’s hotline and the State Board will forward the concerns to the district; district staff will direct the inquiring party to complete F2: Request to Remove Library Material.
In an effort to solve problems at the lowest level, a school administrator, from the represented school, receives F2: Request to Remove Library Materials and meets/communicates with the applicant to review the request and process. If the applicant wishes to proceed, the F2: Request to Remove Library Material is forwarded to a district administrator.
In further effort to solve problems at the lowest level, a district administrator receives F2: Request to Remove Library Materials and meets/communicates with the applicant to review the request and process. This occurs within ten school days of the prior meeting with the school administrator. If the applicant wishes to proceed, the district administrator adds the applicant and book/media title to the docket for the District Library Materials Review Committee.
The district administrator will chair each District Materials Review Committee and invite the following members to the committee:
- Two school administrators
- Three English Language Arts teachers (with at least one coming from the school where the/a Request was made)
- One school or district Library Specialist
- Four parents/guardians of district students, with at least one coming from the school where the request/s was/were made. Principals will solicit school PTA/PTO and School Community Council leadership to identify potential parent representatives. The district administrator will consult with district Diversity & Equity Coordinator to ensure committees represent various groups in the community.
- The applicant, and their relatives, may not participate on the Committee for a book they submitted.
Each month (September through May), a District Library Materials Review Committee will meet to review the challenged book docket. Groups will be formed in elementary and secondary levels. Each month, approximately 3-4 chapter books or 10-12 picture books, at a maximum, will be assigned to each committee to read over two months. The chair of the committee will select the books in the order they appear on the docket. The books will be provided by the district to committee teachers. While a docket of contested books will be public (in addition to the committee decision on the book, when determined), names of committee members and petitioners will remain confidential. Members of the public, including students, parents, and employees, may provide written feedback to the members of the committee reviewing an item on the docket via F3: Library Materials Review Public Input. During the review process, committee members should avoid public input and lobbying from any sources outside of the official F3 feedback tool.
6. Each Committee will meet one month to review the Requests and preview the books, and two months later will reconvene to discuss and vote on the Request. A simple majority vote will make the decision. All schools in the level (elementary or secondary) will, if the Committee determined to remove the book, will remove the book(s) from school libraries within one week of the decision’s communication. The secondary committee may make one decision for the middle school level and a different decision for the high school level.
The chair of the Committee will communicate the decision on the Request to the applicant, school administrator, school library specialist, and district library specialist—in writing— within five working days of the decision. Books cannot be reconsidered for removal for at least four years after a Committee review.
If the original person who made the request to review library materials disagrees with the Committee’s decision, that person may appeal to the local Board of Education within ten school days of the decision by contacting the Superintendent. The local Board of Education will solely consider whether the policy has been followed in the appeal decision; it will uphold the decision if the policy was followed, and if they deem the policy was not followed, will assign a new committee to review the library material again.
Within five school days after a decision to remove library materials, the district library specialist shall contact all school library specialists with instructions to remove the text(s) from all school libraries. Additionally, the district library specialist shall notify the following groups about the decision to remove library materials:
- Superintendent and Executive Council
- All school principals
- All K-12 teachers
- The local Board of Education
- The Utah State Board of Education, via the state-specified tracker

4021 P1: Process for Removal of Library Materials

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