Iowa City schools releases 68 book titles removed from school libraries

IOWA CITY — The Iowa City Community School District released a list of about 70 book titles Monday removed from schools to comply with a new Iowa law that bans books with sexual content from school libraries.

The bill, Senate File 496, which was signed into law in May, bars from school libraries books that depict or describe sexual acts. It was a top priority of Reynolds and legislative Republicans during the 2023 legislative session. They said the measure will expand parents' rights and give parents more input into their children's education.

In an email to families Monday, Iowa City schools Superintendent Matt Degner said the district this year developed a team of administrators, curriculum coordinators, teachers and teacher librarians actively involved in reviewing library and instructional materials in regard to the new requirements.

“Our commitment remains steadfast in complying with these new requirements while also maintaining our dedication to supporting our students and fostering safe, welcoming and inclusive environments within our schools for all students,” Degner said in the email.

Iowa City’s book list was released after the district received a request from the Des Moines Register for a list of books that have been removed to date based on the review process.

The book review process is ongoing, Degner said. The law took effect July 1, but the Department of Education will only be able to penalize educators or administrators for violating the library restrictions starting Jan. 1.

The Iowa City list includes Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” which tells the story of a young African American girl after the Great Depression, and Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a futuristic dystopian novel set in a patriarchal, white supremacist, totalitarian state, which has overthrown the U.S. It also includes "A Thousand Acres,“ a novel written by Jane Smiley, a graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop at the University of Iowa.

Districts requested guidance from the state

Iowa school districts this summer said they were waiting for guidance from the Department of Education before identifying books to remove from libraries. But department officials said they would not issue additional guidance beyond a summary of legislation.

“As always, each school district is required to create their own policies and procedures for book selection and reconsideration that comply with Iowa law,” Department of Education spokesperson Heather Doe said in an email response to a question in August.

Eric St. Clair, the Department of Education’s liaison to the State Board of Education, told the board during an August meeting that the department may provide more guidance but it would be on a “case-by-case basis.”

Board President John Robbins, at the same meeting, said he’d heard from school districts that they would appreciate any information the state could provide.

“There’s a lot of confusion, people in the field that I’ve talked to are looking at the (department) or somebody to provide directions,” Robbins said. “Because right now people are kind of either guessing what is right or wrong, and not being in violation of the law.”

Some Iowa school districts began making lists of books they believed should be removed from libraries, based on the new law.

Teachers in the Urbandale school district said in July they received a list of nearly 400 books that they were told must be removed from classrooms to comply with the new state law. It included George Orwell’s “1984” and Joseph Heller’s “Catch 22”.

In the Mason City school district, an administrator asked ChatGPT — an artificial intelligence tool — to identify which books from a list of 42 titles included depictions of sex acts. Nineteen books were identified for removal, including “Friday Night Lights” by Buzz Bissinger.

Republican lawmakers who introduced and supported the bill said they didn’t understand why schools were confused about the language of the new law.

“A sex act is very precisely written in Iowa Code. Any depiction or description of a sex act is prohibited,” Sen. Ken Rozenboom, of Pella, told The Gazette in August. “It could not be more clear. I know everybody wants to muddy the waters; I do not know how it could be more clear.”

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