St. Francis Area Schools to reverse book ban policy

The St. Francis Area Schools said Tuesday it will return dozens of banned books to its library shelves and revise its library acquisitions policy as part of a settlement with the local teachers union.

The union sued the northern Twin Cities-area district earlier this year on behalf of eight St. Francis students in response to a district policy that required officials to use a conservative website as a gauge to help choose books to buy for school libraries. 

Following a mediation session Monday, the district agreed to change its library policy and remove requirements that the conservative website Book Looks be used to screen books under consideration for library use. 

Instead, the library acquisitions policy will seek input from parents, qualified library media specialists and state law. 

The district will also return books that were removed from school library shelves, including titles by Toni Morrison, Eli Wiesel and Margaret Atwood. 

“We achieved this settlement because parents, students our community and even Minnesota authors stood with educators to defend the freedom to read in public schools,” Ryan Fiereck, president of Education Minnesota-St. Francis, said in a statement. 

“The students’ stories and commitment to fixing this terrible policy were particularly inspiring,” Fiereck added. 

A Minnesota law passed last year prohibits public and school libraries from banning books based on the messages or opinions they carry. The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota also sued the St. Francis district over its policy.

District officials said the settlement was in “the best interest of our students, staff and community.”