A Brandywine High School teacher who applied for a donation of books for the school library says she just wanted all students to have access to materials showing they’re heard and seen. Social studies teacher Abilyn Janke sought the donation of $5,000 in books from We Need Diverse Books, a non-profit. It announced this week it selected Brandywine and just four other schools out of around 100 applications to receive the award. Janke says seeing the board of education seek to remove some books from the school libraries has been disheartening.
“Speaking for myself and a handful of other employees, we feel a little bit lost and a little bit sad that this divisive thing is driving a wedge in our school district,” Janke said.
Janke says the process has lacked transparency, and it’s hard to say what books really are inappropriate for students. Some parents at meetings have read selected passages from books to demonstrate they’re harmful.
“Out of context, sure, there’s probably something they find upsetting, but in the whole of the book, maybe it’s an important part. Part of our application was that we really felt like we wanted to make sure all students in our student body population feel seen or heard and have access to books that showcase who they are.”
Janke says she and some other teachers learned about the We Need Diverse Books opportunity and got excited. While there’s a book purchase freeze in place at Brandywine’s libraries, she says people can still donate books. That’s the rule the teachers are going on now. The librarians will be tasked with selecting which titles to ask We Need Diverse Books to send.
