New policy at St. Francis Area Schools puts spotlight on book bans

ST FRANCIS, Minn. — Under a new policy, a slew of books could be banned from St. Francis Area Schools’ (SFAS) media centers if they are formally challenged. 

That includes “Night” by Elie Wiesel — a memoir of Wiesel’s experience in the Nazi concentration camps during World War II. 

“Is this board willing to go… we are not going to have a book, a true story, about the Holocaust in our library?” asked school board member Nathan Burr, during the SFAS school board meeting on Nov. 25. 

During the meeting, the school board voted 4-3 in favor of using “BookLooks.org” and its ratings to determine which books get banned from the district’s libraries. 

Board members Pamela Johnson, Amy Kelly, Rob Schoenrock, and Annette West voted in favor of using Book Looks as its sole resource. Burr, Board Vice-Chair Jill Anderson and Board Chair Mike Starr voted against it.

“Why use just the one?” asked Starr. “We discussed why Book Looks should not be the only one because Book Looks is a very conservative company.”

Book Looks was started by Emily Maikisch, a former member of Moms for Liberty. She told USA Today in Oct. 2023 that she left the group in March 2022 to launch Book Looks. 

On Book Looks’ website, it says it is not affiliated with Moms for Liberty or with any other groups. “However, we do communicate with other individuals and groups with whom there is an intersection of mission and values. We are focused on gathering and making information available to anyone who can make use of it, including individual parents or the groups representing their interests. We commonly allow these entities to use our work and accept suggestions for books to look at.”

During the Nov. 25 meeting, Kelly said, “We’re red here. We’re not always going to be on the same page but I know we’re conservative. They don’t want this stuff in the libraries.”

Kelly specifically talked about the book “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” which received a 3 rating from Book Looks. Anything rated 3-5, if formally challenged, would get removed; if it’s not already in the library, it would not get added. 

According to SFAS Superintendent Karsten Anderson, two books have already been removed based on Book Looks: “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” and “Out of Darkness.” 

“We typically don’t use the word book ban. Instead, we’ve been using the phrase ‘book removal’ because if there’s a book in the library, then you know someone can challenge it and then we can remove the book. There’s not a total ban on the book. For example, students can still bring that book into school. They can be used during classes as part of curriculum,” Anderson said. 

Anderson said Book Looks only has a few hundred books reviewed so the school’s committee will still review books not on that list to determine whether a book stays or goes. 

Starr said there are nine resources out there to grade books and that the school’s attorney and Supt. Anderson did not recommend only using Book Looks. 

“We’re definitely hearing multiple perspectives before the decision and after the decision,” Supt. Anderson said. 

A new state law went into effect earlier this year that prohibits banning books in public and school libraries, “based solely on its viewpoint or the messages, ideas or opinions it conveys.” 

“What could happen? Could we be sued or not? I’ve been hearing on the outside, there’s some people out there looking to maybe sue the school district,” said Starr, who is finishing up his term on the school board. 

Supt. Anderson said he has reached out to the Minnesota Department of Education for guidance on this policy and is waiting to hear back. 

Three new school board members start in January so the policy could be brought up again. 

KARE 11 reached out to those who voted in favor of the policy. Schoenrock referred us to Starr and Supt. Anderson. Kelly, Johnson and West did not return our email. Book Looks also did not respond to our request for an interview.