KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — The Kalamazoo Public School District’s “Diverse Classroom Libraries Project” is sparking some complaints, confusion, and misinterpreted information from community members.
According to a statement from KPS, the project, which launched in the fall of 2018, “was designed specifically to increase student access to books by and about people of color, because more than 60 percent of the district’s student population comes from communities of color.” So the district has been working on adding books to their local school libraries that better represent the make-up of the student body.
However, earlier this month at a school board meeting, two parents complained that the LGBTQ community was not included. Parents Sarah Davis and Rebecca McCleary argued that LGBTQ+ themed books have been intentionally left out of the mix and the decision not to have this literature, “fails our students.”
In a standing-room only meeting on Thursday, the board explained that their first priority was addressing racial inequities and that the Diverse Classroom Libraries Project is still a work in progress.
“We knew from the start that it would take multiple years. We did not have a set amount of money at first to start, but quickly pulled funding sources together as we could,” said Assistant Superintendent Cindy Green.
Over 30 community members at the meeting voiced that all populations need to be represented including literature for disabled students, transgender students, etc.
But some of these groups are already in the libraries. The district’s statement states that “Every KPS school building has a library. The district library program includes 12 LGBTQ+ titles in its elementary school libraries, almost 60 at the middle schools, and more than 250 in its high school libraries. In addition, library staff have been trained on how to work with these materials and to assist students.”
The response was released after there were conflicting reports and rumors that sparked through news outlets and on social media that the KPS district was actually pulling LGBTQ books off their shelves, which is not true and never was going to happen.
Trustees announced that they will come up with a game plan and a resolution to make the project more inclusive by the end of January.
Their statement continued saying, “KPS officials have already met with a representative from OutFront Kalamazoo, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, about providing training and resources to help KPS support its students. District representatives have also connected with experts at Western Michigan University to discuss LGBTQ+ literature.”
More information on their library project can be found here.
(John McNeill contributed to this report)
