Georgetown High School: The Fight to Keep Books and Susan Cooper in our Library

This petition is going to cover the issues of Georgetown Independent School District: how they are attempting to take 150 books out of the Georgetown High School library and threatening the job of Mrs. Susan Cooper, the librarian at Georgetown High School who has been the librarian for the last 7 years. As students, parents, teachers, and everyone else involved in Georgetown High School, you have the voice and power to make a change. After collecting signatures I hope to send the petition to the Texas Education Agency and Superintendent Devin Padavil to come to a solution on the issue.

Georgetown ISD is attempting to ban 150 books from the Georgetown High School library. The library of which Susan Cooper is the librarian of, she has been speaking out on this violation of her students first amendment right. She argues that other school districts haven’t taken this step and that the leadership in GISD is taking it upon themselves to deem the material of 150 books inappropriate for students. Some other librarians in the district are following orders but Mrs. Cooper refuses to be a part of a book ban, putting her job at risk. In participating in this petition you refuse to take part in the same ban at the same time you refuse to have your rights violated.

The first amendment in the bill of rights is arguably the most referenced and well known amendment for good reason. The first amendment protects the American people’s freedom of speech and expression, freedom of religion, freedom of press, freedom of assembly and the right to petition. Banning books and taking away formative pieces of literature from the youth simply goes against the rights of the people. The first amendment states that congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech and of press, this apply to all Americans meaning that the government cannot restrict the access to books and other forms of expression. If congress can’t suppress speech, ideas and expression then why should Georgetown Independent School District. If a school board removes books simply due to disagreements with the content, ideas, or perspectives of a book then that would display an unconstitutional restriction of speech. Books that are nonviolent and nonsexual with seemingly no reason to be taken off the shelves are being targeted. Books that have been in the public school system and have been studied by students for generations. One common denominator in most books is that they are telling the stories of minorities and illustrating dystopian governments along with the people's rights to rebel against those governments. 

Some books that are at risk include ‘Station Eleven’, the ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ sequel called ‘The Testaments’, and ‘Born a Crime’. ‘Station Eleven’ by Emily Mandel is inherently nonviolent and has no sexual content; however , the school board has found an issue with it; the book has an openly gay character. Margaret Atwood’s book ‘The Testaments’ takes place 15 years later in the dystopian theocracy of Gilead three women uncover the secrets of Gilead; also following their plans to overthrow the patriarchal regime in which they live. ‘Born a Crime’ by Noah Trevor is an autobiographical comedy which covers the circumstances of his birth which was illegal and punishable by 5 years imprisonment which forced him to hide from his apartheid South African government. 

Texas penal code 43.21 defines and provides examples for the following terms, “promote”, “obscene material”, “obscene device”, “sexual conduct”, “sexual contact”, and “sexual intercourse”. Other sections of Texas penal code section 43 subchapter B describes other related materials, detentions, and content. Texas House Bill 900 known as the READER act works to keep “sexually relevant” and “sexually explicit” books to be removed from school libraries or for those students who seek to check out those books to provide the library with parental consent to check out those books.

Keep these codes in mind when determining whether these books should be taken out of school libraries and please for the sake of Georgetown High School students, speak out and do your research. This is a pressing issue that is happening now. We must act, we must come together and use our rights as U.S. citizens to speak out about what you believe in. Use your voice, you are never too young or too old to or too anything to remain uninvolved. Educate yourself, use your resources, find community in what you have, seek solace in those who are fighting for the same cause. And lastly remain proud, comfortable, and confident in what you stand for.

If you read this and hope to make the same change that I hope to then repost, tell your friends, start your own movement. I hope that I have provided the readers with a decent amount of information or at least have sent you in the right direction. Being involved and informed is the greatest thing you can do for your community.

With much hope,

Brooke Thomas junior at GHS