THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 3, 1994 TAG: 9409030498
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
A battle over books in public schools and libraries is simmering in some Virginia suburbs, where concerned parents have pressed for the removal of materials they consider objectionable.
Fairfax County and several other localities over the past year have received complaints from parents about books available to schoolchildren.
A report released this week by People For The American Way says incidents of attempted censorship across the country are on the rise. The report ranks Virginia 21st, citing nine incidents, seven of which involve books.
``Certainly we have had an increasing number of circumstances in recent months,'' said Dolores Bohen, assistant superintendent of communications for the Fairfax County school system.
Two local mothers have called for the removal of an eighth-grade textbook that includes the poetry and stories of literary figures including Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Frost and John Steinbeck.
They want the book removed because of stories such as Poe's ``The Tell-Tale Heart,'' a tale of horror they believe could be harmful to impressionable teenagers.
School officials have defended use of ``Elements of Literature,'' saying it is filled with solid pieces of American writing.
The Fairfax County School Board is expected to review the request at its Sept. 8 meeting, Bohen said Friday.
Another controversy arose in Fairfax County over use of the book ``Families,'' by Meredith Tax, in first-grade classrooms. Parents who objected to the book said it glorified divorce and should have made a stronger case for marriage.
``It just tears down the traditional family and it makes divorce look like an appealing-type thing,'' said Mychele Brickner, a parent opposed to the book. ``We all know divorce is traumatic.''
A compromise eventually was reached on the issue and the book is no longer a primary text but may be used as a supplementary text.
Brickner said it is wrong for People For The American Way to characterize concerned parents like herself as people seeking to censor materials.
But Mary Jean Collins, national field director for People For The American Way, said a small group of parents with objections to a book should not eliminate it for an entire school system.
``If you start to censor and you start to move books because of ideology, there is no end,'' she said.
The group plans to send representatives to a Sept. 14 meeting of the Fairfax County Public Library Board of Supervisors. They hope to discuss matters related to the removal of reading materials, Collins said.
No agenda has been set for the meeting, said Kristin Spencer, a spokeswoman for the library, which has 22 branches in the county.
According to library policy, materials are evaluated as a whole and not on the basis of a particular section or sections, she said.
KEYWORDS: CENSORSHIP BANNED BOOKS by CNB