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Chicago, Illinois
When students at Lane Tech College Prep High School caught wind of a district directive to remove all copies of the graphic novel Persepolis from classrooms and libraries, it didn't take long for them to spot the irony.
"They're banning a book that's all about freedom of speech," said senior Alija Maurer.
The book, a graphic novel about author Marjane Satrapi's experience growing up in Iran during the Iranian Revolution, is studied by seventh- and eleventh-grade students as part of Chicago Public Schools' Literacy Content Framework.
At least it was, until district officials sent an email in March instructing schools to remove the book. A school official told ALA's Office for Intellectual freedom that the books were removed due to what she termed "graphic illustrations and language" and concerns about "developmental preparedness" and "student readiness." While still in school libraries, they have been "temporarily recalled" from classroom libraries and teaching curriculum until CPS can "control" how the book is being presented. She said there was no timeline for CPS's evaluation.
Initially the order explicitly included libraries, but the head of school libraries issued a directive that, pursuant to its collection development policy, the book was to remain on library shelves. Officials also later clarified that the directive was meant to apply only to seventh-grade students. But by that time, upperclassmen at Lane Tech were already enraged.
As news of the ban spread, students took to their Facebook and Twitter accounts to express their outrage. They piled into the library and checked out copies of the book, wrote blog posts in disgust and sent emails expressing their frustration at being subject to censorship without explanation.
On March 15, as a steady drizzle fell, about two dozen students staged a protest at the corner of Addison Street and Western Avenue, a busy intersection near Lane Tech. "Let us read, let us read," they chanted as they waved signs with slogans like "Iran and CPS....