PERRYSBURG, Ohio — Perrysburg resident Maria Ermie is concerned about a sexually explicit book ordered by a student that was delivered from Way Public Library to Hull Prairie Intermediate School.
"Icebreaker" is a fiction novel by Hannah Grace, about the love story between a figure skater and a hockey player. Parts of the book graphically describe sex between the two.
"Sexually explicit, that to me you would find in a sexually-oriented business, not a library," Ermie said of the book after a meeting at the library on Tuesday.
Ermie said her friend's 11-year-old requested the book while at Hill Prairie. It was delivered from the library to the school and then given to the student. She said the student's parent had no idea.
Ermie would like to see that process change to prevent other students from possibly ordering explicit books, while others at the meeting feel differently.
"The disgusting pornography is not in the library. It's probably on the internet," said Joan Rothroch, who was also at the meeting. "That's where the problem probably is. Not the library."
Ermie said her friend's family didn't come to the meeting to avoid the public eye, so she's serving as their advocate to put safeguards in place.
"We're not here to ban. We're just here to make sure kids don't get access to this material," Ermie said. "I empathize, absolutely empathize, and I understand that age-appropriate is important."
Way Library Director Janel Haas said the library started delivering books to students since Hull Prairie was built in 2017 without a library.
She announced at the meeting that library administration is working on a system that would email parents when their kids request books from them while at school.
"The schools will also be reviewing the books when they get to the school before they get into the student's hands," Haas said.
Tom Hosler, superintendent of Perrysburg schools, provided WTOL 11 with the following statement:
"We greatly value our partnership with Way Public Library. Since 2017, Hull Prairie Intermediate students have enjoyed the opportunity to check out books and access materials, which are then delivered to the school and distributed by our staff twice a week. In just the first semester of this school year, over 7,000 books have been checked out by 850 students, offering them a wealth of reading options that surpass what any school library could provide. Families, of course, have the right to decline to have their child access the Way Public Library collection.
We offered our apologies for the discomfort and frustration that this situation has caused a family in the school district. Despite everyone's best efforts, a novel with inappropriate content was caught by our staff days after it was issued to a student.
We have worked closely with the Way Public Library team and moving forward will be sharing with families the titles that their children have checked out in real time, empowering them to review selections based on which titles are most appropriate for their child. We appreciate the dedicated staff at Hull Prairie Intermediate School, who remain committed to reviewing incoming titles and ensuring a positive reading experience for students."
People in attendance said they would like to see stickers on books in the library to say the book is made for an adult audience for when a child is physically in the library.
Haas said the "Icebreaker" is located in the adult section and parents would need to keep an eye on what their child is reading during out-of-school hours.
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