Iowa schools prep for new law ahead of schoolyear

(ABC 6 News) – What used to be accessible in schools soon won’t be due to a new Iowa law.

School is just around the corner for kids in Iowa.

As faculty gear up for another school year, they also have to prep to clean out their bookshelves.

“Typically we get administrative rules or guidance from the Department of Education, and in this case, we’re not going to get a list of books that need to be removed,” Mason City Community School District administrative assistant Brigette Exman said.

A bill signed into law by Governor Kim Reynolds requires schools to remove books containing visual or verbal depictions of sex acts.

This also includes anything that is deemed inappropriate.

Books like “The Catcher in the Rye” and “1984” were just a few books on that list.

The Mason City Community School District is going through books to make sure they’re abiding by the new law.

Even though the deadline is January, they want this to be taken care of before the school year starts.

“Ultimately, we really want to just eliminate the distractions. We’re going to try our best to do what we need to do pretty quickly, put things in storage, and wait to see if we get clearer legislative guidance,” Exman said.

Exman said they don’t have a list of books that are deemed inappropriate by the state which makes it a bit tricky.

Exman also said the number of books removed will be minimal.

Parents are mindful of what their kids are reading at school.

“If my child started asking questions then I would know where to go get that book and they wouldn’t have to be afraid of stumbling upon something too early for them, but then if they do have questions I have the resources for them too.” Stephanie Carder said.

The law only applies to school libraries and not public libraries.

Exman anticipates the law won’t affect the curriculum and the impact on students will be minor.