School board splits over Bunny Suicides book
By Associated PressHALSEY, Ore. (AP) — After more than an hour of debate, the Central Linn School Board found itself split on a motion to remove the divisive "Book of Bunny Suicides" from library shelves. With a 3-3 vote, the board decided to take up the issue again in January, when all seven members will be present.
A parent complained about the book in October after her 13-year-old son brought it home. She threatened to burn the book, drawing national attention to the story. As a result, the district received 24 copies of the book. The mother ultimately returned the original when the district agreed to have a seven-member committee determine whether it should remain in the combined high school-junior high library. The committee strongly favored keeping the book, without restrictions, on a vote of 6-1. Still, the school board found itself deeply divided at this week's meeting. "While I understand we do need to protect the kids, and that's part of our job being a board member, I just don't believe in censorship," board member Julie Smith said. "We could all find something objectionable in our library. Does that give us the right to go in and take whatever anybody finds objectionable off the shelf?"
"I believe it's not something we should condone in our schools, not something that should be discussed in the library and not something we should have our children joking about or making fun of," he said. "I can't see a school district putting that type of garbage on the shelves and then justifying it as literature." A second motion, to allow the book to be checked out with parent permission, failed on a 4-2 vote. (Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.) |
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The book, a collection of macabre cartoons in which bunnies commit suicide in various ways, has been a topic of debate for months.
Verne Hoyer, another board member, disagreed and cast his vote in favor of a ban. He said the decision stemmed, in part, from his work with the Eugene Police Department, where he had to deal with more than one suicide.
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