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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1979-02-14, Page 2Page 7r—Imaknew SwtlMl, Wray, February 14, 1979 BY JEFF SEDDON The Huron County Board of Education was served notice Tuesday that the battle of the books is far from over. The board received a letter from the Huron Freedom of Choice Society asking that Margaret, Laurence's novel The Diviners, removed from the board's list of approved English literature books, be reinstated. The letter also asked that anytime a trustee is involved with a decision . to approve a textbook that the trustee be made to read the book before making that decision; The board shuffled the issue of'refusing to re -open the . debate on approving or disap- proving of books for the classroom use in the books not over ye 4 county schools. The novels became the centre of a bitter and emotional .contraversy in 1978.and resulted in the board taking The Diviners out of the classroom. The Huron chapter of Renaissance Inter- national, headed by Blytli resident, Lloyd Barth, started the issue boiling last year when it asked the board to ban three novels. The Diviners, John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men and J. D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. The request brought book supporters and opponents to the' field of battle and culminated . in a highly emotional public meeting in Clinton that attracted about 500 people. The board reacted to the issue by taking The Diviners off the list of approved. texts. That meant that the book could not be used in classrooms but would be left in the school libraries. The board did not consider the move a ban on the novel. Freedom of Choice members felt differ- ent. The group formed a few months ago with the idea of forming an organization similar to Renaissance International but with oppseite aims. Members hoped to gain enough representation to have the arm impact on trustees as Renaissance. sup- porters. Some of the members„..i of the Freedom of Choice were willing to leave The Diviners off the approved list of texts and concentrate efforts on future issues. But in its January meeting the group decided to ask the, board to re -instate The Diviners. Board chairman John Elliott was not ,From now until February 16, Standard Trust Company—al give you-free—an Esmond Mon- terey blanket when you open a high,.interest sav- ings and chequing adount with $100 or more at our branch in Wingham.. You'll receive your free Esmond, blanketaat once, and your. Standard Trust 1 -Account 'will immediatel r begin eaming':10% interest calculat- ed on the minimum monthfi balance, dompound- ed semi -annually -more than paid .by.any Cana- dian bank. In fact, most bank chequing accounts paylittle or no interest. You'll be able to write three free cheques each mo /us an extra free cheque for each $100 minimum a ance over $300. If you are a senior citizeln, 60 years or over, all your cheques are free. Blanket offer expires February 16. Come in today! We are open 9 A.M. to 5.P.M. Monday to Thursday; Friday till. 6P.M. • Everything you need in oneconvenient savings-chequing account plus a free Esmond Monterey blanket in your choice of gold, blue or bone white. Come in today, open a1 -Account and take your Esmond blanket home with you. One blanket to a customer. Use it yourself, or as a welcomed gift for family or friend. 237 Josephine Street, Wingham Telephone 357-2022 A Federally Chartered Trust Company[' Canada Deposit insurance Corporation interested in re -opening the book issue and asked the board for a motion to receive and file the leiter from Freedom of Choice. Elliott indicated later that his intention was to have the request dealt with according to board policy, policy adopted after the last book fiasco. The chairman said the board had adopted definite policy to handle such requestsand he felt that policy should be followed. He said English department heads, superin- tendents of education and'some teachers will be . ineeting with the board's education committee in June to approve textbooks and the board will look at a recommendation from that committee at its August meeting. Elliott said if Freedom of Choice members wanted to meet with 'the education commit- tee to make a presentation they could request such a meeting:, Zurich trustee Herb Turkheim felt that the letter deserved more than that. He asked Elliott if the board intended to acknowledge the letter or "completely ignore” it. Elliott pointed out that .the board acknowledges every letter it receives. He said he felt the board policy adequately covered ' the . situation and that action . to acknowledge the suggestions from Freedom of Choice was an "adequate reply". "When the book banners came along we gave them two audiences and 'now .the other side comes out and we are saying no thanks we're not interested," said Turkheim. Lucknow trustee Marion Z''iitn_said all she got from the .Freedom of Choice letters was that the group wasa$king' trustees„to read books before taking any action,. "There's a lot .of stormy days ahead we should be able 'to read a lot of books," she quipped Goderich trustee Dorothy Wallace sug- gested that uggested:that the board`s action' was `giving animpression' of being a fairly autocratic board". She pointed out that a group of citizens is making a request and' the board is "just filing it". Exeter trustee Clarence McDonald asked that when &letter of reply is sent to Freedom of Choice th4t itbe explained that "the book is not banned it's de -listed". McDonald said the word banned is' not the proper expres- sion and ,asked that the letter explain that, Margaret Rivers, author of the letter, said she was disappointed with the board's action: She -Said she did not think the board would re -instate the novel but she did think the matter would be sent to committee: Rivers said she did not know how Freedom of Choice would react to the board's move, adding that thegroup„is meeting later this month and further action will be planned. She said she understood the board's action, adding that in a way it was fair. She conceded that the issue c'n't be debated "over (anad. over". ;-`I feel it's time the board put its footdown. and said this is: the way we are going to deal' with this but it didn't do that the last time," said Rivers. T She pointed put that the Renaissance group was given an opportunity to address- the board the last time it brought the matter up. She said the board discussed the matter with the Renaissance group adding that it "irritated” her that th t opportunity was denied Freedom of Choi NO T10E IF YOUR LUCKNO W . SENTINEL LABEL . READS February 65.432109 YOUR SUBSCRIPTION s iS DUE The Lucknow Sentinel_