Althea Carr left Hebron’s Juneteenth celebration with a full heart. More than 125 people were in attendance, when they were only expecting 60. But Carr, who is the president of The Coalition on Diversity and Equity (CoDE) which operates out of Tolland County was distracted by something else.
“It left everyone feeling just wonderful, just very joyous, very happy. And yet, I couldn't help thinking about how CoDE's attempt to donate award winning multicultural books to the Hebron elementary school system was rejected,” Carr said.
CoDE was founded by Hebron residents in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd. They hoped the organization would help foster a more diverse and inclusive environment in Tolland County.
In the Spring of 2024, CoDE’s Education Chair Christi Moraga, a career teacher who has served on multiple national book award committees, proposed a multicultural book drive. CoDE would offer to donate four award-winning children’s books to a host of libraries across the county.
Librarians, including those at Gilead Hill School and Hebron Elementary, picked a wishlist of four books off a larger list. But CoDE was quickly notified that the Hebron school librarians would not be accepting these books.
CoDE soon received an invitation for a zoom meeting with Tom Baird, Hebron’s school superintendent. In attendance were four CoDE Board members alongside Baird and Marlborough Superintendent Holly Hageman.
Baird expressed concerns over the book donations, citing an incident in Lebanon, CT in which a Satan club was founded at a school. He feared that book donations could lead to a similar controversy in Hebron.
Carr said Bair sent her an email explaining his decision, which read in part…
“We are not accepting book donations from any group at this time. This is because library books have become entirely too politically charged in the last few years with book challenges and different bills being proposed regarding school library collections. By not accepting any book donations we are creating a "limited public forum" regarding this issue under the law that puts us in a better legal position should our decision to not accept books from a group or individual be legally challenged. This ensures we are not in a similar situation to a neighboring town having the satan club.”
Baird told CoDE that while the district would not accept the books it would accept a monetary donation from the group, or take the matter up with the Hebron Parent Teacher Association (PTA).
CoDE arranged a meeting with the district’s PTA per Baird’s advice. Carr says the meeting went very well and that PTA President Taylor Crawford was enthusiastic about the potential partnership.
However, Baird said the PTA asked to take a step back from the CoDE partnership and critiqued the organization’s approach to the incident.
“Overall, feedback I have received is that working with CODE has not felt like a collaboration. Rather, it has felt like CODE is attempting to direct activities, ” Baird said.
In the email, Baird also said his decision was not an effort to limit reading material.
“I do agree that all involved want what is best for the community, schools, and students,” Baird said. “ We are committed to a diverse and inclusive collection of materials for our students. Not accepting book donations is nothing more than a legal position we feel we must take at this time.”
In a statement to Connecticut Public, Baird cited the “politicization of school library collections” and the district’s “policy on material selection.”
He explained his belief that public schools accepting book donations could “result in discrimination based on speech and expression” and ultimately censorship by allowing influence from outside groups. He reiterated that book selection was the responsibility of the librarians, though CoDE did allow librarians to select a wishlist of books
CoDE believes Baird’s decision is not isolated from the recent state and federal legislative debates over book censorship in schools.
Riverbend Books is an independent bookstore with locations in West Hartford and Glastonbury. They partnered with CoDE to help boost donations for the book drive via their online ordering system. Meghan Hayden, owner of Riverbend, was disappointed to hear the news, but not surprised with censorship on the rise.
Hayden says Superintendent Baird’s decision violates the values of the school district.
"Hebron public schools have a document, a district advancement plan that includes a vision that all students will be champions for equity,” Hayden said. “Denying access to materials that teachers believe will aid them in teaching their students seems small and petty and against the core values of public education.”
Book challenges in Connecticut have been noticeably higher since the pandemic, peaking in 2023. These incidents have garnered attention from the state government, with a bill introduced in the most recent legislative session that would require a process for handling book challenges.
The Andover and Marlborough school districts, which had initially expressed enthusiasm for accepting the donation, started backing away, Carr said. However, CoDE was eventually able to win both districts over.
“It wasn't easy, but I think they saw our sincerity. I think it just made sense to them. We all want the best for our children. We want them to be exposed to different cultures. It just makes them more well rounded” Carr said.
Since the incident, CoDE has established strong and lasting relationships with the districts of Columbia, Andover, and Marlborough working together to organize events like the Martin Luther King Jr. event at Horace Porter in Columbia and a multicultural dance assembly at Marlborough Elementary.
Other voices in the Hebron community have expressed disappointment over the school district’s decision to reject the multicultural book donation.
Elliot Morelli-Wolfe, a library assistant at the Douglas Library of Hebron which accepted a donation from CoDE’s drive, believes diverse books are critical to teaching tolerance and says this decision has larger implications.
“Consider the message that sends to his students and his faculty about who's accepted and who's allowed to have a voice in the community versus who has to be silenced,” Morelli-Wolfe said.
In her experience as a bookseller, Hayden says she has witnessed countless children inspired by diverse books.
“It never hurts another child to hear a story about someone else. As long as every kid has that opportunity to see a book as a mirror, they also really benefit from seeing a book as a door into another world,” Hayden said.
