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Belton ISD updates policies on challenged books in response to viral TikTok video

Belton ISD said Lake Belton High School is the only district school that carries challenged books.

BELTON, Texas — The Belton Independent School District posted a statement to its Facebook page Friday about a controversy over books in its libraries.

The issue first came to light when the librarian at Belton Middle School posted a TikTok video about a banned book week display she set up in the library.

Mia Wilson said she was asked to take the display down but refused.

"I told him no, I was not taking it down because I serve over 700 students and not one student alone," she said in the video. "Celebrating Banned Books Week is in our [American Library Association] standards, as well as what every secondary library does in our school district."

RELATED: Belton ISD librarian goes viral on TikTok over banned book display complaint

On Friday, the district clarified that none of the books in the display had been banned or challenged in Belton ISD. They also said the display was still in place.

The post said Lake Belton High School was the only school in the district that carried challenged books.

The district said it removed those books from shelves and made them available to students only with parent permission.

The list of books include, "Gender Queer", "All Boys Aren't Blue", "Milk and Honey", and "What Girls Are Made Of."

Superintendent Matt Smith sent a letter to BISD parents on Aug. 26, saying he was not in favor of banning books "arbitrarily," nor is he interested in having "obscene material" easily accessible to students.

RELATED: 'I want to have a sound process': Belton ISD superintendent weighs in on controversial, viral banned book display

Smith said for the first time ever, parents can monitor what their kids check out at school libraries.

"New this year, you can log in to Destiny and view your child's library history to see what books your child has checked out," he wrote as a reminder to parents. "You can also view the entire library catalog."

The district also set up a five-member committee that includes a parent, teacher, campus administrator and librarian to take further action of reviewing books if someone formally requests for one to be pulled from district library shelves.

The district said it could not comment on Wilson's employment status.

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