Author Claims Round Rock School District Dis-Invited Him After Transgender Book Suggestion

ROUND ROCK, TX -- School district officials are being accused of cancelling a scheduled appearance by an award-winning children's author after he recommended a novel to students centered on a transgender fourth-grader.

The Austin American-Statesman reported on the controversy earlier this month, an issue dating to September when a scheduled appearance by authorPhil Bildner was abruptly cancelled. The issue was resurrected after Bildner wrote about it on a blog site.

Bidner had spoken about the novel "George" to fourth-grade students at six Round Rock ISD schools and another gathering of third- and fifth-graders at another gathering, according to the author's recollection recorded on the American Library Association website.

"At 5:27 P.M. on Friday evening May 27, just before the start of the long holiday weekend, Ami Uselman, the Director of Library & Media Services sent me a four-sentence email informing me my visits to the Round Rock elementary schools in September had been cancelled" Bildner wrote on the ALA website. "After working with the children of Round Rock for every year since the 2007-2008 school year, district leadership took a press-send-and-runaway approach to doing business. It was thoughtless. It was unprofessional. It was cowardly."

Bildner claims the reason for his not being invited back is his suggestion of the juvenile novel "George" among his reading picks, a book written by another author. On the ALA website, he posted information from campus libraries showing ten copies of the novel, but questioning why there were fewer copies than other books on his list.

Despite the controversy, he had hoped to return to Round Rock ISD, he wrote: "Still, I wanted to come back to Round Rock. Because it’s not about the powers-that-be. It’s about the kids. It’s always about the kids."

But Round Rock ISD officials dispute Bildner's version of events. Reached June 22 for comment, district spokesman Corey Ryan insisted the reason Bildner was asked not to return was not because of his book recommendation to students; it was because the author tacitly endorsed students not to obey their parents during his previous presentation.

"Round Rock ISD has a tradition of inviting authors into our schools because it supports creativity, diverse perspectives, and promotes the importance of reading," Ryan wrote in his response to Patch. "Phil Bildner has been a regular visitor to our libraries for the past eight years. In making this determination to not have Mr. Bildner in our touring author program, our district’s leadership decided it was in the best interest of students to allocate our financial resources to bring different authors to our schools.

"The messages of tolerance and acceptance in Mr. Bildner books align with our district and schools’ goals for student learning; however, his message regarding children listening to their parents was not acceptable during his presentations last year, which played into our determination to not contract with him this year."

Suggesting children not listen to their parents is decidedly in contrast to Round Rock ISD values, Ryan explained: "In multiple presentations last year, Mr. Bildner made a statement to students regarding not listening to the grownups in their lives. Although the intent of the statement may not have been advising students to directly disobey their parents, the message was not in alignment with the values of Round Rock ISD. We feel we are partners with every parent who joins our district and our goal is to work together to meet the individual needs of every student. Parents are our most valued partners. The role of the parent is the most important in a student’s education, and schools cannot afford to discredit our partners."

In reaction to his being dis-invited, Bildner lodges many accusations of censorship aimed at librarians. In his own response to Patch for comment, Ryan defended those same librarians.

"Round Rock ISD has world class librarians who are champions for promoting reading, creating learning opportunities, and ensuring students have access to diverse and varied perspectives," Ryan wrote. "These proud, professional educators are warriors for the written word. Our librarians are passionate about bringing their students’ favorite authors into our schools, and it would be a shame for this incident to lead to missed opportunities for students."

The Round Rock ISD headquarters are scheduled to be closed beginning June 24 through July 11 as part of the summer break. Meanwhile, some of Bildner's supporters are calling for a boycott from other authors to avoid speaking at the school district in the future.

"Until Round Rock ceases its author blacklisting policy, ALL authors should avoid this place," wrote Nancy Lamb.

The long summer break is looming, but this controversy shows no sign of cooling off anytime soon.

>>> Photo via author's website