Rondônia Orders Withdrawal of “Inappropriate” Library Books, Later Retreats

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Rondônia State Department of Education had 43 books collected from state public schools and then retreated. The works of authors such as Machado de Assis, Ferreira Gullar, Caio Fernando Abreu, Carlos Heitor Cony, Rubem Fonseca, Nelson Rodrigues, Franz Kafka, and Edgar Allan Poe were among them.

By the end of the day, the secretariat sent a note reporting that it had received a complaint that “there were supplementary textbooks with inappropriate content” in the libraries. As a result, the note continues, “the secretariat’s technical team analyzed the information and found that the books mentioned were classics of literature”.

“Thus, the electronic procedure containing the technical analysis was immediately closed without any order of proceedings to any external bodies, secretariats or public schools”, states the text. Read the complete note at the end of the text.

The decision to collect the books was disclosed due to the leak of an internal letter signed by the State Secretary of Education, Suamy Vivecananda Lacerda de Abreu.

“Secretariat technicians were conducting a study and suddenly someone entered a page and published it,” the secretary said.

In the letter, the government asks the staff to “check the kits of supplementary textbooks for schools to build up the library collection” and “to immediately proceed with their withdrawal”. The reason is that the works feature “content inappropriate for children and adolescents”.

The list of books includes works such as “The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas, by Machado de Assis; “Life as it is” and “The Kiss,” by Nelson Rodrigues; “Tales of Mystery and Terror,” by Edgar Allan Poe; “The Castle,” by Franz Kafka; “Macunaíma,” by Mario de Andrade, “Rebellion in the Backlands,” by Euclides da Cunha, in addition to books by Carlos Heitor Cony and 19 works by Rubem Fonseca.

There is also the following observation: “All the works by Rubem Alves should be withdrawn”.

The secretary even claimed on the Rondônia Dinâmica website that the document was fake. However, it has been confirmed that the letter is included in the Electronic Information System (EIS), classified as confidential.

The letter stresses the need to “be vigilant to other existing literature or materials that reach schools for use in school activities so that the rights of the student to enjoy it with the intervention of the teacher or alone without embarrassment and discomfort are assessed and ensured”.

Rondônia is governed by Colonel Marcos Rocha, an ally of President Jair Bolsonaro.

Educators in the state had already complained about a September letter in which the Secretariat of Education determined that any “debates, lectures, seminars” within the state school network can only take place after permission from the secretariat. The reason is that it is necessary to “assess the relevance of the proposed topic”.

“Any topic of debate here has to go through the secretariat first,” says a teacher.

The note from the secretariat:

The Rondônia State Department of Education (SEDUC) reports that it received a complaint that there were supplementary textbooks in the state school libraries with inappropriate content for the target public, high school students.

Based on this, the secretariat’s technical team analyzed the information and found that the books mentioned were classics of Brazilian literature, many of them used in selective and university admission exams.

Thus, the electronic procedure containing the technical review was immediately closed without any order of procedure for any external bodies, secretariats or public schools.

The SEDUC highlights its commitment to Education and acknowledges that books are works by worldwide renowned authors and play an essential role in social construction, proof of which were the extraordinary results of state public students in the last National High School Exam – ENEM, in addition to several actions and investments that were made recently for the beginning of the school year.

All the required measures will be taken to investigate the leaks of mistakenly documented internal information.

Full text of the retracted order:

We ask the staff to check the kits of supplementary textbooks sent to schools to build up the library collection, the books listed in Addendum ID (10053329), and to proceed with their withdrawal immediately, as they feature content inappropriate for children and adolescents.

On this occasion, we emphasize the need to be vigilant of other literature already in existence or that reaches schools for the use of school activities, so that the rights of the student to enjoy it with the teacher’s intervention or alone without embarrassment or discomfort are analyzed and ensured.

Authors who would have books collected:

• Caio Fernando Abreu
• Mário de Andrade
• Ferreira Gullar
• Carlos Heitor Cony
• Carlos Nascimento Silva
• Rubem Fonseca
• Ivan Rubino Fernandes
• Euclides da Cunha
• Nelson Rodrigues
• Ana Lee
• Sonia Rodrigues
• Rose Amanda Strausz
• Machado de Assis
• Franz Kafka
• Euclides da Cunha
• Edgar Allan Poe
• Rubem Alves

Source: O Globo