A story in Tuesday’s edition scares me.

There was no blood, or gore or death or anything of that ilk.

It was about a library book audit at Lehighton Area High School that chills me to the bone.

At a school board meeting Monday night, 20 or so community members joined board members, each choosing a book from a list of 33 pegged as potentially “unacceptable for children without parental consent” based on their titles.

In the Cliff’s Notes version, director Sean Gleaves, a Texas native who took a seat on the board last December, pulled from the school library some titles he perceives as questionable and intended to have anyone who wanted to volunteer to read one do so to prepare for discussion at a meeting in September.

Some of the titles included: “White Privilege,” “Human Trafficking,” “Black Lives Matter” and “LGBTQ Families: The Ultimate Teen Guide.” There were several others.

Gleaves said he is a father and member of Moms for Liberty, a far-right organization whose organizers say it exists to fight “for the survival of America by unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.”

According to its website, the group’s vision is to see “Americans empowered and thriving in a culture of Liberty.” The group advocates against school curriculum that mentions LGBTQ rights, race and ethnicity and critical race theory.

The website, momsforliberty.org lists local “Moms” chapters in Berks, Lehigh, Northampton, Monroe and Schuylkill counties.

But back to Gleaves.

On Monday, he said his ultimate goal wasn’t to see any books banned. Instead, he advocates for creating a list of books that high school students could only check out after permission is received from their parents.

Steve Ebbert, principal at the district’s middle school, said a curated list of books is available to students in that facility. Middle schoolers can check out any of them, but only with parental notification.

He said that the librarian has a private conversation about any books that come up on the restricted list with the middle schooler and the parents, explaining they are not prevented from checking the book out.

Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think that should be in a librarian’s job description.

Predictably, Gleaves’ comments on Monday brought some pushback and questions from those in the audience, with the board member’s responses often referencing transgender individuals.

“I think the assumption is I hate people who identify as other genders,” he said. “I don’t agree with it but I don’t hate them,” going on to say people should protect the innocence of children’s minds.

“About 20 years ago, none of these problems existed,” Gleaves said. “We didn’t have children cutting off their genitals and changing genders. They are being manipulated to cut off their genitals. That is a real thing that is happening. I don’t think it’s a good thing for people to do.”

Huh? I’ll just leave that where it is.

But back to the books.

Gleaves’ advocacy group has a penchant for challenging existing library books and replacing them with publications that agree with their moral perspectives.

They have volunteers who write reports about books they’ve read and use the reports to restrict access or remove them from shelves. In Lehighton, 20 people who’ve agreed to read some of Gleaves’ titles have already consented — knowingly or not — to aid in the process.

I’d bet that many of his 33 titles have already been challenged by the “Moms.”

Someone, sometime decided that placing each of those titles on the shelves was a good thing. All of a sudden, apparently, those books and their ideas are flawed.

And nobody knows how many of those titles have been read, possibly by teens looking for answers, or consulted by teens struggling to establish their own identities.

They exist to stimulate thought among those teens and encourage discussion.

The “Moms” claim they’re defending parental rights.

Maybe so. They’re guaranteed that freedom.

But where does it stop? Is Palestine next? Religion?

Who sets the boundaries?

In a society based on the free exchange of ideas and opinions, I think the ultimate decision on what a child reads begins — and ends — in the home.

A school board’s job is to offer its students and the taxpayers it serves a well-rounded, meaningful education that promotes those ideals.

Censoring and limiting that process at any level is a dereliction of duty.

I don’t have a vote there. I don’t have any input there.

But countless parents and students and taxpayers have that privilege.

I’d encourage them to attend the board’s next meeting and express their opinions.

If someone can’t attend, it’s a good bet the Times-News would welcome a letter to its editor who will help in furthering the discussion.

In the history of a school district that purports to support acceptance and inclusion, I’m certain this next chapter will be an important one.

It might even make a good read.

ED SOCHA | tneditor@tnonline.com

Ed Socha is a retired newspaper editor with more than 40 years’ experience in community journalism.

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.