Will Beaufort County return 11 more books to library shelves? Review committees decided

Mary Dimitrov
·1 min read

Beaufort County book review committees voted Wednesday night to return 11 library books previously on grade 9 to 12 shelves back to those shelves.

It has taken nearly a year to review 85 of the nearly 100 books removed from shelves in October of last year. Of those 85, four have been banned: “The Haters” by Jesse Andrews, “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult, “It Ends With Us” by Colleen Hoover and “Forever for a Year” by B.T. Gottfried.

Of the 77 committee members who should have attended last night, 60 were present, according to District Spokesperson Candace Burder. She said nine of the 11 committees had more than half their members present. From previous review committee sessions, over 17% of participants tapped to decide on the books haven’t shown up, according to an Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette analysis of committee attendance.

The books the committees reviewed and returned to grades 9 to 12 last night are:

  • “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson

  • “Confess: A Novel” by Colleen Hoover

  • “Cool for the Summer” by Dahlia Adler

  • “Half of a Yellow Sun” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

  • “Hopeless” by Colleen Hoover

  • “Kingdom of Ash” by Sarah J. Maas

  • “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov

  • “November 9” by Colleen Hoover

  • “Red at the Bone” by Jacqueline Woodson

  • “The Duff” by Kody Keplinger

  • “Tower of Dawn” by Sarah J. Maas

The final decision on the books will be made by the board if any appeals are filed by the original complainants.