‘Made the situation worse’: SC’s school librarians scrambling after state dumps group

The organization representing school librarians had been working for weeks to set up a series of workshops for their members next month, lining up speakers and sponsors to help librarians develop professionally. These were regularly scheduled events that the S.C. Association of School Librarians often held with assistance from the S.C. Department of Education.

That planning was disrupted by a letter sent by state Education Superintendent Ellen Weaver on Aug. 25 abruptly severing the department’s relationship with the group. Of four planned workshops for librarians across the state, all but one had to be canceled, said the association’s acting president, Tamara Cox.

The scramble to adjust the group’s workshops is emblematic of the confusion and trepidation school librarians have felt in the weeks since, ending with association president Michelle Spires resigning her post last week.

“I think mostly just hurt,” is how Cox describes librarians in the wake of the shakeup. She was particularly upset that one of Weaver’s reasons for ending the relationship was that an association member told the state’s teacher recruitment and retention task force “that librarians are being harassed and threatened,” Cox said. Weaver’s decision to split with the association “has made that situation worse,” she said.

The superintendent accused the librarians’ association of creating a “hostile environment” between librarians and parents and using “politicized rhetoric” to oppose efforts to remove books from school shelves.

Weaver said the organization had shown a “lack of discernment” on the issue by hosting an advocacy toolkit on its website from the American Library Association, testifying about library “censorship” before the teacher recruitment and retention task force, and sending letters to school board members across the state which she said “extensively quoted politicized rhetoric from a New York school district employee who states that, ‘districts and boards should probably place more consideration on the emotional well-being of students rather than on attempts to pacify parents.’”

Cox pushed back against that characterization. “To paint librarians as resisting parent involvement is untrue,” she said. “Librarians connect with parents through literacy nights, book fairs and more. We welcome family input so we can help students find their next favorite book. Additionally, many of us are also parents.”

The State has reached out to the Department of Education for comment.

Cox preceded Spires as president of the state Association of School Librarians, a long-time member of the group and a school librarian herself at an Upstate school. She declined to identify which school out of a concern she could face retaliation from book critics for speaking out.

Her duties as president mainly revolve around running meetings and cutting checks, she said, as well as dealing with the current controversy.

“I have a very strong, experienced board of directors who can also pitch in to help,” she said. “It’s a volunteer group, so we’re not paid. We just choose to serve because we know libraries are important.”

While the librarians’ association did not receive any money from the state, it is the only organization in South Carolina providing professional development opportunities specific to the school librarian’s job, according to the group’s own description.

The group’s leadership felt blindsided by Weaver’s decision to end the state’s relationship with the association, Cox said. Librarian leaders say they had open lines of communication with Weaver both during her campaign and since she took office in January. Weaver even spoke to the group’s March conference via video, and had previously communicated plans to attend the group’s 2024 conference.

Since Weaver’s Aug. 25 letter, “Our multiple phone calls to her office and voicemail messages have not been returned,” the group told members who joined a virtual town hall Tuesday, according to notes of the meeting provided to The State.

“We continue to have our inbox open,” Cox told The State. “Our contacts are open, and we’re hopeful that some sort of resolution can be reached, just because we know it’s important to our members.”

Some librarians in the town hall meeting expressed concern that their jobs might come under threat next, although Weaver’s letter reiterated that the education department “deeply values” the work of those working in school libraries, and state law requires a certified librarian be placed in any school with more than 375 students.

The librarian association also said it is working with other groups to monitor any library- or book-related bills in the Legislature next year. “It is probably safe to assume that bills we have seen in other states may be considered in our state,” the town hall notes say.

Part of the reason Cox feels the organization is needed is because the state librarian supervisor position at the education department, who was the point person for all things related to school libraries, has been vacant since the last supervisor retired years ago. “It is unlikely that this position would return under the current leadership,” the association said in its town hall.

“We’ve tried to fill that gap, and provide a librarian’s perspective, provide documents and evaluations specific to librarians,” Cox said. “Our job is a little different from a classroom teacher, so we have to ensure we’re heard at the state level.” Now, she says, “Everything’s a big question mark. We don’t know what to expect.”

Cox said the association has seen a boost in support since the controversy with the education department blew up. They’re hopeful to get the speakers for the canceled workshops back for a rescheduled webinar series, and 150 people have either newly joined the group or renewed their membership since the story first hit the news.

At Tuesday’s town hall, the group’s leaders explicitly took no position on whether books on LGBTQ themes should be placed in elementary schools.

“SCASL does not dictate that specific books should be in school libraries,” the group says. “As a professional organization, we support the professional expertise of school librarians,” who have specialized training in evaluating and purchasing books in line with state and district standards.

“We believe that readers need access to a variety of books from which they can learn about different perspectives, gain an understanding of others’ lives, and develop critical thinking skills,” the group said. “Students come from a variety of backgrounds and belief systems and libraries seek to meet the diverse information needs of all children. Library collections should reflect the varied life experiences of our students.”

“Books in school libraries are not required reading, and parents always have the right to restrict what their own children read.”