SC superintendent wants the state, not local districts, to pick school library books

The state Department of Education wants to take the authority to choose books and other materials away from local school boards.

A September notice from the department proposed a new regulation for school and classroom library materials to align them with the state’s instructional program and standards. The effort comes as some school libraries books have become a flashpoint for some parents and conservative groups.

It also comes months after state education Superintendent Ellen Weaver publicly split with the state school librarians association over books in libraries.

It’s unclear what the policy will be. But at an Oct. 10 meeting with the S.C. Board of Education, Weaver said that she is looking at a “regulatory process” of library materials based on “age-appropriateness” and “alignment with the South Carolina instructional standard.”

“I’m certainly a proponent of local control, but I also know that half of our state education budget comes from the state, and with that investment comes responsibility,” Weaver said at the meeting. “It is well within the purview and the responsibilities under state law of this board to advise on the age-appropriateness and alignment with the South Carolina instructional standards ... that is what we will be bringing before this board.”

The state board of education oversees the selection of textbooks and other course-related materials in public schools. But decisions about other books in classrooms and school libraries remain in the hands of local board boards.

A first reading of the policy will be considered by the state Board of Education at its meeting next month, said Laura Bayne, a spokeswoman for the state education department. If the board ultimately approves the regulation, it must then be approved by the legislature to become law.

“We are still in the drafting period,” Bayne said. “The regulation will be available for review at first reading.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina called the idea “book censorship” at the state level.

“Given the context and the deteriorating relationship between the state superintendent’s office and school librarians, it seems like cause for alarm,” said Paul Bowers of the ACLU. “Anything that centralizes power, centralizes control over books is cause for alarm.”

The ACLU asked the public to write to the state board of education to oppose the policy. The period for initial public comment ended Friday evening.

Weaver wrote to the South Carolina Association of School Librarians in August to say that the state Department of Education was cutting ties with the group after a 50-year partnership.

In the letter, Weaver said the organization had created a “hostile environment” using “politicized rhetoric” to oppose efforts to remove books from school libraries, citing an advocacy toolkit by the American Library Association posted on its website, testifying about library censorship before the teacher recruitment and retention task force and sending letters to school board members across the state.

“Parents are entirely justified in seeking to ensure educational materials presented to their children are age-appropriate and aligned with the overall purpose of South Carolina’s instructional program and standards,” Weaver wrote. “When SCASL labels those efforts as bans, censorship, or a violation of educators’ intellectual freedom, the result is a more hostile environment which does not serve the needs of students.”

Two weeks later, the president of the the S.C. Association of School Librarians, Michelle Spires, announced her resignation.

“While the decision to step down as President of the SCASL has not been easy, it is a decision that I have made to put the well-being of my family and myself first. I am still committed to the work that SCASL does and will continue to support the organization and its members; however, I am unable to fulfill the role that is needed as the leader the organization,” Spires wrote in a statement provided to The State.

Diane Ervin, executive secretary of the librarian association and a past president, confirmed Spires’ departure was a direct response to the split.