14-03-2025
SC committee recommends 10 more books be removed from K-12 public schools
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) – A state committee has recommended that multiple books be removed from public school libraries and classrooms across South Carolina.
The Instructional Review Materials Board voted Thursday to recommend that 10 books be pulled from K-12 shelves under a rule adopted last year that bars books containing descriptions or visual depictions of 'sexual conduct.'
The regulation also established a system in which parents can challenge materials in their child's school that they believe fail to meet the 'age and developmentally appropriate' standard. Parents must make a 'good faith effort' to address their concerns at the district level first but can appeal local decisions to the State Board of Education.
11 books have been pulled from public schools by the board since the regulation went into effect.
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Among the books under review Thursday was 'Last Night at the Telegraph Club' by Malinda Lo, which follows a young Chinese American girl as she explores her sexuality in 1950s San Francisco.
In a March 11 letter, Lo told the committee the book is rooted in her own experience and urged them to 'trust the judgement' of local teachers and librarians.
'I'm a Chinese American lesbian myself, and when I was a teen growing up in the 1980s and 90s, I often felt alone and confused,' she wrote. 'I didn't have access to books like this that would have helped me better understand who I was. That's why I write books about LGBTQ+ and Asian American characters. I'm writing the books I needed as a teen.'
'While not every book is for every reader, every reader deserves the freedom to choose what they wish to read, not to have those rights taken away from them by the state,' the letter continued.
Ultimately, committee members voted unanimously to recommend the following books for removal:
Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
Lucky by Alice Sebold
Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
Identical by Ellen Hopkins
Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimananda Ngozi Adichie
Collateral by Ellen Hopkins
The recommendations will come before the SC Board of Education for a final vote on April 1.
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