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Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
SC Board of Ed. to vote on banning 10 books from K-12 classrooms
The above video is from March 13, 2025, when the IMRC recommended removing 10 books from school libraries and classrooms. COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) — The South Carolina Board of Education will decide on banning 10 books from school classrooms and libraries on Tuesday. The vote comes after the unanimous recommendation of the Instructional Materials Review Committee (IMRC) about removing the books from schools on March 13. SC Board of Education removes four books from K-12 classrooms The board will consider banning the following 10 books: 'Tricks' by Ellen Hopkins 'Identical' by Ellen Hopkins 'Collateral' by Ellen Hopkins 'Lucky' by Alice Sebold 'Living Dead Girl' by Elizabeth Scott 'Last Night at the Telegraph Club' by Malinda Lo 'Hopeless' by Colleen Hoover 'Half of a Yellow Sun' by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 'Kingdom of Ash' by Sarah J. Maas 'Empire of Storms' by Sarah J. Maas All of the books were requested for committee review by one complainant, Elizabeth Szalai. Greenville families sue library system over removal of LGBTQ books So far, the IMRC has heard challenges to 27 books after a regulation was implemented by the South Carolina Department of Education in June 2024. The regulation allows removing books or instructional material that contains 'sexual conduct.' The board has removed 11 of the 17 books that have been challenged. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
SC Board of Education recommends removing 10 books from schools
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) — The South Carolina Board of Education has voted to recommend the removal of 10 books from school classrooms and libraries. The board's Instructional Materials Review Committee held a meeting Thursday afternoon to discuss books that have received complaints. The committee has heard challenges to 27 books after a regulation was implemented by the South Carolina Department of Education. The regulation allows removing books or instructional material that contains 'sexual conduct.' The department said the regulation is not book banning, but dictates what books the government should buy. The IMRC recommended removing the following 10 books: 'Tricks' by Ellen Hopkins 'Identical' by Ellen Hopkins 'Collateral' by Ellen Hopkins 'Lucky' by Alice Sebold 'Living Dead Girl' by Elizabeth Scott 'Last Night at the Telegraph Club' by Malinda Lo 'Hopeless' by Colleen Hoover 'Half of a Yellow Sun' by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 'Kingdom of Ash' by Sarah J. Maas 'Empire of Storms' by Sarah J. Maas All of the books were requested for review by one complainant, Elizabeth Szalai. The committee's book removal recommendations will be evaluated at the full board of education meeting on April 1. So far, the board has removed 11 of the 17 books that have been challenged. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Yahoo
10 more books recommended for removal in SC from K-12 libraries
Christian Hanley, chairman of the state Board of Education's Instructional Material Review Committee, and attorney John Tyler during a committee meeting Thursday, March 13, 2025. (Screenshot/Instructional Materials Review Committee livestream) COLUMBIA — Ten more books are slated for removal from South Carolina's K-12 public school libraries, despite protests from the books' authors and school librarians. Librarians have already been required to remove 11 books from shelves since a regulation went into effect last June barring students from accessing books containing 'sexual conduct' while at school. Another six books have been allowed to stay, one with the stipulation that parents must give approval before their child can check it out. The full State Board of Education will make the final decision on whether to keep or retain the books at its April 1 meeting. All are available in at least one high school in the state but not taught in classrooms. Books recommended for removal Thursday 'Collateral' by Ellen Hopkins 'Empire of Storms' by Sarah J. Maas 'Half of a Yellow Sun' by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 'Hopeless' by Colleen Hoover 'Identical' by Ellen Hopkins 'Kingdom of Ash' by Sarah J. Maas 'Last Night at the Telegraph Club' by Malinda Lo 'Living Dead Girl' by Elizabeth Scott 'Lucky' by Alice Sebold 'Tricks' by Ellen Hopkins Source: Instructional Materials Review Committee Many of the 10 books the five-member committee voted Thursday to recommend removing tell stories about abuse and persecution, speakers said in asking the committee to keep the books on shelves. At least three of the books — 'Collateral,' 'Identical' and 'Tricks' — were written to reflect true stories of rape and human trafficking in an effort to encourage teenagers experiencing similar abuse to get help and raise attention for people who know little about it, Ellen Hopkins, the author of those three, told the committee. 'Identical,' for example, reflected the experiences of four of Hopkins' friends who were molested by male relatives, she said. Readers, many of them teenagers, have written Hopkins letters thanking her for writing a book so similar to their own experiences, she said. 'Not every kid's life is ideal,' Hopkins said. 'Who will speak for them? Somebody has to speak for them, including in school libraries.' In November, the committee decided another book by Hopkins, 'Crank' — about a woman addicted to meth — can be checked out of school libraries only with parents' permission. Ivie Szalai, who brought the challenges to the state level, said she has read and enjoyed several of Hopkins' books. But she doesn't believe they belong in school libraries, she told board members in the virtual meeting. 'I stand by my stance that I don't feel that they are appropriate for minor children,' said the Beaufort County parent. Others, such as 'Half of a Yellow Sun' and 'Last Night at the Telegraph Club,' tell the stories of historical events. 'Half of a Yellow Sun,' by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, tells the story of three people during the civil war in Nigeria in the 1960s. 'Last Night at the Telegraph Club,' by Malinda Lo, follows a 17-year-old Chinese American girl as she discovers her sexuality in 1950s San Francisco. 'I am a Chinese American lesbian myself, and when I was a teen growing up in the 1980s and '90s, I often felt alone and confused,' Lo wrote in a letter to the committee. 'I didn't have access to books like this that would have helped me to better understand who I was. 'That's why I write books about LGBTQ+ and Asian American characters,' Lo's letter continued. 'I'm writing the books I needed as a teen.' Whether the books are important is not what the committee considers. Board members' decisions must be based solely on whether the books contain sexual content, said Robert Cathcart, attorney for the state Department of Education. And in the case of the 10 books committee members considered Thursday, they did, he said. 'While this material likely does contain many important themes and considerations, what this board and the committee is charged with considering is whether or not it's age and developmentally appropriate,' Cathcart said. Removing books from libraries takes away chances teenagers might have to find a book that interests them during a time when fewer children are reading for fun, two librarians and a teacher told the committee. Students who enjoy stories by Sarah J. Maas or Colleen Hoover, two popular authors whose books the committee voted Thursday to remove from shelves, might discover a lifelong love of reading that helps them in other parts of their lives, librarians said. 'I want books in my library that people want to read,' said Laura Haverkamp, a former high school librarian of 24 years in Columbia. Those students have plenty of other options, Szalai said. 'I hope that in the future that authors, if their target audience is children in high school, let's say 14 to 18, that they might consider removing that (sexual) material,' Szalai said. The books heard Thursday all came from Szalai, who said she has children attending Beaufort County public schools. Szalai was also responsible for four previous challenges, which she brought after her local school board decided the books could stay on high school shelves. Those decisions came before the regulation went into effect.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
SC Board of Education may remove 10 books from classrooms: List
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) — The South Carolina Board of Education will consider removing 10 more books from school libraries and classrooms on March 13. The board has heard challenges to 17 books under a regulation implemented by the South Carolina Department of Education. READ MORE: SC Board of Education removes four books from K-12 classrooms The regulation allows the board to remove books containing 'sexual conduct.' Books that could be removed include: 'Tricks' by Ellen Hopkins 'Identical' by Ellen Hopkins 'Collateral' by Ellen Hopkins 'Lucky' by Alice Sebold 'Living Dead Girl' by Elizabeth Scott 'Last Night at the Telegraph Club' by Malinda Lo 'Hopeless ' by Colleen Hoover 'Half of a Yellow Sun' by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 'Kingdom of Ash' by Sarah J. Maas 'Empire of Storms' by Sarah J. Maas Critics have called the regulation too vague. 'My concern is that section of state law broadly defines sexual conduct as a simple description of sexual intercourse,' said Patrick Kelly, director of government affairs for the Palmetto Teachers Association. Kelly said that the broad definition could mean that foundational educational texts could be up for removal. 'So if you have a book that simply describes that act, then it's potentially age-inappropriate and it doesn't have to be a graphic description or explicit description, simply describing,' Kelly continued. 'So the bible describes sexual conduct, the works of Shakespeare describe sexual conduct.' According to the Department of Education, the regulation is not book banning. Officials said it's dictating what books the government should buy. So far, the board has removed 11 of the 17 books that have been challenged. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
South Dakota House advances bill that lawmaker slams as ‘locking up librarians'
State Rep. Will Mortenson, R-Fort Pierre, speaks in the South Dakota House of Representatives on Feb. 4, 2025. He spoke against a bill Thursday that he said would result in "locking up librarians." (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight) In a move that one lawmaker said would lead to 'locking up librarians,' South Dakota legislators advanced a bill 38-32 on Thursday at the Capitol in Pierre that would remove legal protections for libraries and other institutions if children view books that meet the legal definition of 'harmful to minors.' The bill would repeal an exemption shielding libraries, schools, universities, museums and their employees from prosecution under laws regulating obscenity and dissemination of material harmful to children. Without the exemption, people who work for those entities could be subjected to prosecutions resulting in a year of jail time and a $2,000 fine. After passing the House of Representatives, the legislation's next stop is the Senate. Rep. Bethany Soye, R-Sioux Falls, is the main sponsor. During Thursday's House debate, she referenced an exemption in state law for works with serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value and said that should suffice, without specific protection from prosecution for several entities. 'So essentially this bill is just removing that exemption and saying that we want the same standard for everyone,' she said. Soye cited the book 'Tricks' by Ellen Hopkins, marketed as a young adult novel about prostitution, as an example of harmful material currently accessible to students in public school libraries. She and other supporters said the intent of the bill is to pressure schools and libraries to remove those kinds of books. 'I ask all of you to read that and look me in the eyes and tell me that's not pornography,' Soye said. Opponents of the bill said it could lead to librarians facing criminal charges for loaning books. Rep. Drew Peterson, R-Salem, noted that the state's legal definition of harmful material does not require criminal intent to justify a prosecution. 'If a librarian accidentally allowed a student to take an anatomy book home or an encyclopedia with a picture of a naked human being, they could potentially be charged with a year in jail,' Peterson said. 'That's why I am voting no.' Rep. Will Mortenson, R-Fort Pierre, also opposed the measure. 'We're locking up librarians,' Mortenson said. 'Folks, we're not growing the state. We're not helping our people. We're locking up librarians in this bill.' Soye countered that several states have already removed similar exemptions and said no librarians have been sent to jail in those states. A report last year by The Washington Post listed eight states that have passed laws stripping librarian exemptions from prosecution under obscenity laws, including one where the law was blocked by the courts and two where the bill was vetoed. Other opponents said the bill could lead to resignations. Rep. Kevin Van Diepen, R-Huron, a retired law enforcement officer, said he had never been asked to arrest a librarian. 'I've been called by all of the librarians in my district who said they will quit because of this,' Van Diepen said. 'Is that what we want? Librarians quitting? Doesn't make any sense.' In her closing arguments, Soye rejected claims that the bill criminalizes librarians. 'Just because there's a penalty for something, does that mean you're criminalizing someone?' she asked. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
