Parents, staff of Horry schools speak out about book banning movement across SC

Several parents and staff members of the Horry County school district spoke out against a revised policy to change the way books are approved in schools.

In a Nov. 7 vote, the school board approved a recommendation to create a district-wide media advisory committee that would approve every book that comes into the district library. Every school will have its own media advisory board as well.

Meredith Richie, a school librarian at Blackwater Middle School, told the school board on Monday that their decision was belittling.

“Having a school-level library media advisory committee that has to approve every book purchase is harmful to the betterment of the library collection, and is a bit belittling to your school librarians who work very hard to know the student population as a whole, and try to make the collection as strong as it can be,” Richie said.

She added that before the policy revision, parents should and always have had the opportunity to restrict what their children read about.

How will Horry schools decide what books will be accessible?

For every school in the district, the media library committee would include four parents who serve on a board already, a media specialist, an administrator and an instructional coach. The committee would review each book ordered by librarians before being placed in schools.

The functions of the district-wide media library committee would have essentially the same functions, and would include a District library media services coordinator, a district director for professional development, two school board members, one teacher, one media specialist, and four members of advisory boards or parent cabinets.

To read the full version of the revised policy, click here.

What books are already restricted in Horry County schools?

According to Bourcier, there are five books have restricted access in the school district to date. They are:

• “Julian is a Mermaid” by Jessica Love
• “Last Night at the Telegraph Club” by Malinda Lo
• “Lily and Dunkin” by Donna Gephart
  
  
• “Melissa [previously George]”

Another book, titled “This Book is Gay” was removed completely from the Horry County schools. The book, written by Juno Dawson, was located in two high school libraries but was never checked out by students, according to school records, Bourcier said.

In 2002, The Drowning of Stephen Jones was removed from middle school-level libraries.

In an earlier interview with the Sun News, school board member and future chairman David Cox said that he wasn’t aware of any books currently up for consideration.

Book banning happening across South Carolina

Earlier this month, The Island Packet’s Mary Dimitrov reported that 97 books were pulled from Buefort County Schools, after one parent, a member of conservative group Moms for Liberty, sent the school board and superintendent a complaint.

“The list includes what could be considered classics such as ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ and ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower,’”Dimitrov wrote. “The list also includes titles such as ‘grl2grl’ and ‘Foul is Fair.’”

One children’s book, “Black is a Rainbow Color”, was removed from shelves in the Lexington-Richland 5 district after it received a complaint last month, The State reported. Later, the district decided that the book would stay after being deemed “acceptable and appropriate.”

In the Horry County School District’s revised policy, close attention will be paid to books with visual or written descriptions of sexual acts or nudity.

Todd Scholl, a Myrtle Beach resident and member of the SCEA, said that branding something as “pornography because it has sexual content is hyperbolic and shortsighted.”

“For example, the Bible contains rape, incest, and polygamy,” Scholl said. “Applying the logic used by some, this could be ‘pornography,’ but The Bible contains so much more than this. It is an important historical record and has provided humanity with much wisdom and insight. The passages that make us uncomfortable should not incline us to censor it. It is the work as a whole that should be considered, not the cherry-picked parts used to misrepresent the piece in its entirety.”

However, some residents spoke up in support of restricting such books. Ken Coleman told the board on Monday that they have a “moral obligation” to not let certain books into the school district.

“They see enough of it on television, they see enough of it on Instagram, they don’t need to have it in the school library that has been paid for by taxpayers,” Coleman said.

This story was originally published November 16, 2022 at 8:00 AM.