Speakers at Beaufort school meeting object to books being removed from school libraries
A large group of community members spoke at a Beaufort Schools meeting Tuesday to object to almost 100 books being removed from libraries after others said they contain questionable material.
Over 20 people spoke during the public comment portion of the school board meeting about the removal of 97 books for review. Two people said the books shouldn’t be there at all. The community members spoke about an hour and a half, compared to 15 minutes normally allotted for public comments.
The books were removed from county middle and high schools after several parents in previous board meetings read sex scenes aloud from them.
Those who spoke Tuesday included a Beaufort County high school body student president, former and current school librarians, parents, teachers, community members and a representative from ACLU South Carolina.
The board was scheduled to discuss the book review process later in the meeting, but was not permitted to respond to the public comments addressed to them.
Madison Hahn, May River High School student body president, said she chose to speak after her class was prevented from being taught “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky.
“Teachers aren’t normally allowed to talk about racism, sexism and queer identities,” she said.
She said that books often provide young people the only opportunity to “learn about the realities of someone in that situation.”
The list of removed books includes “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Kite Runner,” “The Lovely Bones,” “grl2grl” and “Foul is Fair.”
Freedom to Read South Carolina member Josh Elton said that though community members opposing the ban are supported by the ACLU, he thinks the community speaking out is most important.
“I think often it’s just one person saying these books should be banned and they’re the only voice in the room because people might not know about it,” Elton said. “Getting the opposite view in the room like we had tonight lets the decision makers know they’re the minority.”
The board is currently reviewing the book selection, buying and review process.
This story was originally published November 1, 2022 at 10:45 PM.
