What does it take to ban a book in Beaufort County? In some cases, just 3 people
In late October 2022 - during the early days of parental challenges against Beaufort County school library books for inappropriate content - Joseph Castagnino filed reports with the Sheriff’s Office alleging the school district put his child’s life in danger. He specifically called out 97 titles on shelves in school libraries he deemed obscene. Since then, he has read excerpts aloud during the school board’s public comment period, most frequently he focused on the books’ sex scenes.
Flash forward to July. Castagnino was randomly selected to be part of the review process he demanded. When it came time to vote on whether the book should be in schools, he was missing in action. He’s one of many who failed to complete their voluntary assignment, handing the decision of whether to ban books to the few who completed the job.
Beaufort County’s review process for the 97 books pulled from school library shelves in October has taken about 11 months with the fate of 23 titles still undecided. It has garnered national media attention and produced hundreds of public comments at board meetings. Of the 74 reviewed, the district has banned four books.
The district’s review committees were designed to have seven people:
- Community member
- District-level administrator
- Parent
- School administrator
- Member of a School Improvement Council within the district/school
- School librarian
- Teacher
Decisions to ban have been made by a few
The initial two-month bureaucratic effort to shape a thorough, transparent and politically viable book review process is now facing a new, and more immediate wrinkle: volunteers aren’t showing up. As an example of this, three people made the decision for the entire school district in two cases of books being banned, according to an Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette analysis of the committee attendance.
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Due to poor attendance, three people were on each of the committees responsible for banning “Forever for a Year” by B.T. Gottfred and “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult from library shelves. Only two people on each of the committees voted for the books to be banned completely. For “Forever a Year” the group was made up of a district-level administrator, principal and community member. For “Nineteen Minutes” it was a school librarian, principal and community member. Five members were present at the committees that banned the other two books: “It Ends with Us” by Colleen Hoover and “The Haters” by Jesse Andrews.
It’s not unusual for review committees to be missing members. Over 17% of participants tapped to decide on the books haven’t shown up, according to the analysis of the committee attendance. There aren’t any quotas for how many people need to be on a committee at this time, according to district spokesperson Candace Bruder. If committees are missing members the process will still move forward and decisions with missing members will stand.
“Participating in these meetings takes a lot more time than just showing up to a meeting to vote,” Bruder said. She said they need to respect the time each committee member who did show up put into reading the books in their entirety and responding to the rubric.
The lack of participation is from book ban proponents and opponents alike. Those who don’t show up include librarians, community members, teachers, parents and district staff. It also includes Castagnino who seems to have done everything in his power to prevent the 97 books pulled from Beaufort County school libraries in October from going back on shelves, except for, when given the chance, reading the book and voting on whether the title should be banned.
Castagnino wasn’t alone. For the round of seven books that review committees made decisions on in August, 18 of the 49 of committee members didn’t pick up the district-provided books to read before they voted. They were then removed from the process. Another six picked up their book but didn’t attend the meeting to vote. That means 49% of those selected to make decisions about whether books should be banned in schools weren’t there. For the most recent round of review committees, 9 of the 39 participants tapped, or 18%, were missing.
Normally, Castagnino would be just another parent who didn’t or couldn’t fulfill the obligation he signed up for - until he increased his public profile in September by announcing his candidacy for mayor of Bluffton.
Not everyone who has voiced support or concern about the books has been absent. Twice this year, the district randomly selected David Cook, another outspoken critic of the books in schools. He took the time to complete both assignments and was present at each of the votes. Cook gained attention in June for throwing chicken feed at the school board to symbolize how he perceived the board’s decisions as cowardly.
In the past 11 months since the review process started, the district has needed about 520 reading and voting slots to be assigned to for the seven-person per book committee. The district approved that one person could serve on multiple book reviews. Of those 520 over 90 have either not picked up their books, not shown up to vote or not responded to the district’s initial communication with them, according to the review committee assignment trackers.
Citizens can volunteer to serve through a form on the district’s website: https://www.beaufortschools.net/academics/instructional-programs-support/library-media-services/school-library-materials-reconsideration-information
Castagnino hasn’t responded to request for comment made via email and phone Wednesday and Thursday.
This story was originally published September 22, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
