Thanks to a new proviso in the South Carolina state budget, at least one public library system in the state has made the decision to acquire no new books for those under the age of 18. In a statement released across York County Public Library’s social media late last week, the library board chair announced the moratorium on new purchases until the State better clarifies what is and is not permitted in public libraries.
York County Library’s statement reads as follows:
On behalf of the York County Library (YCL) Board of Trustees, we wish to inform the public of an important decision made by the YCL board at its October 10, 2024, meeting. The board voted to place a moratorium on purchasing any materials for minors (17 and under) until further clarification and guidance is received from the state regarding Proviso 27.1 and until the Attorney General makes a ruling providing libraries with guidance for collection development.
The motion passed with a 4-3 vote. Those infavor were Dennis Getter, Carol Herring, Susan Piening, and Tim Steele. Those opposed were Wendi Michael, Charles Robinson, and Anne Witte.
This moratorium is in effect immediately and will be in place indefinitely as we work to ensure we are in full compliance with any new regulations or requirements or until the board chooses to dissolve the moratorium. The motion and resulting action refer to information in a memorandum issued by the State Library to SC library directors regarding State Aid which reads “The State Library is in the process of requesting an attorney general’s opinion on the matter related to authority of collection development in public libraries.
The memorandum also outlines the requirements the State Library determined for compliance with Proviso 27.1 to receive State Aid. York County Library meets all the requirements and the YCL board signed the Certification Form in June of 2024.
Please know that we understand the impact these changes will have, and we are committed to working diligently to find solutions that address the needs of our community while meeting the requirements set forth by our state legislature.
In Service,
Dr. Anne Royal Witte on behalf of the York County Board of Trustees
The state budget increased funding for public libraries across South Carolina for the first time in years, but that increase came with strings. In order to get their annual budgets, public libraries would now be required to “certify to the State library that their county libraries do not offer any books or materials that appeal to the prurient interest of children under the age of seventeen in children’s, youth, or teen book sections of libraries and are only made available with explicit parental consent.”
The proviso does not define “prurient interests,” though per state code, that refers to “a shameful or morbid interest in nudity, sex, or excretion and is reflective of an arousal of lewd and lascivious desires and thoughts.” In other words, the types of books that do not exist in any public library in the United States. As noted in earlier reporting on the proviso, the vagueness was the point. It allows for the type of interpretation seen across the country and the state itself, deeming books by or about LGBTQ+ people among those most likely to be targeted as “inappropriate.”
York County Library’s post spawned immediate reaction on social media from community members and library supporters:
“Minors require a parent signature on the application for a library card. Permission granted. Now let’s get back to stocking library shelves with books for kids!! Unless the ultimate goal is to keep the next generation ignorant so the same people stay in power?”
“York County residents should be ashamed of leaders who would take such action against basic freedoms of information. “
“Why doesn’t the library board value professional librarianship? I’m so disappointed and baffled by this decision. It’s preventing librarians from doing their work, and stopping the public from getting what they need from the library. I do not understand how the board thought this would be in the best interest for anyone, even after reading the proviso.”
The split vote from the York County Library board is unsurprising. The board has been stacked with extremists, and books in the collection have been a point of contention for more than a year. Like elsewhere, the moral panic over “inappropriate” material in children’s books has led to the board considering several proposals to ban items that some members simply don’t like.
In May 2023, York County Library revised their collection development policies. Key in the revision conversation was that decision that LGBTQ+ books for children would remain in the children’s section of the library. The decision came following a complaint from a county councilman who demanded the library review every children’s book in the collection and remove those featuring gender or sexuality content.
Complaints continued.
Just a month later, county leaders made the surprise decision to shrink the size of the library board from 10 members to seven, making it possible for a smaller number of voices to dominate decisions about the library and its collections. In other words, because the councilman didn’t get what he wanted by banning LGBTQ+ books, he used his power to change the structure of the board.
Choosing to cease purchasing materials for young people is censorship. The York County Board has allowed the county council to make its decisions, and now, anyone under the age of 18 in York County will be unable to access any new material in their public libraries.
South Carolina did not only introduce the proviso in this year’s budget to target books. A second law that addresses public school libraries also undermines the professional capacities of library workers and educators in the state. The State Department of Education has a two-prong test that school boards need to use to determine whether or not materials are appropriate for those under the age of 17. The first prong is that the material is age and developmentally appropriate while the second prong is that aligns with state educational instructional programs. R-43-170 creates a “uniform process” for school board trustees to use when a book complaint is filed and sets up an appeal process through the SC Department of Education, whose decision on any given book would apply to books statewide. This provision is similar to the recent Utah bill which bans books in every state school if it is banned in at least three districts.
Ellen Weaver, the South Carolina Department of Education Supervisor, has been actively working to create more power for her department when it comes to schools and libraries. Last fall, she ended a 50-year relationship between the Department and the South Carolina Association of School Librarians. Weaver wrote in a public letter about the dissolution of the relationship that it was because the association shared resources and language around how to fight book bans happening throughout the state.
The SC Department of Education knew R-43-170 would be a deeply unpopular bill. To continue in their pursuit of the bill, the Department of Education under Weaver hired Miles Coleman, attorney and president of the Columbia chapter of the Federalist Society, an organization that supports conservative and libertarian lawyers. Weaver authorized up to $25,000 in taxpayer money to have Coleman show up to State Board of Education meetings in support of R-43-170 on her behalf. He is not an employee of the Department of Education but he, like Weaver, is a graduate of the fundamentalist Bob Jones University. He was hired by Weaver specifically to advocate for this censorship bill and protect the department from potential litigation–almost as if it was clear from the start that this was not only an unpopular bill and one rooted in fundamental doctrine but also a potential violation of the First Amendment.
What begins in the schools when it comes to book censorship never ends there. In the case of York County partisan politics, leaning into a manufactured crisis now leaves those under 18 without much access to materials that would support their growth, learning, and acceptance of both themselves and those different from them. That is, of course, the point.
The county has almost 300,000 residents.
The next York County Library board meeting is November 14 at 6 p.m. in the Clover library location. There is a group working in support of the public libraries as well, which you can learn about at Support York County, SC, Libraries.
