In 2024, the South Carolina State Board of Education guided by Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver passed 43-170. Uniform Procedure for Selection or Reconsideration of Instructional Materials. The State Legislature did not amend it, so this essentially became law.
It is not particularly long, and it is quite vague in some areas.
It sets up stringent prohibitions against sexual content, without consideration of educational merit. It requires teachers and librarians to publish a list of all books, websites, and other content a student might be able to access in their library or classroom. It then allows any individual parent in a school district to “challenge” any of those items of content in any classroom or library on the basis that it is not “Age and Developmentally Appropriate”. The school district is required to review complaints, and Ban any concerning content from all classrooms and all libraries in the entire district. Any teacher or librarian found to be making Banned content available faces vaguely and ominously defined discipline.
Initial effects here in Greenville have included banning a range of books including What To Expect When You’re Expecting, A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. There has also been the highly unusual decision to cancel the school book fairs.
You can follow along with Greenville’s Book Removals by following the link on the Greenville County Schools Media Services site or directly to their Google Document.
Listen to Fighting for the Freedom to Read – for an overview of where this Book Banning movement came from, as well as its impact on school librarians.