HANOVER COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Hanover teachers will soon have to provide a list of all books in their classrooms and research backing those choices up, according to a revised version of the school division’s new book policy.
The Hanover County School Board passed a controversial “library materials” policy in June that focused on removing “inappropriate” books from school libraries and classrooms. The policy not only allowed parents, school staff and county residents to submit challenges for books, but also gave the board itself full discretion to decide whether or not to remove certain books from schools.
An updated version of the policy came before the school board during their meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 8.
One of the first changes to the policy adds that if a book is removed from schools by the school board, this removal will remain in effect for four years, unless the board reconsiders their decision.
The board previously voted to remove 19 books from all school libraries and classrooms. These books ranged from literary classics like “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison to more contemporary titles like “Looking for Alaska” by John Green and “This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson.
The updated policy also outlines requirements for teachers providing inventories of all classroom materials. The policy requires all teachers to provide their principal with a list of all books and magazines in their classroom, and this list must be updated if any new materials are added. Under the updated guidelines, middle and high school teachers must provide these lists by Jan. 12, 2024, while elementary school teachers will have until the beginning of the 2024-25 school year to submit their inventories.
During the school board meeting in June, both opponents and supporters of the policy expressed concern that these requirements would place too much burden on school staff, especially teachers who would have to catalogue their classroom libraries in addition to their daily work and preparation for the new school year. These concerns were echoed by board member John E. Redd, Jr. during Tuesday’s meeting.
Redd moved to removed this requirement from the policy but was overruled. The rest of the board responded that they will be paying substitute teachers and recruiting volunteers, mainly retirees, to help teachers handle their book inventories.
An update to the policy also gives teachers the opportunity to argue their case for wanting books with sexually explicit content to remain available in their classroom. Teachers can submit a book, along with an explanation of how it contributes to their classroom goals, to the Library Materials Committee. If the Committee recommends the book remain in classrooms, it then goes to the School Board for final approval.
Finally, the updated policy states that teachers and school librarians must submit a list of sources they consulted while selecting books for their classrooms or libraries alongside their inventory lists. These sources must come from the following list, which was also approved by the school board on Tuesday:
- Common Sense Media
- Horn Book
- Horn Book Guide
- Junior Library Guild
- Kirkus Review
- Library Journal
- Publisher’s Weekly
- School Library Connection
- School Library Journal
- Book Looks
While all other sources were previously used by teachers and librarians, Book Looks was added to the list upon school board recommendation. The site describes its mission to “write and collect detailed and easy to understand book content reviews centered around objectionable content, including profanity, nudity, and sexual content.”
According to a 2022 report by The Guardian, Book Looks was started by Emily Maikisch, a member of conservative group Moms for Liberty. However, Book Looks website denies any formal connections to Moms for Liberty or any other groups.
The school board also originally added Rated Books — explicitly run in connection with right-wing group No Left Turn in Education — to the list of approved sources. The school ultimately decided to remove this source from the list.
