Committees return 9 of 10 of latest batch of books to shelves
By Mike McCombs
The Island News
A third book – The Haters by Jesse Andrews – has been removed from the shelves of the Beaufort County School District in its entirety as 10 more book committees met Wednesday, March 15 at Okatie Elementary School to review books currently under review by the Beaufort County School District.
The Haters joins two other books – Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, removed in February, and It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, removed in January, that will be kept out of the Beaufort County School District for at least the next five years.
Committees have now reviewed 36 of the 97 books under review, returning 33 to the shelves in some fashion.
Here’s how Committees 27 through 36 ruled on the books they reviewed:
No. 27: The Art of Racing In The Rain by Garth Stein, return to library circulation.
No. 28: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, return to library circulation for Grades 9 through 12 only.
No. 29: The Female Of The Species By Mindy McGinnis, return to library circulation for Grades 9 through 12 only.
No. 30: The Haters by Jesse Andrews, remove the challenged material in its entirety.
No. 31: The Upside Of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli, return to library circulation for Grades 9 through 12 only.
No. 32: The You I’ve Never Known by Ellen Hopkins, return to library circulation for Grades 9 through 12 only.
No. 33: This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki, return to library circulation for Grades 9 through 12 only.
No. 34: Tilt by Ellen Hopkins, return to library circulation for Grades 9 through 12 only.
No. 35: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, return to library circulation for Grades 6 through 12 only.
No. 36: Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi, return to library circulation for Grades 9 through 12 only.
According to the district’s release, the original complainants – Mike Covert and/or Ivie Szalai – were notified March 15 of the decisions by the committees.
The original complainant has seven days after notification of the initial decision to appeal to the Board of Education. The Board would then have 15 days to rule on any appeals.
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
