By Delayna Earley
The Island News
BEAUFORT – Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult has become the second book to be removed from Beaufort County School District libraries.
In January, It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover became the first book removed since the process of reviewing the books began in October.
The third BCSD Book Review Committee meetings were held on Thursday, Feb. 16, at Okatie Elementary School, and the committees reviewed and voted on 10 books from the list of 97 books that are currently under review.
Three other books were deemed appropriate for grades 9 through 12, five books will be returned to grades 6 through 12, and one book is being returned to circulation with no restrictions.
During the committee meeting, the members of each committee have a chance to discuss their assigned book with the rest of their committee before voting anonymously on if the book should be returned to circulation at all, with restrictions, or without restrictions.
Each committee is made up of a community member, a parent, a school administrator, a member of a School Improvement Council in the school district, a district-level administrator, a teacher and a school librarian.
Michel Claudio, a parent from Bluffton, says that she thinks that the process for reviewing the books is good because every member of the committee is given a chance to express their thoughts on the literature, but she is frustrated that they are there reviewing the books at all.
“There’s so much time, valuable teacher and staff time, being spent doing this. It’s almost like a robbery of taxpayer dollars,” Claudio said. “That said, I am encouraged by how things have been going.”
Claudio said that she feels that as a parent you have a right to decide what is appropriate for your child to read, but that right does not extend to other children in the school district.
Claudio has participated in two separate committees and has resubmitted her name to participate in future committees.
“These are some really great books,” Claudio said. “Really valuable books for our community and especially for our children, and I’m glad that they are holding up to scrutiny.”
Two other members of committees, Michelle Mostiler, a teacher at Bluffton High School, and Kevin Sandusky, a teacher and School Improvement Council member at Bluffton High School, agreed with Claudio.
Sandusky said that he wishes that they didn’t have to be there.
“I love that the process is very organized and super specific,” Mostiler said. “I think our students need access to reading so that it encourages higher learning.”
The committee participants are all volunteers and absences on the night of the meetings do not impact the process, according to a previous statement by BCSD spokesperson Candace Bruder.
The results of the vote were:
- Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell – returned to grades 9 through12 only
- Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson – returned to grades 6 through 12 only
- I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson– returned to grades 6 through 12 only
- Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson – returned to grades 6 through 12 only
- Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult – removed from circulation
- Sold by Patricia McCormick – returned to grades 6 through 12 only
- All the Things We Do In The Dark by Saundra Mitchell – returned to circulation without restrictions
- City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare – returned to grades 6 through 12 only
- I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez – returned to grades 9 through 12 only
- Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews – returned to grades 9 through 12 only
Only three committee members were present and participated in the discussion about Nineteen Minutes, which is a book that follows a fictional school shooting and includes the events leading up to and after the event.
The committee was made up of a librarian, a school principal and a community member.
Two committee members voted to remove the book completely and one member voted to restrict the book to grades 9 through 12.
Delayna Earley lives in Beaufort with her husband, two children and Jack Russell. She spent six years as a videographer and photographer for The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette before leaving the Lowcountry in 2018. After freelancing in Myrtle Beach and Virginia, she joined The Island News when she moved back to Beaufort in 2022. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
