Four schools remove books from libraries in Pender County Schools after review

PENDER COUNTY (WWAY) — Schools in Pender County are removing books from their shelves, after the district authorized a review of more than 40 books.

It’s up to each individual school. So far in the district, 4 schools decided to remove a total of 8 books with seven book titles from their libraries.

In February, the Pender County Board of Education unanimously voted to pull more than 40 books from school shelves while they were reviewed.

Under district policy, the schools regularly review books to see if they are out of date, or if the information is obsolete.

They also provide an opportunity for parental input.

The schools that decided to remove books include Burgaw Middle School,  West Pender Middle School, Topsail Middle School, and Pender High School.

The seven book titles for the 8 books removed were named in a letter from the concerned citizens of Pender County.

“We were asking for review all the time, not banning them, but making them age appropriate, and actually we were asking them to go by the definition of the statute in 115c-98, –I believe it is, where the school board has sole authority to review these books for educational purposes. If they are –have an educational purpose, then they can put them in the schools, if they don’t they can remove them. This is exactly what we’ve been looking for,” said Mike Korn, with the Concerned Citizens of Pender County.

The book titles include “A Brave New World” ,”Sold” ,”The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian”, “A Court Of Mist And Fury” , “Go Ask Alice” , “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian” , “The Art of Racing In The Rain” , and “Thirteen Reasons Why” .

One person who spoke during public comment at this week’s Pender County Board of Education meeting questioned how long reviews take, the process of removing books from library shelves when they are being reviewed, and if any book questioned and recommended for review would be removed from shelves in the future.

“That’s just the crux of it, and that just seems like a procedural concern. That if a Pender County professional librarian or a teacher has ordered the book to begin with…that a book should be presumed innocent until proven guilty, and if a panel asks –you know, deems it age inappropriate, and deems that it should be removed, then so be it, but until that takes place I think they should be available,” said Gabriel Harrell, attendee.

Some schools in the district still have books under review. Pender County says a school’s decision to remove a book does not reflect a district-wide decision, and that book may remain on the shelves at another school. Any book that was reviewed and kept, can be returned to the shelves by media coordinators.