The Hanover County School Board recently introduced a revised draft of its library and media centers policy. The division’s existing measure, initially adopted in June 2023, has been criticized by county residents as a means to make it easier to ban books from school and classroom libraries.
Since the policy’s adoption, the school board has removed 91 books from circulation from school facilities. The board’s most recent book review decision kept the New International Version of the Bible in circulation.
School Board Chairperson Bob May said the changes to its existing policy arrived after a lengthy discussion among the board and its staff during a March work session.
“One of the reasons we have these work sessions in the first place is to work out how we can do things more efficiently,” May told VPM News.
Jennifer Greif, Hanover’s assistant superintendent for instructional leadership and chief academic officer, characterized the changes as a complete “rebuild” of the existing policy that establishes a layered method of how materials are reviewed — though many of the board’s initial intentions remain intact.
Greif presented staff’s findings during the board's regular meeting on Monday.
What’s changed and what remains the same ?
The introduction of the new policy is largely built on the language from the Virginia Code, which gives school divisions the authority to restrict access to “sexually explicit content.”
“We heard very clearly from school board members throughout this revision process that age appropriateness, educational suitability and controversial issues were the three pillars that we wanted to make sure were intact as we built the policy,” Greif said about the revamped policy, which also builds on the division’s evaluation of materials.
Greif later clarified this particular policy does not prohibit teachers from teaching anything that is deemed controversial or sensitive, but asks them to present a balanced view determining which material they choose to use as an instructional resource.
The draft policy also maintains Hanover’s Library Materials Committee: a group of seven school board appointees tasked with evaluating complaints made against certain library resources and determining their appropriateness for use throughout the school division.
Two new sections incorporated in this draft policy are titled "Parental Involvement" and "Professional Learning," the latter of which was not included in the school division’s existing policy.
Greif said school staff recognized the importance of the partnerships forged between parents, guardians and instructional staff as controversial materials are made available.
The partnership would encourage parents to speak with the school system about the materials in school libraries. Should a parent or guardian have concerns over access to library materials by their child, that parent can restrict their child’s access at school.
An annual notification would be provided to parents who wish to place restrictions on their student’s access to certain library materials.
Another new section in the policy involves professional learning. The policy promotes consistency with the implementation between librarians and teachers. Greif said faculty would be trained to “maintain a consistent and cohesive approach to the curation of our libraries in the selection of materials.”
These training sessions also include information on the policies, practices and processes related to library materials.
Per the policy, faculty will "receive yearly professional learning on the concepts of age appropriateness, educational suitability, and controversial issues. These sessions will also include information on the policies, practices, and processes related to library materials."
The largest change to the board’s existing process are the roles school faculty have in acquiring library books and the process in which they’re reviewed by school staff and board members.
Acquisitions, deselection and reconsideration
The process by which books are acquired, deselected and reviewed has mostly stayed the same, but with some notable changes.
Trained school librarians and professional staff remain responsible for selecting which books are acquired during a given school year. Classroom teachers also maintain their ability to house their own classroom library resources, so long as those materials remain in accordance with the policy.
Librarians and classroom teachers are also asked to consult a variety of professional resources for book reviews when making their selections. They are also responsibile for regularly analyzing what’s in circulation, eliminating items from a library to keep the collection current, appealing and relevant.
School administrators have the responsibility of overseeing the deselection process on the fiscal side. Principals are asked to meet regularly with staff responsible for deselecting and removing library materials.
The method in which residents file complaints or challenge individual books found in schools is similar as well. Parents or guardians of students in the school system or a county employee or resident has the authority to file a challenge regarding the retention of books in a school or classroom library. The school board also retains its authority to remove or acquire any book by majority vote.
There are now changes to the levels of review for challenges:
- Level One: Local School Review Committee
- Level Two: Library Materials Committee
- Level Three: School Board Review
When a complaint is submitted by a local resident, it’s evaluated by the school at the local school level. An opportunity will be given for the complainant to meet with the Local School Review Committee to discuss the validity of their complaint.
Prior to that meeting, the committee will also read, view or experience the challenged material in its entirety. They will then discuss this with librarians and teachers, and evaluate the challenged library material for its strength and educational value as a whole before determining the need to keep it or not.
If the complainant denies the opportunity to meet with the committee, the review will be discontinued.
Should the committee opt to remove the book from schools, that book is removed from the school where the complaint was made, rather than it being removed from all the schools.
The complaint then moves to the Library Materials Committee, where they’ll determine if the book or media material is suitable for the division as a whole. That recommendation is then forwarded to the school board for a final vote.
During the review process, the challenged material will remain in circulation until the school board makes its decision.
Committee members are required to share information across each level of review. Greif said there are a lot of opportunities to determine nuances for books that may be appropriate at the high school level rather than at the middle or elementary levels.
“We talk about what are some ways that we can carve out the most appropriate place for materials to be used,” she said. “This policy is really hinged upon the collaboration between professional library staff, teachers and principals.”
Upon the draft policy’s introduction, Hanover’s school board will have another opportunity to review the rewritten policy during its meeting next month, where the board will have the opportunity to adopt the revision.
According to chairperson May, the jury is still out on how parents and staff will receive the new changes.
“I can’t predict how people will react to what we’ve discussed, but I trust our staff have the best intentions for the school as a whole,” May said. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”
