After a letter to the editor arrived at the Llano News referencing the removal of 16 books from the high school library, the News reached out to the president and vice president of the school district’s board of trustees. The trustees forwarded the questions to Llano Independent School District Superintendent Mac Edwards, who said that the books were removed as part of librarians’ routine weeding process.
“The letter does not accurately describe the recent and periodic deselection of library materials,” said Edwards in an email to the News on Friday, Aug. 9. “LISD removed over 2,000, books through its ‘weeding out’ process. Over 800 of those titles came from (the) Llano High School Library. The LHS library collection contains over 13,000 books. Eight hundred titles were weeded, which amounts to about 6% of the total collection. The purpose being to maintain the currency of the collection and to make space for new titles. Most, if not all, of these books were removed for little or no circulation in the last five years.”
The LISD Board of Trustees did not have to vote on the matter.
“No vote was taken and no vote was required,” Edwards said.
Edwards said that anyone can access the district’s policy on book challenges and reconsideration on its website.
“According to LISD board-approved policy, ‘parents and guardians are the primary decision makers regarding their student’s access to library materials’ and ‘because of their professional credentials, librarians may replace or remove materials,’” Edwards said. “LISD Librarians follow specific procedures for deselecting library materials. These procedures are also on our website.”
The News asked when the books were purchased and for how much money, and if other books could be removed, but Edwards said he did not have that information readily available.
The letter-writer, Bonnie Wallace, told the News in an email on Friday that she challenged the books because of their sexual content: “I have several hundred books on the list of harmful content...Many of these books are written for and marketed to adults. Why in the world is this erotica in our high school? I’ve discovered this filth all across the state, not just in Llano. You have to wonder how this happens.”
Wallace, as a member of the library’s new advisory board, is among the defendants in a federal lawsuit that currently is being hashed out in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
A panel of judges is set to hear oral arguments on Sept. 24, in New Orleans. It will be the second time oral arguments have been held in the case. In a divided opinion handed down on June 6, two federal appellate judges—both nominated by Republican presidents—ordered the Llano County Library System to return most of the 17 books that were removed back to the shelves and card catalog. However, a court order issued on July 3, granted a petition for rehearing “en banc” filed by the defendants, which vacated the initial opinion and led to the second round of oral arguments.
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Leila Green Little is one of the seven Llano County Library System patrons who filed the aforementioned lawsuit on April 25, 2022. She was not surprised to hear from the News regarding Wallace’s letter to the editor. She said that LISD has done well in its handling of book challenges by relying on its policies and the experience of its librarians.
“What we’ve seen here in LISD, based on my own public information requests, is one citizen without a child enrolled in the district who has made 21 requests for reconsideration between January and May 2024,” Little said. “This has cost our school district untold hours, stress, and funds to address. Thankfully, LISD appears to follow its well-written policies and procedures, and I’m grateful for the way they have addressed this challenging time. Nationwide, numerous lawsuits have been brought against districts which are censoring books in the past two years, and the courts have consistently upheld First Amendment protections for students and their access to school library books. I’m hopeful that this current pro-censorship movement will soon end, much like we have seen in prior entries in America’s history of book banning crusades.”
Little said that the LISD librarians are professionals.
“We have incredibly competent librarians who provide excellent curation and abide by their professional code of ethics, and our administration and school board are supportive of those seasoned teacher librarians,” she said. “We have good policies and procedures in our district to address materials selection, removal, and requests for reconsideration of books. To the best of my knowledge, censorship has not occurred in our public school libraries.”
Little said that not everyone will agree with every book in a library.
“All four of our librarians are certified school librarians, so they are qualified and receive instruction on curation of collections,” she said. “Parents, both now and in the past, have the right and the ability to restrict their own children’s reading within a library. Parents do not have the right to remove books for all children’s reading within a library. Each family’s values and each student’s reading interests are unique, and not every book is the right fit for every reader. There is an approved, active policy and procedure to address book challenges and requests for reconsideration. Following policies and procedures is important to ensure that books are not censored.”
