Spotsylvania County Public Schools ranked fifth in the state in removing books from library shelves, according to findings from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC).
Spotsylvania accounted for 6% of all book removals in Virginia, trailing only Hanover, Rockingham, Goochland and Madison counties.
The division removed 19 books, according to JLARC. Superintendent Clint Mitchell said those books were “professionally reviewed and weeded” prior to a committee meeting to review the titles.
Mitchell said none of those 19 books were placed back into circulation in the school division. He noted, however, that the book bans occurred before he was hired last summer, and that he prefers parental choice over outright removals.
“My opinion on the whole book ban is very simple: I think parents have to make a choice on whether they want their kid to read a book or not,” Mitchell said. “They’ll communicate it to the school district, particularly the classroom teacher and the school principal. We’ll work with parents if they don’t want their kids to read a particular book. What we’re not going to do is be in a situation where we’re going to remove books from all libraries out of the hands of children because everyone has a choice … We’re not going to move backwards.”
Stafford County Public Schools and Fredericksburg City Schools did not remove any books during a roughly five-year period the JLARC study reviewed. Caroline County Public Schools removed one series of Japanese Anime books, while King George school officials did not respond to the JLARC survey.
Divisions were asked about book removal policies, processes and the specific books removed since July 2020. Out of 131 divisions, 94 responded (72%).
The report found that school divisions incorrectly interpreted state law in removing the books. A 2022 law requires school divisions to develop a policy to notify parents when sexually explicit material will be taught. The law also allows any parent to review the material and request an alternative if desired. The JLARC study noted that the law only applies to library books that meet the Virginia Department of Education’s definition of instructional materials, such as those used for a classroom assignment.
“However, the law does not indicate that any instructional materials or other books including sexually explicit content should be removed from school libraries,” the JLARC study concluded. “The law does not include the words ‘library’ or ‘remove.’ Moreover, the final bill includes an enactment clause that clearly indicates it was not the General Assembly’s intent for this law to apply to removing books from school libraries.”
The JLARC report goes on to state that the impact of the misinterpretation of the law may be “minimal” because school divisions have discretion over the selection of library materials. But the study added that the VDOE should clarify that the law does not apply to removing library books.
Caroline Superintendent Sarah Calveric said a series was removed from the county’s lone high school after a student brought it to the library media specialist’s attention that a Japanese Anime volume from the Negima! series contained a nude woman.
The series was listed for ages 16-and-older. The media specialist pulled the entire series and examined it page by page. She then discussed the books with the librarian, and they decided to remove the entire series.
In Spotsylvania, the removed books included Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold; Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston; Anatomy of a Single Girl and Anatomy of a Boyfriend, both by Daria Snadowsky; Boy Toy by Barry Lyga; Collateral, Tilt and Identical, all by Ellen Hopkins; Blankets by Craig Thompson; Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson; l8r, g8r by Lauren Myracle; Beautiful by Amy Reed; Dead End and Blazed by Jason Myers; How Beautiful the Ordinary by Harper Teen Pub; Carnival at the Bray by Jessie Ann Foley; and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab.
“They are not in circulation in our district,” Mitchell said of the current status of the books.
Jennifer Petersen, a Spotsylvania resident, saw her lawsuit against the county’s school board challenging the books dismissed last October by a Spotsylvania Circuit Court judge. Petersen said Tuesday that she is appealing the ruling and filed a brief on June 30. She said the defense has not filed a response. She expects the appeal to be heard in November or later.
Mitchell said SCPS will “rigorously” fight Petersen’s claims.
“So far, the research and the court cases and the JLARC report have shown us what did it really accomplish,” Mitchell said of the book removals. “Not a whole lot.”
Petersen said she was under the impression that the books removed in Spotsylvania were placed back on shelves after a statement from former Interim Superintendent Kelly Guempel last year, before Mitchell’s tenure began.
During a school board meeting on June 10, 2024, board members April Gillespie and Lisa Phelps questioned Guempel about 37 books that former Superintendent Mark Taylor removed on two separate occasions in 2023. Guempel told the board that all the books were returned to the schools after the board reversed the ban at its meeting on Jan. 8, 2024.
“All through the initial trial paperwork, all the books were listed and not once did the defense ever state those professionally weeded were not being returned,” Petersen said. “So, the fact now that the current superintendent is saying they are not being returned is news to me.”
