Feature photo by Shauna Reynolds
Story by Shauna Reynolds
At the Rutherford County School Board meeting Thursday night, most of the half-hour public comment period and nearly an hour of general discussion time centered on an issue absent from the agenda — a massive removal of library books.
Empty shelves
On Tuesday, librarians within Rutherford County Schools received a list of 150 allegedly sexually explicit titles with an order to immediately pull them from shelves. The order cited board policy 4.403, which allows the school board to determine the appropriateness of library materials.
Librarians did whatever it took to follow that edict; in some cases, this included closing libraries for a day or asking students to return books immediately. Board member Frances Rosales introduced the list to the librarians.
“Imagine those students being made to feel as though they did something wrong, being called out of class and forced to turn over their library book,” Elizabeth Shepherd said during the public comment session at Thursday’s school board meeting. “Having to explain to their friends what just happened, wondering if they can trust their librarian anymore or if their library is still a safe place.”
Shepherd is an RCS parent and a school librarian in Murfreesboro City Schools. Her phone buzzed all Tuesday morning with texts from shocked and confused school librarians, she said.
The order to review these titles for appropriateness adds to the already overwhelming workload for school library media specialists, whose job duties also include assisting teachers and students with digital literacy. If they are tasked with reviewing over 100 books for appropriateness, they’ll need to close or limit hours in school libraries, put in extra hours or both.
Purple vs. white
At the meeting, the gallery was packed with the now-familiar purple shirts of the Rutherford County Library Alliance and supporters on one side and the white shirts of those in favor of removing materials – many affiliated with World Outreach Church of Murfreesboro – on the other.
About 25 minutes before the meeting began, someone in a white shirt hushed the room for an impromptu prayer. While every meeting agenda includes a moment of silence, a public prayer is not a part of it.
Public comments ranged from mild to intense. Speakers quoted scripture and accused board members of being bad Republicans and bad Christians.
Bryan Schuster, in a white shirt, directly addressed board co-chair Frances Rosales, questioning her reasons for submitting the list of books for removal.
“This is surprising,” Schuster said, “like the fact that she withdrew herself from voting on sexually explicit books in September. So either Miss Rosales has had a change of heart taken to an unhealthy extreme, or she has other ulterior motives.”
Schuster ended his comments by accusing those against book banning of “demand(ing) our children be exposed to perversion and sexually explicit content.”
“I’m not demonizing anyone here, but I want to cast out the demons behind this perverse movement,” Schuster said. “They have no place in this county, no power over our children, and I pronounce them banished, cast out into darkness.”
The gasps of those being accused were drowned out by cheering from the white-shirted side of the crowd.
Austin Maxwell, Rutherford County GOP chairman and spouse of school board chair Claire Maxwell, took the microphone to request the school board to “be nice to each other,” foreshadowing the upcoming chaos of the board’s general discussion.
Moving forward
Board member Frances Rosales proposed a motion to pay librarians a $1,000 stipend for the additional work required to evaluate books and recommend which should or shouldn’t be retained in the library’s collection. The discussion that followed pitted board members against each other, pushing Claire Maxwell to slam her gavel and call for order.
A circular argument failed to clearly explain how to evaluate these books, interpret laws referencing each other or define “explicit,” so the board approved Rosales’ motion. Conversation then turned to Kelly Chastain, Chief Education Officer of Rutherford County Schools. The evaluation process would not require summer work or even go on until the end of the school year, Chastain said.
“We’re going to start as soon as this board meeting is over,” Chastain said.
Board members and school director Jimmy Sullivan agreed that the librarians within the school system are capable of the task at hand.
“I have faith and confidence in the decisions the librarians make and bring back to us with these recommendations,” board member Butch Vaughn said. “I don’t know about the other board members, but 150 books, counting comic books, I ain’t read that many in my lifetime.”
Vaughn also urged everyone present to consider the largest complication of this issue.
“I’d like one statement to every person sitting in this room, whether they’ve got a white shirt on or a purple shirt, it doesn’t matter,” Vaughn said. “This problem needs to go back to the state legislature. This is where it came from, and that’s what’s causing everything. This discord, among this board, among our community, you know, it all came from this sorry law. It needs to be revisited and done correctly. This was not done correctly.”
The next Rutherford County School Board meeting is scheduled for Dec. 5.
Shauna Reynolds is the Lifestyles Editor for MTSU Sidelines.
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