The books were banned from school libraries last year and then taken to the Friends of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library’s book sale in the fall.
by Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Fifty-three copies of books that were banned from Spotsylvania County Public Schools in March and October of last year—and “unbanned” earlier this month by the new School Board—are back in the division’s Central Office.
Dante Braden, an administrative aide for division superintendent Mark Taylor, retrieved the books from a Friends of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library donation site in Charlottesville last week.
Among the retrieved books are
two copies of Fade by Lisa McMann
five copies of Speak: The Graphic Novel and one copy of Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
four copies of Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
two copies of Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert
one copy of The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
three copies of Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
two copies of Odd One Out by Nic Stone
one copy of The Bluest Eye, one copy of Song of Solomon, and three copies of Beloved by Toni Morrison
one copy of Chosen: A House of Night Novel by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
three copies of Breathless by Jennifer Niven
one copy of Damsel by Elana Arnold
one Spanish copy of The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
two copies of Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe by Preston Norton
one copy of Dime and three copies of America by E.R. Frank
four copies of Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez
one copy of Sold by Patricia McCormick
three copies of All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
one copy of Shine by Lauren Myracle
three copies of Looking for Alaska by John Green
two copies of Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian
two copies of More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera.
The stamps indicating that the books were the property of Spotsylvania County Public School libraries have been marked over in black and some of the books have damaged dust jackets and covers.
The school division’s former chief of staff, Jon Russell, who left his position abruptly in December, apparently took the books to the Friends of JMRL’s book sale sometime in the fall, according to reporting by Pie and Chai magazine.
Taylor, who was placed on administrative leave last week, apparently reached out to Friends of JMRL manager Peter Manno early in January to ask him for assistance in locating the books.
In a January 10 email to School Board Chair Lorita Daniels, Manno said he had identified two boxes of Spotsylvania books, Pie and Chai reported on Jan. 12.
Other copies of the banned books never left Central Office, Taylor said in the January 10 email.
School Board member Megan Jackson told the Advance in a phone call Monday afternoon that she does not believe the proper process for the disposing of surplus material was followed in this case.
“I still haven’t seen any receipts for (any donations),” she said. “I haven’t gotten a clear line on how that all happened. I did ask Mr. Taylor some questions and I didn’t get those answered.”
Jackson said she also wants to understand how some of the books came to be damaged.
“If there is damage to the property, I would like to know why and who did it,” she said.
Jackson said there will also have to be discussions about what to do with the books if their condition is such that they can’t go back on library shelves.
She said one idea is to auction the damaged copies off to raise money for replacing them.
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Good on those who are answering the call of conscience.
Now — where are the rest of the books?
Thank you, Adele – a timely and well written update.
Have charges been files against the people who took the books and didn’t surplus school property correctly?
Thank you, Adele. Well reported, as usual.
I agree with Shaun Kenny. Where are the rest of the books? Every book should be accounted for and if they are not found Mark Taylor should be held accountable. He’s the guy at the top, hired and paid grandly to run the school division. Additionally, if the books are damaged, that should also be on Mark Taylor’s shoulders. I agree with Ms. Shelley. If property is missing and proper procedures not followed, charges should be filed.
Ditto, Dawn Shelley and Becky Murray. Disposing of school property such as a pencil without documentation is one thing. Disposing of a quantity of books without documentation is something entirely different.
I like the idea of auctioning off the damaged books that are not in a condition to be returned to shelves so some funds can be gathered to assist in replacing those copies. We have quite a budget deficit and I’m sure a number of us who advocated for those books to remain on the shelves would not mind helping to reduce the funds needed to replace the damaged copies.