2 weeks Ago
YORK COUNTY — Fittingly titled for its part in the conflict for what content should go on youth adult library shelves, "Ollie In Between" is one of dozens of books the York County Library System chose not to purchase recently as part of curation efforts. Author Jess Callans describes his book, published on April 8, as a "a tender, queer coming-of-age story." The teenaged-title character uses they/them pronouns, and the adversary of the book is described as puberty itself, "AKA the ultimate biological predator.
" That places the book in between state and local officials who don't want it or other similarly themed books on shelves aimed at children or teens in public libraries and the patrons who are fighting for less restrictive rules governing book selection. Last summer, the state General Assembly in a budget proviso prohibited libraries from offering "any books or materials that appeal to the prurient interest of children under the age of 13 in children's book sections." The York County Library Board became the only one in the state to issue a moratorium in response to the proviso.
To follow the moratorium, Library Director Julie Ward said she directed staff to be hyper-conscious when reviewing books with the subject headings "dating and sex," "sexual assault" or "sexual abuse" in peer-reviewed journals, website reviews, publisher summaries and age recommendations, or subject headings. Initially, Ward said there wasn't much direction from the state in regards to what books should not be shelved. "We don't get to read the books before they're purchased," she said.
"It was a rocky start to tackling how to identify materials that might not be in compliance." In March, the S.C.
Department of Education issued a memorandum that included a definition of "sexual content" used to comply with a similar law to the proviso. Library staff have been providing the board with regular lists of books not purchased based on the review, Ward said. There were 15 in February and four in March.
"We have always selected materials that are age-appropriate for our collections and have on occasion moved a book recommended for a certain age to another collection if we felt it more suitable," Ward said. In response to the curating, patrons of the library sought letters from some of the authors of the books eliminated from purchasing. One of the letters, written by Callans, was read at the board's April 10 meeting.
"What, specifically, makes a novel questionable?" wrote Callans. "And how can the board objectively measure the nature of my novel if they have not read it?" Callans challenged the board to "explicitly define the objective measure used to determine 'questionable' material' " that would disqualify "Ollie In Between" from being shelved at public libraries. He also said all books currently in the library should be judged by the same standards.
Short of such standards and additional reviews, Callans said, "I can assume that its exclusion is the result of this novel featuring a transgender character." Authors Madeline Claire Franklin, who penned "The Wilderness of Girls," and Meredith Adamo, who wrote "Not Like Other Girls," also sent letters. Another author, Jill Tew , disagreed about whether her book, "The Dividing Sky," had any scurrilous content, as one review suggested.
"For the record, I'm not sure where the reference to 'teenage sexuality' came from in that review, as the most my characters do is make out," Tew wrote. "The consequences of a 'false positive' — removing a book based on a vague (or even incorrect) line in a third party review, when the novel's material is actually fairly tame — are high.".
