WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WRKN) — The Williamson County Board of Education is facing a fast-approaching deadline to finalize its policy for the review and removal of library materials.
After the Tennessee General Assembly changed the Age Appropriate Materials Act last session, schools were given until July 1 to finalize their new library materials policy.
However, in Williamson County, the county school board has struggled to make sure they have the resources and budget to comply with the new policy and not encroach on people's First Amendment rights.
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"I think the policy before us is impractical perhaps even impossible," said board member Rick Wimberly at a May meeting. "First of all you can't help but ask why this is even required by the state because we vet library books with professionals and they consider age appropriateness when they do that...and we've been advised the law is constitutionally suspect."
The law states materials are not appropriate for any student in grades K-12 if it contains, "in whole or in part... descriptions or depictions of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence, or sadomasochistic abuse."
During a discussion on how to write the policy in such a way that is practical and compliant with state and federal law, board members noted the Tennessee law would require the removal of historically significant materials like Alex Haley's book "Roots."
"The problem is there's been in the statute, an absolute ban on anything that contains descriptions of sadomasochistic abuse, but you can't read 'Roots' and say it doesn't have descriptions of sadomasochistic abuse in the treatment of some of the slaves," said board attorney Lisa Carson.
The law also requires the school's full collection of books to be "periodically" reviewed to make sure they are appropriate for the students who can access them.
However, Mr. Wimberly also noted the school system has more than 600,000 unique materials within their libraries. He said having librarians review even 10 to 15 percent of their books a year would be a strain on time and resources.
"You have to wonder if the legislature did the math and it doesn't look like it to me," he said.
The board will meet on Thursday for another work session before taking a final vote on the policy next week.
The latest version of the policy can be found here.