Book Review Battle: Local Boards Push Back
Earlier this week, Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) presented findings to the General Assembly about how school divisions have handled the removal of books from school libraries in recent years. The report, which reviewed actions from July 2020 through March 2025, documented that 32 school divisions had removed 223 titles a total of 344 times, many of them in response to parent concerns over sexually explicit, pornographic material.
Though the report doesn’t make formal recommendations, it raised concerns that some school boards may have misunderstood a 2022 law (SB 656) requiring schools to notify parents when instructional materials contain explicit content. But JLARC officials suggested that this statute--§22.1-16.8--doesn’t apply to general library book collections and, according to the law’s own enactment clause, was never intended to.
That’s because local school boards already have the authority to select and remove school library books. The Virginia Constitution grants each local school board supervisory and operational authority over local schools, including over school libraries and the books they contain. These are judgment calls, not acts of censorship. Removing sexually explicit material from an elementary school library is a matter of age-appropriateness, not ideology.
Unfortunately, the tone of Monday’s hearing suggested a growing push for state-level intervention in what should remain a local matter. Among the local school boards receiving scrutiny was Hanover County, a school division with strong library book policies that our policy team helped initiate. During the meeting, a few Northern Virginia legislators were critical of Hanover County for ridding their school bookshelves of books that are not age-appropriate, yet it’s school divisions in their own backyard like Loudoun Couty Public Schools and Fairfax County, that are under state and federal investigations for Title IX violations and civil rights violations, respectively.
It sounds like Northern Virginia legislators should worry about what’s happening in their own backyard!
But Virginians should take heart: local school boards are acting well within their authority. They are responding to community standards, applying consistent policies, and making decisions in the best interest of students, often in the face of intense public scrutiny.
Furthermore, school divisions with policies for selecting and deselecting library books is not “banning books,” as parents and students can access books online, from public school libraries, neighborhood library boxes, or from friends.
Governor Youngkin put it plainly: “School boards clearly have the right to determine the content of their school libraries.” We agree.
Parents deserve a voice. Local boards deserve respect. And lawmakers in Richmond should resist any attempt to undermine either.
