A 50-year partnership is officially over in the state following State Education Superintendent Ellen Weaver's decision to cut ties with the South Carolina Association of School Librarians.
According to Tamara Cox, a current member and former president of the association, the partnership was started to create a conversation between important policymakers and librarians in South Carolina schools.
"Our organization provided that window into what our members need and what the librarians across the state need. Anytime a library question would arise, the department of [education] would usually come to us and we would help," she says.
On August 25th, Ellen Weaver sent this public letter to the organization's current president stating the department would no longer be utilizing the organization for those services.
Cox says the organization made mention of censorship via public testimony at the department's teacher retention and recruitment task force meeting. She says it comes out of fear they wouldn't be able to properly educate students otherwise.
"We spoke to that task force, at their invitation, and they wanted to know what the challenges were for educators in South Carolina. And for librarians, one of the most difficult things we've been dealing with is the personal attacks that accompany book challenges. We thought it was important that the task knew about those things," She recalls.
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