JC Schools' book removal info unclear despite TN book ban efforts

Despite local and statewide efforts to restrict children's access to certain books under state law, Johnson City Schools officials have not disclosed how many books, if any, have been removed from district libraries as of this week. Josh Carter, the district's supervisor of instructional technology who oversees the schools' library media services, said he is not aware of any titles being pulled during his tenure in the role, which began several months ago ahead of the 2025-26 school year. According to Tennessee's Age-Appropriate Materials Act of 2022, schools must review library materials for age-appropriateness and publish book lists online. Public Chapter 782 amended the law in 2024 to specifically ban materials deemed age-inappropriate, which critics say often includes books touching on race relations and LGBTQ themes. The district maintains school-based review committees to evaluate library materials prior to purchase, according to officials. Carter said committees include administrators, teachers and community members who assess books for age-appropriateness, educational value and compliance with state law. "The review committee for each school would review any new titles that they're looking to purchase and then actually physically review the book, look at different resources that review books, look at what different ratings that they can look at to see what age range this book would be appropriate for," Carter said. The district's school board also maintains a policy allowing parents to challenge library materials by submitting a request form to the central office with specific concerns about titles. The most visible operational change under the recent state legislation has been the requirement to publish book lists publicly, according to Carter. He said those lists are now available on the district website. The lists do not clearly mention if any books have faced challenges. Carter's comments come as public libraries in the region face separate state-mandated audits. Secretary of State Tre Hargett ordered public libraries across Tennessee in September to audit children's sections for "inappropriate" books, following President Donald Trump's executive order mandating that federal funds not be used to "promote gender ideology." State Sen. Rusty Crowe, R-Johnson City, subsequently sent a list of 170 books compiled by local activists to the Johnson City Public Library, expressing concerns about potential loss of federal library funding. However, on the school level, Carter said meeting state requirements and maintaining diverse library collections has not presented significant challenges in recent months or since the state law went into effect. District officials also said the issue has not been a focal point of debate during public comments and discussions at board meetings. "We want to make sure that we're in compliance with the state law and guidance while also providing our kids with a rich variety of texts that they can read, things that they're interested in, things that have literary merit, and educational merit," Carter said. "It's not hard to do. There's volume upon volume that meet state law and also meet the literary and educational merit that we want in our libraries."