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Catawba County Board adopts library-review and nonsectarian invocation policies after heated public comment
Summary
The Catawba County Board of Education on Feb. 23 adopted a revised library selection/review policy and a nonsectarian invocation policy after public comments from librarians, parents and students. Both measures passed unanimously on second reading.
The Catawba County Board of Education voted unanimously Feb. 23 to adopt a revised policy on selection, review and restriction of library materials and a separate policy allowing a nonsectarian, nondenominational invocation before meetings.
The policies were approved on second reading after more than an hour of public comment that included librarians, parents and community groups. Erin Shermyer, a school librarian, urged the board to let trained librarians make collection decisions and warned against viewpoint-based removals: "Librarians are uniquely situated to be the best at deciding what to put in the school libraries," she said, adding that collection decisions should be based on age, maturity and educational suitability, not ideology.
Jonathan Sink, presenting the invocation policy on behalf…
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