VIRGINIA BEACH — A school policy requiring the review of library materials has impacted some joint programs with the public library system.
The School Board in February approved a “content committee,” to develop procedures for schools “to ensure that elementary school library materials do not contain sexually explicit content.” The committee will develop processes to identify such content in “incoming library materials at the secondary level libraries” so that it can be listed on the division’s website.
Division staff must now review books and other reading materials provided to schools or students by outside partners.
Katie Cerqua, the Virginia Beach Public Library’s programming and community outreach manager, said school officials reached out to the library system in April to inform it of the new guidelines. That led to the library pausing some of its programs. After a meeting with school officials last month, most programs resumed with modifications.
But a deposit collections program, in which the library provides 25 to 30 new titles for preschoolers each month, has been paused.
“A lot of times the elementary school libraries have books for the older kids and not the pre-K,” Cerqua said. “So we are just there to help kind of support the younger ones.”
The library also provides collections to other preschools and childcare centers across the city, she said.
According to a May 1 email obtained by The Virginian-Pilot, Cerqua told library staff that the school division wouldn’t be able to vet deposit collections because of limited staffing. But Cerqua said this week that the division and library system are still looking for ways to move forward with the partnership next year.
“It might be a little different in formatting, we’re not quite sure yet.”
In response to questions regarding the program, the Virginia Beach school division replied: “We will continue to consider donations in compliance with policy to ensure materials are reviewed and approved prior to distributing them to students.”
Division officials said, generally, school principals and Department of Teaching and Learning staff are responsible for vetting material provided by outside groups. The library will continue to partner with the division for its summer literacy camps at Title I schools, this year providing an enrichment activity on bioluminescence to go with the camp’s “firefly” theme. Library personnel will also bring in books that children can take home. This year, the library sent the school a list of book titles that will be prizes for students.
Other programs — including book giveaway opportunities — will continue.
Cerqua said the library will give the division a list of books ahead of time to allow time for vetting. She added that school staff have been “very responsive” and they’ve been able to work together on “a new workflow” so they can continue serving students.
“When policies and procedures are updated with any community partner, we pause and work together to create new processes that meet everyone’s needs,” Cerqua said.
School officials did not say if other partners have been impacted by the new guidelines.
Nour Habib, nour.habib@virginiamedia.com
