Mike Wolanin | The Republic An exterior view of the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation administration building in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022.
The Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. board’s public work session on policies related to library materials has been moved to 5:15 p.m. on Monday.
While school officials previously said the session was tentatively set for 5 p.m., the board now plans to hold an executive session at that time to “receive information about and interview prospective employees.”
The public work session will then be held in the board room of the administration building. According to BCSC officials, board members will be discussing three policies at this time: Policy 2510 – Adoption of Curricular Materials; Policy 2520 – Selection of Curricular Materials, Library Materials and Equipment; and Policy 9130 – Public Complaints and Concerns.
School board members are considering updates to the three policies due to a new law that requires school libraries to post a catalog of their available materials on the school’s website and make a hard copy list available upon request.
Schools must also establish a formal complaint process for parents, guardians and community members to submit a request to remove library materials that are obscene or harmful to minors.
These changes go into effect on Jan. 1.
BCSC officials said that, depending on how the school board’s discussion goes, they may vote to approve updated versions of the three policies at their regular meeting, which is set for 6:30 p.m. Monday. It will be held in the administration building’s Terrace Room and will also be livestreamed via YouTube.
At the board’s last work session, board member Logan Schulz presented an additional policy wherein school libraries would classify certain titles as “controversial” and require parental permission for students to access these materials.
“There’s books that are going to be clearly controversial but not to the level of obscene by the statutory purposes, right?” he said at the time. “And at the end of the day, a lot of parents have reached out and said, ‘I want to have a say in my child being able to get that book.’”
