The political dynamics of the state capitol shifted in the last election. But a topic that hasn’t gone away for some conservatives? The culture war fight over school libraries.
"Valiant Ladies" is the name of the book that prompted Rachel Azurdia's interests in the books at her local school library. She said she felt the book promoted an alternative lifestyle, and so she worked with other parents to put together a long list of books she wanted to ban.
"Together we compiled a lengthy list of books with profanity, pedophilia, sexual experiences of all types, some with illustrations, bondage, self-harm and suicide methods. Ironically, my emails to the school board were initially censored by the Hanover servers as inappropriate and highly illicit because of the content quoted from the books in their libraries."
Azurdia was at the state capitol Tuesday to as part of a Don't Tread on Parents Day.
Members of the General Assembly are considering a bill that would create a new model policy on what kind of books are on the shelves at school libraries.
Delegate Shelly Simonds is a Democrat from Newport News who has a bill that would create a new chief librarian at the Department of Education.
“We want to make sure that students have the freedom to read and that school librarians are protected from lawsuits. We don’t want a handful of parents deciding what every family’s children can read across the Commonwealth,” Simons said.
Her bill has already passed the House and will be considered by the Senate soon.
