Thank You Letter from VLA to Accomack County School Board

Earlier this week, VLA President Keith Weimer sent the letter below to Dr. Ronnie E. Holden, Chair of the Accomack County School Board. For more background on this letter, please see the links below to news stories.

December 12, 2016

Dr. Ronnie E. Holden, Chair
Accomack County School Board
23296 Courthouse Ave.
Accomac, VA 23301

Dear Dr. Holden,
On behalf of the Virginia Library Association, an organization that advocates for intellectual freedom and represents more than 1000 members from academic, public, special, and school libraries across the great Commonwealth of Virginia, I am writing to thank you for your board’s decision to reinstate The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird to the shelves of Accomack County Public Schools.

We agree that the novels are “treasures of American literature” and that the conscience and bravery in the books you mention continue to serve as important lessons for readers today as they did when the works were originally penned, in the case of Twain’s work, 132 years ago. Timeless works tie us with those who came before and serve as a bridge to those yet to come. We are heartened that your board entrusts those you hire with being able to convey the bigger “messages of literature,” something we see teachers, media specialists, and librarians across the country doing on a daily basis. We are glad to hear that the School Board is also reevaluating the policy and considering adding a new one that would “allow discretion on behalf of the superintendent to keep challenged books in schools while they are under review.”

We support parents being actively involved in their children’s education and believe that great things happen when parents, teachers, librarians, and students work together to encourage intellectual rigor and diversity of thought. Thank you again for your clear and quick response to this issue.

Sincerely,
Keith Weimer
President
Virginia Library Association

 

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