The Special Meeting of the York County Library Board of Trustees was held last night, October 16, 2024 to address concerns raised after Board Chair Dr. Anne Royal Witte posted last week that the board would halt purchasing all books for children until “further clarification and guidance is received from the state regarding Proviso 27.1 and until the Attorney General makes a ruling providing libraries with guidance for collection development.” This statement caused significant confusion, as a majority of board members stated during the meeting that this was not their original intent.
In what became a heated session, four resolutions were passed:
- Correcting the Minutes: The board approved a correction to the minutes of the October 10, 2024 meeting. Tim Steele pointed out that the minutes erroneously reflected the removal of references to sexual material in the moratorium on book purchases. Upon review, it was revealed that the amendment lacked a second, making the removal of the sexual content reference invalid. The minutes were corrected to reflect that the moratorium applied only to books with sexual content, not all children’s books.
- Public Statements Review: In response to concerns over a public statement made by Board Chair Dr. Anne Royal Witte, the board passed a resolution requiring that all future public statements be reviewed and approved by the board before publication. This change aims to avoid further miscommunication.
- Appointment of Secretary and Meeting Recordings: Carol Herring was elected as the official secretary. The board also agreed that all future meetings would be audio-recorded to ensure transparency and accuracy. These recordings will be made available to the secretary within 24 hours to help address issues with previous meeting documentation.
- Removal of Misinformation and Public Correction: The board resolved to retract the previous inaccurate public statement made after the October 10 meeting. The misinformation will be removed, and a corrected statement, approved by the board, will be posted along with an explanation of the error.
All four resolutions passed with a 4-3 vote.
The meeting was marked by sharp disagreements, especially surrounding the accuracy of prior meeting minutes and the role of the board chair in making public statements. Several members expressed frustration over the prolonged posting of the inaccurate statement, which remained online despite internal objections. Although tensions ran high, the board worked to rectify procedural issues and improve transparency moving forward.
The library will now have “a moratorium be put on purchasing books for minors that contain any sexual content until we have a clear understanding of the significance in the language changes of Proviso 27.1. I reference State Library memo dated June 24,2024. This moratorium will stay in effect until we have further clarification from the Attorney General’s Office.” This is the wording of Board Trustee Tim Steele’s original motion and approved at the last meeting.
A full audio recording of the meeting is available here.
