Book banning debate hits Hanover County public libraries

• The move comes roughly a month after the Hanover County School Board voted to give itself more control over school libraries (and promptly removed 19 books from shelves).

The 10-person regional library board oversees 10 libraries across Hanover, Goochland, King and Queen, and King William counties.

Why it matters: Attempts to ban books nearly doubled last year over 2021's 20-year high, Axios' Jacob Knutson reported.

• Last year, 58% of censorship attempts were directed at schools, while 41% of them targeted books in public libraries.

Zoom in: The Hanover Republican Committee endorsed the new board members, Christy Schumacher and Bob Johnson.

• "Let’s now tackle our Pamunkey Regional Public Library system," the committee wrote in a Facebook post last month celebrating the school board changes and removal of library books.
• The committee also shared a presentation Schumacher gave to the group in May that instructed patrons on how to flag book titles for "reconsideration" from library shelves, as well as how to request ones that "line up with your values."

The other side: Jack Dyer, chair for the Hanover Republican Committee, said at the June board of supervisors meeting that it was "disingenuous rhetoric and nonsense" that the board changes would lead to book bans, per the Times-Dispatch.

Worth noting: Hanover has four of the library board's 10 seats, but it provides 72% of the system's funding, which is based on population size.

• The county is planning to review its contract with the library to increase its number of board seats.