DAYLO's Guide to Youth Advocacy
An overview of the three primary aspects of DAYLO — diversity-themed book club, community literacy service organization, and pro-literacy advocacy — with examples.
DAYLO: Student Voice
The Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization, known as DAYLO, is a student-led, mentor-advised diversity-themed book club and pro-literacy community service organization that was started at Beaufort High School in Beaufort, South Carolina, in 2021 by then high school junior, Holland Perryman. The club expanded its mission in 2023 to include anti-censorship advocacy after 97 books were challenged and removed from Beaufort County public school libraries. The club has also expanded in membership to currently include seven high school chapters and one college chapter in South Carolina, with more chapters starting soon.
In the school setting, DAYLO mainly functions as a book club, with students selecting, reading, and discussing 3-4 diverse books each school year. Additionally, students have the opportunity to participate in pro-literacy community activities like the following: monthly read-aloud Teddy Bear Picnics at the Port Royal Farmer’s Market; book drives for pro-literacy, pro-library, pro-librarian, pro-teacher books; and distribution of books to classrooms, school libraries, and Little Free Libraries across our community. DAYLO students also have collaborative public service opportunities with existing community engagement programs in addition to programs which they create and curate themselves.
DAYLO students are often in the position to effectively advocate for the intellectual and academic freedom of public school students at a local, state, and national level as a result of their positive and inspiring work within their communities. This work includes speaking at school board meetings and legislative hearings, as well as participating in panel discussions and media interviews. As a model of successful student-led pro-literacy advocacy, DAYLO has been profiled regionally in front-page newspaper articles and nationally in Education Week, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, and Book Riot.
DAYLO is committed to fostering empathy and understanding within our communities and to providing multiple pathways to pro-literacy, anti-censorship student advocacy. These ideals are reflected in the diverse books students choose to read in the book club, as well as in the various ways DAYLO engages their communities.
This toolkit offers an overview of the three primary aspects of DAYLO–diversity-themed book club, community literacy service organization, and pro-literacy advocacy–with examples from the current DAYLO chapters which we hope will be both educational and inspirational. The models are intended to be adaptable for the pro-literacy needs and opportunities of different schools and communities. We welcome the chartering of new DAYLO chapters (Ask us how.), but we also hope this toolkit will empower existing and burgeoning youth advocates, service organizations, and book clubs to explore incorporating some of DAYLO’s pro-literacy models into your lives as servant leaders as well.
NOTE: Materials are continuously added to DAYLO’s resource collection in the Get Ready Stay Ready Toolkit.
Meet DAYLO
In the school setting, DAYLO functions as a book club, with students selecting, reading, and discussing diverse books.
Students also participate in pro-literacy community activities like monthly read-alouds at a local farmer’s market; book drives; and distribution of books to classrooms, school libraries, and Little Free Libraries.
DAYLO students are often in the position to effectively advocate for the intellectual and academic freedom of public school students at a local, state, and national level. This work includes speaking at school board meetings and legislative hearings, as well as participating in panel discussions and media interviews.
Pro-Literacy vs Anti-Censorship Advocacy
After watching the video, complete this activity:
- Brainstorm local businesses and organizations that might be willing to collaborate on pro-literacy events. Ideas include bookstores, book clubs, libraries, political organizations, community organizations, churches.
- Identify schools and parts of your community that are in the most need of literacy support and ask them directly how you can best support them. Servant leadership means asking questions and building trust, not assuming a need exists because you think it does.
- Use the Little Free Library app or website to find the location of LFL in your community. Make a plan to collect donated books or have a book drive to stock the LFLs. Focus on areas where communities are underserved. Is there an area in your community that needs a LFL and doesn’t have one?
- If you were to start a banned books club or a diversity-themed book club, who else in your community would be interested? Are there businesses or organizations which might host you or help you?
- Are there existing events where literacy programming would add value and reach a built-in audience? (DAYLO’s monthly read-aloud event is held at a Farmers Market, visited by hundreds. DAYLO students have volunteered with existing festivals and special events, and with our school district’s Family Literacy Nights.)
- Are there existing local book clubs and/or writers groups who would welcome learning more about censorship and opportunities for pro-literacy engagements?
DAYLO: Student-Led, Mentor-Advised Advocacy
What Student-Led Advocacy means to DAYLO students:
“A student-led, mentor-supported organization gives us, as students, the ability to voice our own thoughts and be a part of various activities to better our community while having a strong support system that employs their own maturity to ensure our safety and comfort.” Mary, DAYLO student leader
“To me, when I think of a student-led, mentor-supported organization, I think of the foundations of a house. As the students we are building towards our future, but our mentors have built the foundation on which our leadership stands, something we can be assured of and fall back on.” Millie, former DAYLO student leader
“Being a part of a student-led and mentor-guided organization granted me the freedom to advocate for my own beliefs and share my love of reading while knowing that if I am ever in need of help, there is a team of mentors there to support me.” Arden, DAYLO student leader
Activity
Answer the Following Questions:
- What does student-led, mentor-advised leadership and advocacy mean to you?
- What opportunities for collaboration do you see in this model?
- What opportunities for conflict or confusion of roles also exist in this model?
- How do advisors know when student leaders are ready to assume additional responsibilities of leadership?
- How can students and advisors pro-actively address concerns of parents and families about the challenging work of youth advocacy? Or even subject matter concerns about book club selections?
- Students drawn to advocacy efforts tend to be engaged in many other activities and commitments as well. How can advisors help them balance their multi-faceted lives?
From Resources to Bylaws
DAYLO is first and foremost a student-led, diversity-themed book club, embedded on a school campus and functioning within the policies and expectations governing any other student organizations. From within that framework, the book club selects its own books for reading and discussion, and its own service projects for engaging in community literacy efforts off campus. Pro-literacy, anti-censorship advocacy is discussed, as it is relevant to the mission of the organization and the lives and educations of its student members; but participation in advocacy efforts is not required.
See sample bylaws for the Beaufort High School chapter of DAYLO as a model for how to organize a chapter and established leadership roles and expectations for membership (located in Resources).
DAYLO believes stories hold an innate power to foster empathy and enact change. DAYLO’s books are selected and discussed with this belief in mind. As such, book club choices for DAYLO are often written by and about minorities, minority struggles, and current events as viewed from a different perspective than an average high schooler may encounter.
Whether or not you are being directly impacted by book bans, establishing a pro-literacy, student-led, diversity-themed book club and community service organization is a good idea.
The following sections of this module will explore additional aspects of how DAYLO functions as a book club and why it matters.
More Resources
DAYLO sample bylaws for the Beaufort High School (SC) chapter of DAYLO
DAYLO: Selecting Books
Selecting Books
When it comes to the book club side of running DAYLO, where should you begin?
It is best practice to allow your book club members some input when choosing a book to read. An idea of how to do so is to have your board members/club leaders pick 3-5 books and have all club members vote, which can be done by organizing a meeting with a prepared slideshow. On the slideshow, include a photo of the cover of the book, page count, and brief synopsis. Members can vote via Google Forms or by raising hands. Also, feel free to take suggestions from members or your advisors!
When selecting books for reading and discussion in DAYLO, always keep in mind DAYLO’s mission as a diversity-themed student book club.
- Is the book in keeping with DAYLO’s mission of engaging with diverse literature? It can be super fun to read about funny rom-coms and intense thrillers, but make sure your book of choice reflects and acknowledges a variety of real-life themes, characters, and circumstances, especially ones you may have not read about before—or those which reflect the experiences of under-represented members of your book club and your community.
- Are there any book festivals or literary events in your area? If you know that there is a local event coming up soon with the opportunity for your club to meet with authors, pick one of their books! It’s such a fun and rewarding experience getting the chance to meet with an author of a book you read!
- Length: High school students are busy. Really, really busy. So choosing books of more than 400 pages may be unrealistic for the majority of your club members, given the expectation to read and discuss at least two books per semester, so be sure to choose a book that is reasonable in size to be read along with members’ homework, extracurriculars, and other commitments.
- Be candid about content. Ensure all club members are aware of the book’s content before they decide to start reading. For instance, while it is important to be allowed to read about and have empathy for those who have experienced sexual assault (SA), SA victims themselves may feel trigged if they encounter it while reading without knowing it’s in the book.
DAYLO: Providing Books for Club Members
Books can be pricey, but it is important for every member to be able to read the book you choose, no matter their economic status. After choosing a book, determine who in your group can buy/borrow the book, and who needs a copy. You may find that it is best to do so anonymously, so posting a GoogleForms to tally how many copies you need to provide is helpful. Once you have a count of the books you need, first check in your school or local library. If you cannot provide enough copies through your library, ask your advisor for help!
In our experiences, an option is to ask a local bookstore for donations or discounts! Sometimes there are shop owners who would love to send students free books, but other times you can hold a small fundraiser, such as a bake sale, to be able to purchase them!
DAYLO chapters have also had success in securing book donations through supportive community members (including DAYLO family members) and through advisors making use of Amazon wish lists with targeted audiences.
You might also consider asking local adult book clubs or Friends of the Library groups to consider sponsoring your DAYLO book club selections. (Adult readers are thrilled to discover teenagers also love to read and discuss books, and they can be quite supportive as a result).
Activity
Brainstorm ideas about providing books for club members.
DAYLO: Discussing Books
Our Beaufort-based DAYLO chapters prefer to allow 1-2 months (depending on the length of the book) for members to finish reading. Often, we will host a meeting midway through the allotted reading time to check up with everyone’s progress. During this meeting, we like to share our thoughts (no spoilers!) on the book so far. Depending on the members progress, we will decide on the date of our next meeting: the book discussion. Another local chapter meets weekly to discuss their book selections, reading progress, and other chapter business.
Getting the chance to share your thoughts and opinions on a book after finishing it is one of the best parts about reading! When hosting a book discussion, it can be fun to have members, leaders, and advisors collaborate to bring in snacks (depending on the book, themed snacks are super cool). Invite your advisor(s) or any prospective members to come to the discussion! For potential members, seeing a book discussion is a great introductory experience of what being a DAYLO member can be like.
TIPS
- Arrange desks or chairs in your meeting place in a large circle; placing the snack table in the center is an added bonus, but not necessary. However, some students may enter, see the circle of desks, and instantly think of a Socratic seminar; assure all of your members that the discussion is not for a grade, and that they will not be judged for the comments they make. Creating a space where people can feel safe and comfortable to share their thoughts is imperative when having a book discussion, as is making sure everyone feels seen and valued in the discussion.
- Before beginning the discussion, encourage all members to participate, even if they haven’t finished reading the book, but be sure to warn them that there may be spoilers! One possible idea to provoke an exciting conversation is to use questions listed in the back of the book, or the list of questions from Oprah’s Book Club.
- Beaufort High DAYLO’s favorite tool to use when hosting a book discussion is a spinning wheel generator. We input each club member’s name, and spin. Once the wheel has chosen a name, the person picks a number from 1-19 (based on Oprah’s question list, numbers may vary depending on question source). Then, a chapter leader reads the question correlating with the number and opens the floor to all discussion. This adds an element of fun, opportunities for everyone to participate, and the surprises of random chance.
DAYLO: A few Ground Rules to Keep In Mind
- To be respectful of everyone’s time, set a designated amount of time for the discussion to last. This is especially beneficial for those who need rides home from the meeting.
- Be mindful of others and try not to interrupt.
- If you disagree with someone’s opinion on the book, don’t be afraid to offer a counterpoint of why you think so, but be sure to do so in a respectful manner.
- Book club discussions are the most enjoyable when they are truly conversational and not an interrogation. Try to keep the conversation going without letting it become forced or scripted.
- Remember that DAYLO is all about diversity and representation. The experiences and characters of some books may be more familiar to some members than others. Honor those connections as students offer their thoughts on a book.
- Keep your area clean! Having food and drinks are a great incentive for attendance, but remember to leave your meeting area free of crumbs and trash!
Community Literacy / Service Organization
In addition to a book club, DAYLO is a community service organization modeling servant leadership and creating and supporting initiatives which use books and stories as opportunities for community-building. DAYLO’s consistent and overt presence at these programs and events also strengthens our standing as a positive presence in our communities, which in turn informs our work as pro-literacy youth advocates.
DAYLO members and their advisors are always on the lookout for new opportunities to volunteer or participate in local community-building literacy and literary events. We take advantage of every opportunity presented to us to support existing programs or develop new ones. Sometimes that means getting to engage with an audience of several hundred people while on stage in conversation with a bestselling author; other times it means reading with a younger child who is learning for the first time that books are magical.
Here are some examples of DAYLO’s pro-literacy community service – in this module, you will learn more about each example along with advice about how to replicate them, adapt them, or find them in your own communities.
- Book Drives
- Teddy Bear Picnics
- Little Free Libraries
- Human Library
- Community Collaborations
Book Drives for School Classrooms and Libraries
DAYLO is committed to serving our communities through the gift of stories—sometimes in a literal sense. Whereas book banners and education censors seek to remove books from student experiences, DAYLO adds books to school classrooms and libraries through book drives which contribute to the educational growth of students and the range of books and stories to which they have access.
Two such book drives have been held so far. The first, in November 2021, was a project of the original DAYLO chapter as our local public schools re-opened after the pandemic and there was an influx of new teachers into the school district. DAYLO students gathered and donated diversity-themed children’s books to be used in the classroom libraries of elementary school teachers new to the district. The books were accompanied by a thank-you note from DAYLO and a decorated box for delivery. The book drive was a good news story for the school district, showing high school students service engagement in a way that benefited educators and students in other schools.
DAYLO’s second book drive, held in November 2023, was a collaboration with the Storybook Shoppe children’s bookstore and the Sun City Democrats to purchase more than 150 pro-library and pro-literacy books from a wish list curated by DAYLO for all grades, K-12. Books were then packaged in bundles with hand-written thank you notes for librarians, a DAYLO bookmark, and a flyer about DAYLO’s ongoing Teddy Bear Picnics. Then the book bundles were donated to all 34 public school libraries in Beaufort County, hand delivered by DAYLO students and advisors.
In opposition to the book challenges still active in Beaufort County at the time, the aim of the book bundles was to provide students with books that would enhance their reading skills and encourage them to develop a love of reading and learning. Books were also selected to educate young readers about book bans and censorship, and to help them understand that youth-led responses to censorship were not only possible, they were essential. The books included in the bundles were carefully chosen to cater to the interests of different age groups. For instance, the elementary school bundle had brightly illustrated and captivating short reads, whereas the middle and high school bundle had thought-provoking chapter books that would challenge and enlighten. See DAYLO’s book drive wish list.
It is important to emphasize that DAYLO made a point to include notes of gratitude in every book bundle we sent out. We believe strongly in expressing appreciation to our school librarians, who are a vital part of our education experiences. Without them, students would not have access to a diverse range of educational literature, which is crucial for intellectual growth. At a time when librarians are under attack and books are being removed from shelves, DAYLO inspired community members to donate books to be added to library collections, and we delivered them with gratitude to our librarians.
With planning and collaborations, the book drive for school classrooms and libraries can be replicated in any community. But even in the absence of the book bundles, for a smaller student organization just starting out, the simple act of sending thank-you notes to school librarians can also be deeply impactful—for both the senders and the recipients.
Watch DAYLO’s Book Drive video.
Teddy Bear Picnics
DAYLO’s original community literacy engagement was a read-aloud event called the Teddy Bear Picnic, held as a stand-alone event at Pigeon Point Park in Beaufort in November 2021, in collaboration with the Pat Conroy Literary Center and the Storybook Shoppe children’s bookstore. High school students from DAYLO (as well as National Honor Society and National Spanish Honor Society) earned service hours for the event. More than 75 students from Beaufort High School volunteered their time to read to their younger peers, with blankets, stuffed animals, snacks, and children’s picture books curated to align with DAYLO’s diversity-themed mission, creating an inviting space for children. Over the course of the morning, approximately 30 young readers and their families took part in the joyful experience. Although the project was deemed a successful pilot program, both the scale and the location warranted some reconsideration.
In March 2022, the Teddy Bear Picnic was offered a second time, now at the Port Royal Farmers Market, a destination event held every Saturday at Naval Heritage Park. The event was again a collaboration with the Conroy Center (promoted as part of its annual March Forth signature spring event) and the Storybook Shoppe (celebrating the annual Paper Bag Princess Day). This time, 30 DAYLO members volunteered to read to what turned out to be nearly 100 young readers and their families.
Based on that experience, the March Forth and Paper Bag Princess Day opportunities were utilized again in March 2023, also with great success. Given the positive feedback to the event, DAYLO was invited by the organizer of the Farmers Market to begin hosting the Teddy Bear Picnic monthly—which then became a twice-monthly basis in Fall 2023. With a growing number of DAYLO chapters, each with students eager to volunteer and earn service hours, the Teddy Bear Picnics became increasingly popular events and added to DAYLO’s visibility and recognition as a pro-literacy community service organization.
The Teddy Bear Picnics then led to invitations from several of our local Title 1 elementary schools for DAYLO students to volunteer as in-school readers for Family Literacy Nights, especially during Read Across America Week. Through the Pat Conroy Literary Center, DAYLO was also able to recruit local published children’s book authors and artists to assist them in the literacy nights, in some cases introducing young readers to the first living authors they had ever met.
As another variation on the idea, DAYLO was also invited by the Beaufort County Democratic Party (BCDP) to participate in a pop-up laundry and literacy collaboration. The BCDP offered voter registration and community issue interest surveys at a local laundromat serving an under-resourced community, and also providing free laundry service to attendees. DAYLO provided read-alouds to children in attendance. DAYLO also painted and decorated a Little Free Library book box, filled with picture books and chapter books (many of which were laundry-themed). The book box and its contents were donated to the laundromat at the end of the event. (See Little Free Libraries for more information.)
Recently, the Teddy Bear Picnics at the Port Royal Farmers Market gained a new partner: the National Park Service (NPS). In November 2021, DAYLO and the Beaufort-based NPS Reconstruction Era National Historic Park began collaborating on Read with a Ranger, a quarterly special event which augments the Teddy Bear Picnic with a special read-aloud by a park ranger from a picture book which connects thematically to the mission of the NPS. Conjoined art projects are also offered, along with an opportunity to become an official Junior Park Ranger.
The Teddy Bear Picnics have now become immediately identifiable with DAYLO as a positive presence in our community, welcomed by young readers and their families. The experience also provides an opportunity for DAYLO students from different chapters at different schools to meet one another and collaborate on a shared project. Additionally, the event has become a regular opportunity for interested community members and fellow advocates to meet DAYLO members and advisors in person and learn more about our organization and mission.
While many of our experiences are unique to Beaufort (where we have a destination Farmers Market, a National Park Service presence, a nearby children’s bookstore, and the Pat Conroy Literary Center), this concept of a community literacy read-aloud event is easily transferable to other locations as well. DAYLO recommends finding opportunities where a read-aloud can be a value-added experience to an existing family-friendly event in your community.
Little Free Libraries
DAYLO loves Little Free Libraries, and we are fortunate to live in communities that have so many of them!
One DAYLO’s favorite ongoing community literacy initiatives is the re-stocking of nearly 20 Little Free Libraries. For those who may not be familiar, a Little Free Library is a book-sharing box that is open to the public. Anyone can take books from these libraries or contribute books to them. DAYLO students are passionate about promoting literacy and building a love for books in our community. To help achieve this, we have been collecting pro-literacy and pro-library books through book drives and other donations from community members, and then freely distributing these books to Little Free Libraries for the public to enjoy.
This project began in October 2023 when DAYLO students from three chapters were participating in a range of national and local activities during National Banned Books Week, an annual awareness campaign to educate about the risks of censorship. During this week, DAYLO distributed pro-literacy, pro-library books for all ages to a dozen Little Free Libraries, targeting those adjacent to schools and in public spaces in under-resourced communities. Two of the Little Free Libraries were created by the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center, a frequent DAYLO collaborator. One of the Little Free Libraries was donated by DAYLO to a local laundromat. (See the Teddy Bear Picnics section for more details.) The experience was not only enjoyable for DAYLO students, as each chapter was assigned to their own delivery route, but it also had a profound impact on our community, which motivated us to continue. Return trips to the Little Free Libraries revealed that, in most cases, the books we donated quickly proved to be popular selections.
As a result, we now have eighteen Little Free Libraries on our delivery routes. DAYLO chapters restock their respective Little Free Libraries each month with books donated to us by community members and thematically connected to DAYLO’s mission. The newest of those Little Free Libraries include one filled by DAYLO the day after it was installed at a local elementary school and a second book box donated to a newly opened laundromat as well.
Little Free Libraries are common in many communities, so this project is easy to replicate elsewhere. In the absence of book donations, children’s books can often be purchased cheaply through Friend of the Library book sales. And if your community doesn’t have Little Free Libraries, consider that your invitation to add one—or several.
Learn more about Little Free Libraries in your area. (There’s an app too!)
Beaufort Human Library
The Human Library began in Copenhagen in 2000 and has since grown into an international phenomenon with variations conducted anywhere a community welcomes an opportunity to build empathy and address stereotypes and prejudices. In this event, rather than checking out a printed book, community members have the opportunity to check out a person who has lived a life different than their own, facing (and perhaps overcoming) obstacles along the way, and ready to share their story in a candid and constructive way.
In Beaufort, DAYLO collaborated with the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center and other community partners to begin offering a local variation, the Beaufort Human Library, in April 2022, during National Library Week. The Beaufort Human Library brings together diverse community members to share their stories and foster a welcoming environment for growth and inspiration through a series of small group discussions. Community members apply to be “Books” and share their stories. In our community, Books have included immigrant artists, members of the Gullah community, active and retired law enforcement, educators, small business owners, a transgender woman and her wife, elected public officials, faith leaders, survivors of childhood abuse, persons living with physical and mental disabilities, those struggling with addictions, community members who have confronted racism and discrimination, and a DAYLO youth advocate.
Books are assisted by DAYLO student volunteers (AKA their “Bookmarks”) who help monitor the conversation, track time, and facilitate a safe and engaging experience for all. Adult volunteers and organizers, called “Librarians,” help with the logistics of the program as public participants, called “Readers,” check out their Books every half hour for conversations. In the Beaufort Human Library model, the event has been held on Sunday afternoons in the student center of our local community college, beginning with a shared experience with a featured Book to start the experience together before small group discussions with a range of Books begin.
Each Reader has a “Library Card” to help them navigate the experience and also leave with a keepsake of the event. Small group discussions benefit the Readers and the Books in a number of ways. Readers can ask questions and truly get to know the Books as unique human beings and as representatives of their respective communities. While a Book often has a starting point for their conversation, the ecology of each group is different, which gives an opportunity for varied conversations. Ultimately, our Beaufort Human Library is a safe space where community members can learn about and from one another, ideally reaching new understandings of diversity and inclusivity in impactful, sustainable ways. Typically, some 100 community members participate, checking out their selections from a group of a dozen or more Books during the course of an afternoon.
This event can also be coordinated and altered to fit the needs and interests of different audiences, including students via an in-school field trip event. Adapted in Beaufort by a DAYLO student leader, the high school version of the Human Library follows the same framework as the public version, but approaches the event from a student perspective and accounts for student needs to meet with Books whose life experiences offer both hope and instruction.
Beaufort Human Library Facebook page
Beaufort Human Library Video #1
Beaufort Human Library Video #2
Community Collaborations
In addition to our regular activities, DAYLO members volunteer our time in support of local organizations and events that are aligned with our core values of inclusivity and empathy. We enjoy volunteering with these groups to promote and participate in community-building opportunities and to ensure a youth leadership presence, which is always welcome. As a group, DAYLO loves to give back and support programs which enrich and improve our communities. Here are several examples of our community collaborations.
Lowcountry Pride Festival
In November 2023, DAYLO took an active part in the annual Lowcountry Pride Festival, held in the small town of Port Royal. Lowcountry Pride’s mission is to raise awareness and promote the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community in our Lowcountry. In keeping with that goal, they organize various events throughout the year, including the Lowcountry Pride Festival, which aims to educate and celebrate diverse communities. At this event, DAYLO set up a free “Read with Pride” photo booth, which attracted a considerable number of attendees.
DAYLO, being an organization that supports education and diversity through the tools of literacy, also showcased books that promote the message of reading with pride. Some of the featured books included Love Is Love by Michael Genhart, A Kid’s Book about Pride by Kendall Clawson, And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, and This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson. The painted bookshelf backdrop of DAYLO’s photo booth was made by one of DAYLO’s student leaders, and set decorations where provided by several DAYLO members and advisors. A gallery of more than 50 of DAYLO’s photo booth photos is publicly available on the Lowcountry Pride Facebook page. Photos were also shared directly with participants. The event was a monumental experience for DAYLO members to participate in and a welcome opportunity to support the lowcountry’s LGBTQ+ community.
Lowcountry Pride Festival’s Read with Pride photo gallery
Marathon Reading of the 1619 Project
DAYLO students and advisors also volunteered at the marathon community reading of The 1619 Project at Tabernacle Baptist Church in January 2024. The 1619 Project is a groundbreaking initiative aimed to reframe and educate about the history of the United States. Created by Nikole Hannah Jones, writers from the New York Times, and the New York Times Magazine, the project delves into the subjects of slavery as well as the founding of the United States. With a diverse and inclusive group of community members reading for 15 minutes each, the marathon reading of The 1619 Project was a powerful event that brought the community together and created an intense shared experience. Despite the difficult subject matter, the history presented was essential and enlightening for all who participated. It was a reminder of the importance of keeping an open heart and open mind when learning about the past, even when it is painful to confront. DAYLO members volunteered their time and assisted as time-keepers and at the event’s registration table. Other student participants read excerpts as well. It was an impactful event for all of the young people present to bear witness to.
March Forth
March Forth is an annual event honoring the life and legacy of author, teacher, and mentor Pat Conroy (1945-2016). The weekend commemorates the anniversary of Conroy’s passing on March 4, 2016, with public programs on the major themes of his writing life: education, diversity, social justice, conservation, and the family dynamic. The event takes place annually on the first weekend of March and is hosted by the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center in collaboration with the historic Penn Center and other local organizations—including DAYLO. During March Forth, students from DAYLO host a Teddy Bear Picnic read-aloud for young readers. (See Teddy Bear Picnic section for more.) DAYLO students have also served as on-stage author interviewers and introducers, as well as volunteers for the logistics of the event.
DAYLO’s founder Holland Perryman was inspired to create DAYLO in response to the social justice programs she experienced at March Forth as Beaufort High School student and later as a Conroy Center student intern. So March Forth is a particularly meaningful community event for DAYLO to continue to support through collaboration and volunteerism.
Lowcountry Book Club Convention
The Lowcountry Book Club Convention is a weekend event hosted by the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center that brings authors together in a space that educates and inspires book club members from across our community—including DAYLO. A celebration of the individual and communal act of reading, the event is hosted in partnership with NeverMore Books and the Technical College of the Lowcountry and its Culinary Institute of the South, with support from the Pulpwood Queens Book Club, once the largest meet-and-discuss book club in the U.S. At this event, DAYLO students have served as on-stage interviewers for YA and adult authors, most recently in collaboration with the Bobcat Readers of Bluffton High School. DAYLO students have interviewed, among others, Lauren Marino (Bookish Broads), Tamara Winfrey Harris (Dear Black Girl), Laila Sabreen (You Truly Assumed), and Sidney Keys III (Books N Bros). Several of these books have also been DAYLO book club selections. In the case of Sidney Keys III, one of DAYLO’s mentors challenged the audience to purchase copies of Books N Bros to donate to DAYLO for free distribution to school librarians and Little Free Libraries across our county; more than 50 copies where purchases and donated as a result.
Lowcountry Children’s Book Fair
Also an annual event of the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center, the Children’s Book Fair highlights the many children’s book authors and illustrators who make their homes in our communities. The free event includes appearances by a dozen or more children’s book creators, with a featured headliner author also giving a reading. DAYLO students serve as volunteers for the event, assisting the organizers and the authors. During the August 2023 Book Fair, DAYLO also hosted read-alouds throughout the day as well as an art table where young readers could design and decorate bookmarks. More than 100 people typically attend the Children’s Book Fair, which is now held at and in partnership with the Port Royal Sound Foundation’s Maritime Center in Okatie. For DAYLO student volunteers and for the public, the Book Fair is a wonderful opportunity to meet and engage with a diverse group of local authors.
Visiting Authors
Beyond these large-scale events, DAYLO students also routinely volunteer with and serve as on-stage author interviewers and introducers with year-round visiting author programs of the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center. Many of these events are held in collaboration with local independent bookstores or other community partners. One result of this is that DAYLO students have meet and talked with a pantheon of contemporary writers—including National Book Award winner Jason Mott (Hell of a Book), New York Times bestselling horror writer Grady Henrix (The Final Girls Support Group), #1 New York Times bestselling children’s book author Raj Haldar (This Book Is Banned), #1 New York Times bestselling YA author Sara Shepard (The Influencers), New York Times bestselling YA fantasy author Kalynn Bayron (This Poison Heart and This Wicked Fate), internationally acclaimed Afghani refuge author Homeira Qaderi (Dancing in the Mosque), and Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction winner De’Shawn Charles Winslow (Decent People). Several of these authors have also made school visits to meet with DAYLO chapters at their respective school campuses as well. National Book Award winner Jason Mott also showed his support for DAYLO and the right to read by making an eight-hour round-trip drive to speak for 3 minutes at a Beaufort County School Board meeting during our local book challenges. Author visits are an ongoing opportunity for DAYLO students and our community members to make meaningful connections and have important conversations with a diverse and accomplished group of writers from across (and beyond) the country.
Engaging in and supporting all these community service projects is incredibly meaningful on their own merits as community-building opportunities. Beyond that, DAYLO’s visible and consistent presence at these events also plays a vital role in enhancing the credibility of our anti-censorship efforts. DAYLO members take great pleasure in participating in a diverse range of events that align with our core beliefs and values in the transformative power of story. Such events serve as a means of contributing to and supporting meaningful causes that are of utmost importance to our community. Not only do they provide a sense of enjoyment and involvement, but also an opportunity for our DAYLO students and advisors to stay engaged with our community and with one another as we make a positive impact and lend a helping hand as well as our own expertise and experiences.
As tennis icon, civil rights advocate, and one-time Beaufort County visitor Arthur Ashe advised, “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” Admittedly, not every community has a Pat Conroy Literary Center. (That is a literary treasure unique to Beaufort.) But every community does have some kind of literary life and opportunities for public engagement with writers and readers in ways which become even more impactful through the presence of students. These opportunities can be found—and if they are not part of your community’s culture, then consider that your challenge to take an active role in creating them.
Making Public Comments at a School Board Meeting
Finding topics to talk about to your board may be difficult when there are so many different ways to cover the harm of book bans. Here’s a brief list of themes to draw inspiration from while writing your comments.
Examples of Themes:
- Book bans have happened before and have failed historically.
- Book challenges disproportionally affect impoverished people, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community.
- Banned/challenged books show our reality and removing them from school libraries won’t solve anything.
- Passages from challenged books are taken out of context by complainants.
- The challenge process should not be lengthened.
- Books allow us to see new perspectives and increase empathy.
- Extremist groups behind bans and censorship are trying to erase diversity through their scare tactics.
- Book bans / challenges distract from more pressing issues.
Overview – Pro Literacy vs Anti-Censorship Advocacy
Beaufort DAYLO’s Successes
When a seemingly random group of students from three schools united to fight against local book challenges, no one was expecting just how successful they would become in their efforts. What started out as a casual book club ended up becoming an inspiration for many who are actively trying to fight for intellectual freedom. DAYLO’s success shows that anyone can make a change in their community, all you have to do is try! Here are just a few opportunities that DAYLO students have had just from speaking out at local board meetings.
DAYLO Heads to the Nation’s Capitol
DAYLO travels to Chicago for the American Library Association’s annual conference. They met Dr. Ibram X Kendi (top left), Juno Dawson (top middle), Ellen Hopkins (top right), Raj Haldar (bottom left), and Erika Sánchez(bottom right), all authors of commonly banned books, with a few of them being on the BCSD challenged list.
DAYLO Travels to Chicago
DAYLO travels to Chicago for the American Library Association’s annual conference. They met Dr. Ibram X Kendi (top left), Juno Dawson (top middle), Ellen Hopkins (top right), Raj Haldar (bottom left), and Erika Sánchez(bottom right), all authors of commonly banned books, with a few of them being on the BCSD challenged list.
DAYLO is invited to Pride Parade
Patrick’s Public Comments
1/17/23
I would like to thank the board for this opportunity.
“Those who cannot remember their past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana. When a police officer conducts an investigation he asks multiple witnesses to get a story. Because history can not be studied through one lens. If we study history but only take the majority’s perspective, then we do not know what really happened. And without knowing what happened we are bound to repeat those same mistakes. Books like Stamped are nonfiction but address historical events from a different lens. Without them, we don’t get a full view of history. Common sense media gave the book a 5 out of 5 for its educational value. Stamped has been criticized and banned due to claims of it picking and choosing from history. People say it only tells one side of the story. but by banning it you are only giving us access to one side of the story. If only giving one side of the story is wrong why is only giving us access to a different side of the story correct?
People also say Stamped and other books discuss drugs and alcohol too much. But drugs and alcohol are a part of history. By not learning about them or acknowledging their importance, you are asking my generation to do drugs. When you tell a toddler to not eat candy before dinner, do they listen? Obviously not. But if you tell them they can’t have dessert then the chances go down exponentially. By doing that you explain the consequences of their actions. This is what books are doing for us.
3/7/23
Hi, I am Patrick [redacted]. I am a sophomore at Beaufort Academy. One day my English teacher told us to write a research essay about a modern conflict. She put some examples on the board.
When she wrote down the US and Iran someone made a comment based on stereotypes. The next day our teacher asked us by show of hands if anyone had actually met a Muslim. I was the only one that had and it was because I lived in Connecticut near the New York border. Other people have proved that there is a statistical correlation between these books and the race, ethnicity, or identification of the author or character. And after reading some of them I can attest to that. Beaufort is very diverse but lacks both Asian and Muslim populations. South Carolina is 43rd in Asian population and 40th in Muslim population. Additionally, Beaufort has a Muslim population of less than 0.1 percent. And an Asian population of around 1 percent. With minority populations this low it is very easy for stereotypes to form. Books, a majority of these books, help express that people are from all different races, ethnicities, and sexual orientations. They show how these people are more than just their race, gender, and sexual orientation and are living people too. These books help to diminish stereotypes.
5/16/23
Throughout my whole time at DAYLO, my grandmother has read every book with me, and adored everyone. We have had 2 hour-long conversations about the books and it has brought us together. That was until we read The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, one of the 97 books that have been challenged. My grandmother said that it was awful. She told me that she kept waiting for something good to happen, but it never did, and that book was too dark and unrealistic. Very shortly after this conversation, a student told my mom that she was being physically and sexually abused by several members of her family. My grandmother’s opinion of The Bluest Eye did a 180, instead of an unrealistically dark book she saw a girl whose street she passes twice a week. A girl she’s seen and talked to when helping my mom decorate her classroom. She realized the book wasn’t too dark; she just never held a candle and looked at that dark. The Bluest Eye has expanded the Beaufort community. It’s the reason my grandparents and their friends have given hundreds of dollars in clothes, school supplies, activities, books, and so much more to students who need it. If you think a book is too dark or unrealistic, a bad representation of our world and county, open your eyes to the community we live in. It is far from perfect. I wanted to thank you for returning The Bluest Eye to the shelf for high schoolers, but instead, I want to leave you with a question: Why can someone walk home after school, get to her house, walk in the door, and see and feel what she can’t read?
2/13/24 – SC State Board of Education Meeting
Thank you for the opportunity to address this board. I am Patrick [redacted], president of the Beaufort Academy chapter of the Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization, or DAYLO. We are a diversity-themed high school book club that also promotes literacy within our community. In the fall of 2022, two complainants challenged 97 titles in Beaufort County public school libraries. Those books were immediately removed from shelves, pending community review. That review was completed this past November, resulting in 91 of those titles being returned to circulation. I, along with several of my fellow DAYLO students, have spent the past year advocating for intellectual freedom and the right to read on local, state, and national levels.
Throughout my experiences with DAYLO,my grandmother has read every book with me, and adored every one. We have had 2-hour long conversations about these books and it has brought us closer together. That was until we read The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, one of the 97 books challenged in Beaufort. My grandmother said that it was awful. She told me that she kept waiting for something good to happen, but it never did, and that the book was too dark and unrealistic. Shortly after this conversation, one of my mom’s students said that she was being physically and sexually abused by several of her family members. My grandmother’s opinion of The Bluest Eye did a 180. Instead of seeing an unrealistically dark book, she saw instead a girl whose street she passes twice each week. She realized the book wasn’t too dark; she just never held a candle and looked at that darkness. If you think a book is too dark or a bad representation of our state and our world, open your eyes to the community we live in. It is far from perfect: In 2020, the Child Welfare League of America reported that over 14,000 children were the victims of abuse or neglect in South Carolina. Books like The Bluest Eye can help students process and heal from the bad things that happen to them and can help the rest of us, the lucky ones, understand their experiences.
As you consider Regulation 43.170, I want to leave you with some questions: Why can a student walk home after school, get to her house, walk in the door, and experience things she isn’t allowed to read about? Why are students, who are directly impacted by government restrictions on what they can and cannot read, being left out of this process?
As this board continues the work of supporting the education and academic and intellectual freedom of South Carolina students, please consider adopting the amendments to Regulation 43.170 proposed by the South Carolina Association of School Librarians. Please listen to your librarians and to your students.
Thank you for your time.
Further examples routinely added to the Get Ready Stay Ready DAYLO Page.
Pete’s Public Comments
4/4/23
Hello, I’m Peter [redacted], as you can see as per a very aggressive request I’ve brought my blanket, and I’d like to assure everyone that despite the implication (by those who claim to be advocating for the safety of children) that this is not a “Safe place” for us, my peers and I will not be going anywhere. A term you’ve all likely heard by now is BookLooks, and I’d like to elaborate upon this resource. If you recall it is from this website that inflammatory, out-of-context quotations are cherry-picked. This website claims to be an objective resource, but the reality is quite the opposite. Firstly this organization outright admits to not performing the “Miller test” to determine if a work is obscene, and rather admits to only gauging the merit of the most inflammatory sections of the work. BookLooks was created by one Emily “Penelope” Maikisch, a member of the prolific “Moms for Liberty” organization, and its rating system is derived from one created in a Moms for Liberty Facebook group. Now while affiliation is denied by both organizations the connection is clear. This brings me to another observation, whenever this organization is brought up there is a quick denial of any connection. If this group has congruent goals with you, why hide the organization? This got me thinking about the similar denial of these bans being bans, now to be clear they are, a ban is an official prohibition, these texts are being officially prohibited from libraries and are made inaccessible to a great many students who undergo many struggles and likely need exposure to these ideas the most. This refusal to take accountability for the things being advocated for is very telling, it exposes what is underneath the ragged veil of anti-obscene rhetoric. Returning to BookLooks some interesting excerpts may be found among the decontextualized imagery. One selected from the recently banned text Nineteen Minutes reads “He didn’t think he felt those things about guys, either; but surely you had to be gay or straight. You couldn’t be neither.” Another text, Genderqueer has “My two favorite coworkers, AJ and Fish, both out gay men.” Marked as something that may be unsafe for children to hear, in fact, the entire book is marked to have “Alternative Gender Ideologies.” This clearly exposes the true motive here, this is not about protection this is about controlling the narrative of our children’s world to be one that doesn’t recognize the horrors of our past and our present, and doesn’t allow for anyone who challenges the hegemony of the demographic proposing these bans. The result of this is the fact that in this state around half of all queer children, in an effort to escape the lack of understanding and acceptance from our society consider suicide as a preferable alternative. Half. So, when you make your decisions remember, the real decision being made here is to humor the baseless moral outrage of the banning hegemony or protect the lives of children. Thank you.
Further examples routinely added to the Get Ready Stay Ready DAYLO Page.
Izzy’s Public Comments
1/17/23
The last time I spoke about book banning, I had a different approach, mainly focusing on how banning books would not factor into whether or not students choose to use drugs. I’ve since realized that banning certain books would have different impacts.
Parents are demanding certain books be banned because they’re full of “lies” or because they contain a certain political agenda that isn’t supported in their house. Banning books is not a long term fix for kids being exposed to harsh realities. I realize that books are just a lens into the truth of the author and people find comfort in certain books because that truth also applies to them. One of the beauties in this country is that we are all free.
Free to make our own decisions. Free to vote for whoever we desire. Free to walk the street as we please. Free to wear what we want, pray to who we want and most importantly we are free to choose what we read.
Books containing subjects about surviving child abuse, discrimination, racism, and misogyny speak to me the most, because though these were hard experiences for me, they are MY truth. The Freedom Writers Diary is a book full of stories from kids that suffered hardships early on in their lives just as I have.
The Color Purple discusses the extreme issues that black Americans faced during the Jim Crow era such as sexual assault, child marriage, racism, unfair gender roles, but more importantly spirituality and self discovery. These topics hurt to talk about, but people expressing their truth is not something that you can disagree with. It is known around the world that if we do not learn from our history, then we are condemned to repeat it, even the king himself MLK Jr. Preached That.
I asked four other classmates at Battery Creek to describe in one word how the banning of books containing stories from black kids and teens made them feel: the responses I received were that they felt embarrassed and disgusted. Another stated that the book banning felt “personal”; another student stated she was extremely hurt as she only gets access to read through the school.
I realize that some of these subjects are hard to talk about for many parents because you know your child has never been exposed to such atrocities, but for a large population of students these topics are just another Tuesday afternoon.
Let’s tighten up on drug awareness and put an end to oppression against minorities. When we change the system then we’ll see less books about hardships and more books about success. Instead of taking things out of schools to make a small group of people comfortable, maybe we should be putting things INTO the schools and communities to educate us, resulting in safety for everyone.
2/7/23
In each of my previous speeches, I had a very specific focus; my first being substance abuse and my most recent being representation of minorities in books. This time I’d like to focus on anger.
What we have here is a division of people. On the right, we have parents furious that students have access to read books about sexual assault, drugs, violence, self-harm, Jim Crow laws, and so many more atrocities; and on the left, we have parents angry that the stories of these individuals are on the road to being silenced.
At some point, we need to reach a common ground. Anger is good, it means you’re alive; but learning how to conduct your anger is key. I propose we start conducting our anger to things that are notorious for causing harm in schools, or to children in general.
Statistics show that each day 12 children are killed. Do you know how many of those 12 were killed by a book? None of them. Do you know how many were killed by a gun? All of them. Books are not our enemy, I can promise you there are things in front of us that pose a greater threat than folded paper. Throughout history, depriving people of the right to read certain books was a form of control.
In 2023, we are thriving in numerous areas; we have unrealistic advances in medicine, mechanics, technology, engineering, and I’m pretty sure I read something about a flying car but I digress; we have taken all these steps forward in every aspect, so why take this step back when it comes to allowing students to read?
I would like to reiterate that the problem is not the books. As I’ve stated before, if your kid is home reading instead of out on the streets then you did your job as parents and educators. I’ve recently been reading the freedom writers diary; a book on the long list of books up for debate. This book is filled with the stories from kids that look like Treyvon Martin, Emmit Till, Tamir Rice; kids that look like me, and how they overcame racial injustices and failed systems by reading the very books that are being banned.
The problem parents have is with the contents of the books; if the problem is with the contents of the book, then as a whole we should divert our anger towards the source and create a safer environment for children across the globe; THEN we would stop seeing books about suffrage and start seeing more books about success.
I’d like to conclude by saying we need to start being on each other’s side. As Kendric Lamar states “this is the part where mental stability meets talent” we all have something to bring to the table; this is not my world, this is not your world, this is not America’s world: this is our world, it’s about time we start acting like it.
3/7/23
Last week, DAYLO went to Whale Branch Elementary School and we read to the students. When I was in elementary school, no one read to me outside of the boring textbooks. It wasn’t until late middle school that I truly loved books outside of the Magic Treehouse Series.
The elementary students and the high school students from DAYLO had never met each other before that night, but none of that mattered because we were all there to read. That’s the power of books; unity.
Books tear down invisible barriers that have been put up by society, why do you think people that read the Bible can come together through church? When people read the Bible they can come together as one—regardless of race, nationality, sexual orientation, or physical appearance; or at least that’s the power I see within it.
Vilifying books won’t solve actual issues at hand. We could be putting this energy, time and money into ending hunger or homelessness in our community. We could be doing community outreaches like DAYLO has done by reading to the younger kids or we could focus on unifying
our community, rather than dividing it.
Books are not here to cause division; they are here to bring understanding and perspective. We can only see the world through our own eyes and because of that we can lack empathy for others, there are few ways to gain empathy but reading is high on the list.
I understand finding these topics hard to read, but we have to remind ourselves that these are real things that have happened to real people and if we as a whole want to put an end to horrific topics, then we need to make an effort towards ending all types of suffrage; when you have a weed growing it in your garden, cutting it at the stem won’t solve the issue, delays it yes, but the weeds will keep coming back until you get it at the roots— dig up these problems at the roots and stop trying to cut it at the stem.
In history, banning books never had good outcomes. The future that I envision is full of well rounded, empathetic, EDUCATED people. Education is the building blocks to a successful society and education starts here, with US, as one.
4/4/23
You would be surprised what can impact the life of a student. Books, curriculum, community outreaches, clubs, teachers…The list goes on and on.
I know recently DAYLO’s focus has been keeping the books ON the shelves rather than off, but tonight I want to ask the school board and most importantly the community to help inspire students across the district in whatever way you can.
After coming to the school board meetings, the greatest thing that has stood out to me is the divide amongst us all; division doesn’t make a community, unity does; I mean it’s literally in the word.
Everything this school board does, will impact the lives of students and I think student opinions should be taken into consideration, but the only way that can happen is if we as a distinct create well-rounded, strong-minded individuals.
I know of way too many students that are under-inspired and lack motivation in my school alone; I can only imagine how many there are district-wide.
During these board meetings, I feel that everyone’s feelings are discussed except for the feelings of students- MY classmates.
I won’t be here come June 2nd, but my siblings will be. And future DAYLO’s will be. I want them to be in a school district that helps them thrive.
Too many of us are struggling with mental health, and too many of us are not being heard the way we should be. There are some students that are going through things that could make an adult crumble, yet they still show up to school everyday and are expected to give their 100%; the least we can do is make it a place worth attending.
We have some AMAZING students in this district and all they need is a little motivation. I was lucky enough to find my inspiration at Creek, but that’s not the case for every student.
We’re also losing way too many amazing teachers and I think that also contributes to the lack of motivation; I know it did for me.
When we start investing MORE into our students rather than focusing on minor things like how many times a book says the f-word, which is significantly less than the amount of times it’s used in the football locker room, we’ll see less referrals, less kids in ISS, less suspensions, and less kids in right choices.
We need more from our educators, mentos, and communities. We need more inspiration and more motivation. Again, you would be surprised what will impact the life of a student.
5/16/23
Since this will be my last time addressing the board as a BCSD student, I decided to make a full circle and end where I began;
I’ve been through countless hardships, from exposure to drug addiction, poverty, domestic violence, and child abuse. All of these things are terrible in their own ways, however they did not happen to me because someone read 19 Minutes, The Hate You Give, Milk and Honey, The Perks of Being a Wallflower or any other of the 97 books and though my hardships are terrible, they are not unique—many of my friends have been exposed to the same awful things that I
have.
We as a district are focusing on the wrong issues; No book caused a lockdown, no book caused starvation, no book caused my brother to overdose, and no book caused domestic violence; however, what did cause these issues were voices being swept under the rug so often that it
finally became a massive lump causing everyone to trip.
Attacking education is a centuries-old tactic used for manipulation. This is a pivotal moment in time, moving forward we have to acknowledge that not everyone gets two parents, a white picket fence, a fluffy dog, or summer vacations. Some kids get dirt driveways and a single wide
in the middle of the woods that’s filled with bugs and a constant cycle of mistreatment; if kids are old enough to live through it, then they are old enough to read about it.
The only way out of generational cycles is through a solid education and for some kids, like me, part of that is reading about other kids that had it rough who were able to make a 180. This is my fourth year in high school and for the years Creek library was open, I’ve seen the
same 10 kids in the library.
Maybe we should get more students reading books BEFORE we start banning them. In the 21st century, we should be able to discuss social issues, but by banning books we are teaching students that it is OK to silence voices.
By banning books we are teaching students that their voices SHOULD be silenced. Racial issues are uncomfortable to read about, domestic violence is hard to read about, drug addiction, sexual assault, school shootings, and gun violence are all hard to read about. But you know what’s harder? Living through it. Uncomfortable does not equal unsafe and ending these issues will only happen one way and that is through education.
Further examples routinely added to the Get Ready Stay Ready DAYLO Page.
Madelyn’s Public Comments
1/17/23
Good evening. My name is Madelyn, I’m a senior at Beaufort High School, and I am 17 years old. As you can assume by my age, I was not alive during the attacks of 9/11. During school assemblies and honorary events, when people say “Don’t forget,” I am not even able to remember, because I wasn’t born. It wasn’t until I finished the book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close two days ago, that I finally understood.
If that title sounds familiar, it’s because it’s on the banned book list, which is what I’m here to discuss today. This book has been added to the book list seemingly due to its references to “sexual content,” which, I did the math, and the sexual content of the book is estimated to make up 0.7% of the book; showing that that sexual content isn’t the actual message of the story. The point of this story was to follow the mourning of a kid named Oskar, who lost his father during 9/11. Although I have obviously been taught about 9/11, it was difficult to understand the weight of the situation and the grief that occurred without living through it. However, reading an entire book about a little boy who lost his father so early allowed things to be put in perspective, even if it was fictional. If the people who made this banned book list had actually read this book, they would understand that the focus isn’t sexual content, but rather the journey of grief of a little boy.
Reading a book like this is extremely important to my generation and generations after me, which are the people mainly impacted by these book bans, because we have not lived these experiences. We were not alive to experience the grief of 9/11. Books are how we are able to experience multiple lives and see multiple perspectives. How was I able to grieve for my nation when I wasn’t even alive during 9/11? Now that I have lived through the eyes of Oskar Schell, I am able to understand the depth of mourning that our nation experienced.
The books on the banned book list contain stories that we need to hear. Just like how I was able to experience the tragedy of 9/11 through Oskar Schell’s eyes, all people should have the ability to seek insight into the experiences of people who have lived a different life. This doesn’t just apply to the book I just finished reading, but also to all of the books on the banned book list, which disproportionately bans queer people’s and people of color’s stories. If you don’t look or feel like someone else, how are you supposed to empathize with them if not through a story? And how are we expected to help these minorities if we aren’t even educated enough to grasp the problems they are facing? In this case, ignorance isn’t bliss, but a fatal weakness. Whether you want to accept it or not, the world is diverse and contains people from all backgrounds, all living completely different lives. A few parents should not prevent all of us from reading about these complex and beautiful stories, because these stories reflect the lives of people all over the world and of our reality. Thank you for your time.
3/7/23
Good evening and thank you for giving me this time to talk. I am here today to speak about the book bans and their appeals. I have shown up to multiple school board meetings in which appeals have been placed on the books that were decided to go back into circulation. And the one question that I can’t seem to answer is: Why? Why are these appeals necessary? What is the purpose of these appeals? The review board is randomly selected with a diverse distribution of community members who thoroughly read the books while comparing its contents to the AP or Honors curriculum, so it can be assumed that the decisions they make are educated ones. Thus, I can’t seem to wrap my head around the fact that we are facing another round of appeals tonight, all based on the fact that the people who appealed these decisions didn’t like what the review board ruled.
I believe that the appeal process is being taken advantage of because appeals shouldn’t be based on whether you agree with the decision or not. For instance, let’s take a look at appeals in the U.S. government. I recently learned about appellate courts in my AP Government class. Appellate courts do not retry cases but simply review the trial and ensure that the proceedings were fair to both parties and followed and applied the proper law. Most grounds for making appeals in appellate courts are that the dissatisfied side states that the trial was conducted incorrectly or that some law was broken in the process of the trial. In the U.S. court system, you don’t get to appeal decisions because you don’t like them and you don’t like that things didn’t go your way. I don’t think that our appeal process should be any different. If you are going to appeal a book, you should have solid reasoning behind it, like possibly appealing the decision of Nineteen Minutes because there were only three committee members present who voted to remove the book from the shelves out of the standard seven.
The people who started the whole process of these book bans are now prolonging its effects and wasting more time and money simply because they don’t like the outcome. The hypocrisy in starting this whole mess and then appealing decisions when things don’t go your way is frustrating to see as a student, and I know it must be frustrating for you all too. If the review board follows the policies put in place to make an informed decision, then I believe there is no reason for appeals to be made.
Maybe instead of making appeals, they could listen to the students who are here tonight to voice their minds. If they want to help children, as they claim, it might be worth it to listen to those of us who are affected by these bans. There is a simple solution to this problem, and it is not solved by appeals being made the second that reviews are complete. The solution is in utilizing processes that are already in place, like the opt-out form. If you truly are dissatisfied with the review board’s decisions, don’t prolong this process by abusing the system, rather use the tools that are at your disposal and are fair for all children. Thank you for your time.
5/16/23
Beaufort County has had a reputation for its rich history and diversity. There is history written within the roads we walk on and the salt marshes that we stargaze over. Unfortunately, this beautiful county has been torn apart over these book bans. Disagreements aren’t limited to school board meetings either, with many using social media to discourage those who are speaking out against these book bans.
“I wonder who groomed her. This conduct is pretty typical of a groomed child.”
“I think these students suffer a form of ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ regarding teachers.”
“You’re a sick kid.”
These are the responses that adults are publicly making on Facebook about students standing out against book bans. I don’t even want to take the time to ponder what they may say about us behind closed doors.
This is exactly what Moms for Liberty works towards: shattering communities and making books exploring our realities into a political game. The book bans that we see in our county are the direct result of a step-by-step guide that is given by Moms for Liberty. Whether it was the books that were chosen to be pulled from the shelves or using FOIAs as weapons, what is happening in Beaufort County is not an isolated event. An article from the state of Iowa writes, “… it’s a full circle of committing and recommitting to the cause of Moms For Liberty and not at all about the books, curriculum, education, or ‘parental rights.’ The group chooses to ignore their own rights in order to build a case for how they deserve to remove books and curriculum from schools.” Sound familiar? Ignoring the opt-out form and playing the victim to make it seem like every process is rigged against them. Even in other states, the people initiating these book bans are using the same tactics too.
Additionally, one commenter during a previous school board meeting used a BookLooks review as evidence as to why a book is not appropriate for school libraries. BookLooks is not a trusted or impartial source; it was created by Moms for Liberty and uses a subjective rating system that depends on factors such as sexuality, gender ideologies, and even the presence of activism. No matter what the intent of Moms for Liberty or BookLooks was created for, it is impossible to ignore that they are pushing for rhetoric that is harmful to ALL minorities and is seeking to erase the history of people who aren’t even included in the history books. Using independent authors is the only way that we can access the lost stories of people of color or queer people because our textbooks don’t always show us the complete picture.
The reality of this situation is that these “concerned parents” don’t actually have students’ best interests at heart. When you are resorting to personal attacks against minors on social media to further your cause, it only shows that you can’t handle children having their own opinions and that these parents really don’t care how the students are affected at all. Thank you for your time.
Further examples routinely added to the Get Ready Stay Ready DAYLO Page.
Mary’s Public Comments
8/1/23
Good evening. I am Mary [redacted], a rising junior at Beaufort High School and the new vice president of our chapter of DAYLO: the Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization. Before tomorrow night’s book review committees meet, I would like to speak briefly about the ongoing book challenges facing our district. After attending many school board meetings, I have noticed one of the common arguments for banning books is that many have been deemed “pornographic” by the complainants. However, this term has been inappropriately applied.
Last spring, I read Damsel by Elana Arnold, one of the 97 challenged books and a very powerful feminist novel–which contains scenes of rape. These aspects of the novel are consistently presented as cautionary, not as endorsement. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, pornography is intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional responses. To clarify, in the context of the novel, there was always a negative consequence to sexual assault. And to clarify further, these scenes are not crafted for pleasure. If someone perceives depictions of sexual assault as pleasurable, then the book isn’t really the problem, is it?
Additionally, I can see how these stories can be very hard to read due to the intensely tragic and disturbing content. However, for many students, these subjects are not fictional. Whether you choose to recognize this or not, many students deal with these tragedies regularly, and books which address sexual and physical abuse with blatantly negative consequences can help a student learn moral lessons, and to seek help and feel less isolated should they ever face similar circumstances.
Parents who still deem a book as “pornography,” or otherwise objectionable for their child, may use the opt-out form provided by school district—which does not negate the rights of other families to make their own choices about what their children may access and read.
As committees meet to continue the review process, I ask that we strive to understand the overarching context of these books and remind ourselves that an opt-out option for individuals always exists. Thank you for allowing me to speak this evening, and for your work in service to our students and teachers.
2/13/14 – SC State Board of Education Meeting
The 1st amendment is a big topic in the discussion of book bans. While, yes, government censorship is unconstitutional, the school board is permitted to pull books from school libraries that are not beneficial, helpful, appropriate for the students ages, or preferred by the county. The argument over what meets those requirements is a long and nonproductive one for today’s purpose. Today’s purpose is to decide how to handle these arguments.
In Federalist 10, James Madison worried for our country’s future with factions. Minority groups that make decisions for the whole and often don’t take into consideration the effects of the many.
I’m not advocating to end the discussion of striving to provide students with books that meet the stated qualifications; I’m advocating for the process of getting rid of “controversial books” to not be as easy as this bill could make it. By giving potentially harmful people the ability to affect the school libraries in all counties in South Carolina, we give the factions too much power to represent and change the lives of people that disagree with them.
Further examples routinely added to the Get Ready Stay Ready DAYLO Page.
Millie’s Public Comments
6/13/23
In advance of tomorrow evening’s meeting of the book review committees and the inevitable appeals which will follow, I would like to offer a reminder to our school board members of how narrative works–and why it matters.
The driving point of any story, of every single one of them, is conflict. In fact, we are taught this as young as first grade, with a helpful, and recognizable, graphic. I am not sure if you remember what this graphic looks like, but it is rather simple. It starts as a flat line, the exposition, that turns into a steep slope, the rising action. The point of the vertex before it falls is the climax. After that the line turns to a steep downward slope known as the falling action, and then, finally, evens back out into the resolution.
The reason I wanted to refresh your memories about this elementary English lesson is because of a comment that was made at the last school board meeting. It was commented by a complainant in favor of these book bans, that {quote} “positive stories, that’s what we need, let’s just talk about that.” {end quote}
This comment is rife with ignorance, both for its lack of understanding of stories and its lack of understanding of the world. A story cannot exist without the negative, just as light cannot exist without the dark, or silence without noise. And, just as the light of a candle cannot be seen without shadow, hope and perseverance and every good thing about humanity and our world cannot be seen without the existence of what has happened and what is happening.
We talk about drug use, violence, and sexual abuse because it is important to the narrative of humanity. Because, whether it makes us uncomfortable or not, those things are in our past, our future, and our present. Yes, we can talk positively and not make every conversation about the negativity of our world, but books are not every conversation. They are the tough conversations, the essential conversations. They are a window for people who do not know, and a voice for people who do. We learn caution from cautionary tales. Every child understands this; it is only the adults who seem to have forgotten this lesson. Banning these books from our libraries discredits our students’ intelligence, narrows their worldview, and will lead to more of the drug use, violence, and sexual abuse that we so wish to avoid. These books educate. These books save lives. These books tell stories.
As a queer woman, I was fortunate to find books that also told my stories at a time when I needed to understand who I was. Those books deserve to remain in our libraries, because kids like me deserve to feel safe and seen and valued in our schools and in our communities. Thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening–and happy Pride Month.
5/15/23
During a school board meeting in March, I spoke about the banning of the book 19 Minutes by award-winning author Jodie Picoult. Her books portray complex, multi-sided narratives about polarizing societal issues. 19 Minutes tackles a tragic school shooting and the painful aftermath, and was written at a time when the shooting of school children was a shocking tragedy, rather than an everyday occurrence.
As a result of DAYLO’s deep dive into defending and promoting intellectual freedom within the community, some of us recently had the opportunity to meet the author of this book that has been stolen off of our shelves. While we are grateful for this extraordinary opportunity, we are saddened that intolerance and ignorance within our community was the catalyst. It is not lost on us that our county, a county that has a long-standing reputation as a literary community with an abundance of diverse literature, has been the source of the largest book challenge in the state. Ms. Picoult was a kind, down-to-earth, and all around lovely individual, who wrote this book to bring greater understanding to this deeply traumatizing issue. These books are not the “step-by-step guide to shoot up a school” that some have claimed them to be, rather, they are the product of a lot of research and the resulting knowledge and empathy. This isn’t just a book to us, it is our reality.
19 Minutes, as we hope you will find while reading the provided signed copies, is a book born from the tragedy of violence that ultimately points the reader towards the beautiful optimism of hope, community, and family. If it does serve as any kind of guide, it is a guide about how to grace all of humanity with empathy and the importance of asking for help when you need it, a lesson students desperately need to learn.
19 Minutes holds cultural importance for its ability to allow students to explore how to cope with the current dangerous climate in schools. Like I said in March, I do not believe that I am too young for this book. I do not believe any of our middle and high school students are too young for this book because we already know. We deeply know about the violence that has happened in schools. It is DAYLO’s sincere hope that each board member will take the time to read these gifted copies of 19 Minutes and seriously reflect on the empathy and wisdom it contains and question the motivations behind those who would try to censor it. Thank you for your time.
4/4/23
This year I have found that my favorite books to read are classics such as Frankenstein and Pride and Prejudice. Reading these great works quickly piqued my interest in other classics. What speaks to me so much about these books is what they reveal about the time in which they were set. Essentially, these classics reveal the context of the time. In class, we devoted weeks to historical analysis of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a book which incidentally was banned in South Africa in 1955 for indecent content. From feminism to religion to science, we examined the novel in many contexts to better understand its intent. Later, as I read Pride and Prejudice on my own, I found myself doing the same thing, just wanting to understand what Jane Austen was striving to communicate. I found it incredibly rewarding to do so. The reading and critical thinking skills my English teachers have taught me have shown me the importance of context in books.
I mention this because context is the key element missing from the complainants’ arguments against the 97 challenged books. At the last meeting, one of the complainants stood before this board and listed every swear word contained in one of the challenged books in a failed effort to shock us. She did the same in her recent belated appeal of The Art of Racing in the Rain, apparently disgusted by the use of the word “bitch” in the novel. However, what she is missing is the context of usage. In The Art of Racing in the Rain “bitch” is used in its literal meaning to refer to a female dog. The author did not use that word as an insult, or in a demeaning way, but in the word’s actual capacity. If the complainants had actually read this book about a dog and his owner, they might have understood that context.
These 97 books are on trial for a crime they didn’t commit. These books are not harmful to our youth, as some have claimed they are. The only crime committed is one often committed against literature: the crime of ignoring context. Without examining the context, we leave everything about a book behind: its heart, its story, and its capacity to educate and inspire.
Every single book accused of inappropriateness on this list has deeper meaning. These books should not be censored because we’re afraid of a 7th grader learning a curse word. Thanks to pop culture and media we consume in a variety of forms, which no one is trying to ban, kids already know these words. What books give us is the understanding of how and when to use these words and ideas in context.
And in the context of a time when extremist political forces are issuing book challenges and attacks on public education across our country, I ask this board to use the critical thinking skills I sincerely hope you too possess from a lifetime of reading to continue to return our books to our libraries. Happy School Library Month, and thank you for listening to your students.
3/7/23
On October 4th, 2022, I celebrated my 18th birthday.
On October 5th, 2022, around 9 AM, the Beaufort High School intercom crackled to life and a panicked voice rang through the hallways telling us we were going into lockdown. It took us a moment to respond, as we had been reading Hamlet and were enjoying our mutual amusement with each other’s performances. While we quickly fell into the routine we had been following for close to twelve years, this time felt different. Something in the voice on the intercom relayed a gravity that we had not heard before.
Move the desks. Barricade the door. Lock it and tie it shut in case the lock doesn’t hold. Turn off the lights. Sit down, shut up, and send a text to your parents to tell them what is happening, though none of us really knew what was happening.
All of us huddled in the corner of the room, with two students brave enough to hold our only defenses; a baseball bat and a can of expired wasp spray. I sat with two friends in a small circle, each of us holding the other’s hand. My best friend squeezed my hand so tight I could see it turning white, but I didn’t tell her to stop. The only break our hands were afforded was when we would let go to text our parents, anxious to give them updates that, yes, we were alive, but there had been ominous shouts and pounding footsteps in what was supposed to be an empty hallway.
Eventually the news came: the threat had been fake, an orchestrated event that had happened to schools across the entire country. There hadn’t been any danger, but my body didn’t seem to get the message. Achy and tired, I was still exhausted the next morning as I walked back into my English class, ready to revisit Hamlet. My teacher tried her best to provide us with a sense of normalcy, however, the terror of the day before was repeated as a student had brought a weapon to school that day in a misguided attempt at self-defense and we found ourselves back in lockdown.
This will happen again, and again, and again, as has been the pattern since the Columbine shooting in April of 1999. No one in our English classroom was surprised by what happened that day: terrified, but not surprised. Our childhoods have been steeped in the grim reality of active shooter drills and dark, locked classrooms. While my friends and I continue to work to promote literacy in our community and to ensure that our younger peers will have access to books that will help them to navigate this often violent world, the complainants are using social media to flippantly glorify the things that actually harm the most children in South Carolina: guns. Where is their concern for the safety of students when it comes to gun violence? How does banning a book while joyfully waving a gun make us any safer? When we are this familiar with school shootings, why are the books that detail these horrifying experiences being censored?
19 Minutes has been effectively banned in Beaufort County Schools. This book is about a school shooting, and I do not believe that I am too young for this book. I do not believe any of our middle and high school students are too young for this book because we already know. We deeply know about the violence that has happened in schools. What this book offers us is the ability to work through what we have lived through, yet it is being taken off of our shelves after an incomplete review committee declared that it was not appropriate for us. In reality, there is no book more appropriate or essential for us.
2/7/23
In the last school board meeting that I attended, multiple speakers, including a Board Member here, in favor of removing books from school library shelves stated that they were NOT “in favor of banning books,” and that they in fact were not banning books at all. Banning books is defined by the First Amendment Encyclopedia as, “a form of censorship [that] occurs when private individuals, government officials, or organizations remove books from libraries, school reading lists, or bookstore shelves because they object to their content, ideas, or themes.” As defined here, it is obvious to me, and should be obvious to you and the book banners, that the actions they are taking are indeed book banning.
What this denial of the truth says to me is that those who ban books are ashamed. They are ashamed of their actions. They know they are wrong and are acting in their own interests rather than for the collective good of our community. What these actions tell me is that those who have proposed the book removals have not taken the time to actually read these books. Because, if they had, they would know the importance of their contents, and the impact of the stories on people, especially the growing minds of students. They would know that these books build empathy and grow mindsets and connect our community for the better. Rather, instead of actually sitting down and reading these profound and impactful books, they are judging them by excerpts out of context through the lens of their own political agendas.
This has happened before. All over the world, all throughout history, information – information through books, the most innately human way to share stories other than oral storytelling, has been restricted. Has been banned. It is a tale as old as time, and the reasons have always been the same, and they remain the same now. Books are banned for their power to connect, the share, to educate, and to give a voice to the voiceless. Let Beaufort County be a place where we uplift each other, rather than take away each other’s voices and stories.
1/17/23
I am here today to address the book bans that have been under discussion in our county. I am concerned by the targets of the books on the list, of the perspectives and lessons we are taking out of the classroom, specifically that of LGBTQ+ authors. As a queer woman myself, I find it incredibly important that the stories that we read reflect both perspectives that those of minorities experience and that the majority are unable to experience for themselves.
The ability for a person to see themselves in a story is an imperative experience. My personal experience with this applies. In my sophomore year of high school, I read a book that featured a lesbian as the main character. It was the first sapphic romance that I had read, and it was part of my journey of realizing it was okay to be myself as I was born.
This experience is also important for those not within the LGBTQ+ community. The ability for those who are straight to be able to read this kind of story elevates the ability for those who are gay or trans to live their lives safe and accepted. Reading these stories builds empathy, creates understanding, and connects our community to be stronger together.
Because of the importance of these stories to queer students and of building empathy, it is incredibly important that we do not ban books that tell the stories of minorities. Of the ninety-seven books that have been pulled from our shelves, 30% of them feature a queer main character. However, the queer community makes up less than 4% of the population. Just from this list alone, stories of queerness have been banned almost 8 times as much as our straight counterparts.
In closing, I want to say is that LGBTQ+ books have an intense and important impact on both communities and individuals. Removing these books from our libraries will not positively impact our community in anyway, and will instead only increase strife among queer kids, who may only need a book to learn to love themselves.
Further examples routinely added to the Get Ready Stay Ready DAYLO Page.
Lizzie’s Public Comments
SCOTUS Argument
Good evening Board members and thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight.
Ever since efforts to censor libraries recently became so common across the nation, many advocates of intellectual freedom have been quick to point out instances in history where other governments have over-extended their authority in order to ban books. The New English Canaan was banned by the Puritan government in 1637 for its critique of Puritan power structures, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin was targeted for its “pro-abolitionist” messages, and, during the Holocaust, access to German stories that expressed sympathy for Jewish people or pacifists was prohibited. All of these situations could be unpacked in an argument about the type of people who have historically pushed for censorship, but I am going to take a different route by citing another more recent effort to ban books in the United States.
In 1975, a parent group in New York requested the removal of nine books from school libraries on the basis that the books were “anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, and just plain filthy,” stating that “it is our duty, our moral obligation, to protect the children in our schools from this moral danger as surely as from physical and medical dangers.” Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? The school board ultimately ended up removing all but two of the books.
Two years later, a group of disgruntled students who felt their First Amendment rights had been violated sued the district and took their case to the Supreme Court. In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled with the students. I would like to share a quote with you all from the case’s majority opinion:
“Local school boards have broad discretion in the management of school affairs, but such discretion must be exercised in a manner that comports with the transcendent imperatives of the First Amendment…While students’ First Amendment rights must be construed “in light of the special characteristics of the school environment,” the special characteristics of the school library make that environment especially appropriate for the recognition of such rights.”
The Court explained that Americans’ right to the freedom of speech inherently includes their ability to receive information, as well as express it. Because school libraries are a place of “voluntary inquiry,” it was declared that they enjoy a special affinity with the rights of free speech and press and, therefore, the availability of books could not be restricted simply because school board members disagreed with their content idea. Justice Brennan concluded that school officials may not utilize their power to remove books from schools based on “narrowly partisan or political” grounds because doing so would result in an “official suppression of ideas.”
I leave you all with this information about the case of Island Trees School District v. Pico and the reminder that your responsibility to promote “social, moral, and political values” will always come second to your obligation to ensure the protection of Beaufort County students’ First Amendment rights. American youth have fought and won this battle before, but we are by no means afraid to do so again.
Argument Against the Lengthening Process
Tonight, the board will discuss a request for the amount of books reviewed in each session to be cut from ten to five in an effort to lessen the stress for school board members trying to read every book as they undergo review. In responding to this suggestion, I would first like to give you all a glimpse into the lives of the students who have been sacrificing their time to advocate at these meetings twice a month.
I, for example, lead seven student activities and organizations outside of school. I am currently enrolled in four AP classes. I tutor students a minimum of four times per week. I am actively working on college applications and scholarship essays. Some days, I get to school at 7:45am and do not leave until after 8pm. Tomorrow, I will leave my house at 6:30am to spend my day at the South Carolina State House fighting for basic human rights for transgender youth.
On top of this, I am spending approximately seven hours every other week that I don’t really have to convince a bunch of adults that reading a book will not, in fact, make me more susceptible to drug addiction, pedophilia, alcoholism, rape, gender dysphoria, or any of the other outlandish and unsubstantiated claims that have been made.
The request to cut the number of books reviewed at a time is intended to make this process easier for a member of the school board who is having difficulty finding time to read the books in the time allotted. I acknowledge the time it takes to mindfully read a book and do appreciate the attempts to go about this process as knowledgeably as possible, a trend we haven’t often seen thus far.
However, when considering this request, please consider the other people who are currently being inconvenienced by these proposed book bans and the effect this change in procedure would have in doubling the time it takes to review these 97 titles. Consider the countless lives in our community that were upended the minute it was announced that censorship efforts were being made in Beaufort. Consider the hours that already overworked students, educators, and community members are devoting to pleading that you return these books to library bookshelves. And consider the thousands of students who are being deprived of their freedom to choose which books to read each minute you draw out this already lengthy process.
In closing, we cannot temporally or fiscally afford to double the time it will take to review the 71 remaining books simply because a board member (who, I’ll remind you, isn’t even meant to be involved in this process at all) feels ten books is too many to read in the timeframe offered. Considering the board member proposing this change in procedure is endorsed by Moms for Liberty, the organization behind book censorship efforts across the country, how can we be sure this request isn’t just another strategy to keep books off of the shelves for as long as possible? If the review committees continue completing the task they’ve been assigned, there should be no reason to alter the process to accommodate the school board under the assumption that every book the committees agree to return will subsequently be appealed and submitted to the board for a final vote.
While this proposal may have been well-intentioned, I ask you all to fully understand its numerous consequences before making a decision that may provide relief to one board member at the expense of the students, educators, and community you swore an oath to serve.
Socioeconomic Argument
Good evening, my name is Elizabeth [redacted] and I am a senior at Beaufort Academy. Thank you all for the opportunity to speak in front of the Board tonight.
I attended the last Beaufort County School Board meeting and witnessed some comments that I found troubling. In expressing their stance on returning seven of the 97 books to school libraries, one board member remarked that, “Parents can take their children to the public library and check these out or buy them off of Amazon and guarantee that the book goes into the child’s hands.” To me, this comment was unknowingly made from a place of privilege, so I would like to shed some light on the financial situations of the students being discussed.
According to the BCSD website, 55.9% of students in Beaufort County are currently living in poverty. For reference, the census defines a household of two as living below the poverty line if their combined annual income is less than $18,932.
From a financial standpoint, these families cannot afford to simply purchase a book on Amazon for their children. 40% of Beaufort County students are on free or reduced lunch; their families cannot even always afford to buy their meals.
Additionally, many parents of students living in poverty are working multiple jobs to support their families. Depending on the day of the week, public libraries typically close from 5 to 7 pm. There is simply not enough time or energy in the day to expect parents to pursue resources that should already be offered at their children’s schools.
Another comment was made at the last Board meeting that unintentionally made a point with which I do somewhat agree. One member questioned, “Are we really going to tax and levy taxes on taxpayers to put this book on the shelves twice, once in the public library and once on the school shelves? I don’t know that I agree with that as somebody that’s supposed to be fiscally responsible.” For the purpose of saving time and energy, I am going to ignore the potential threat this comment poses to the existence of school libraries and address the member’s point about fiscal responsibility.
I believe in the necessity of school libraries and have no issue with taxpayers’ money being used to fund their diverse selection of literature. However, having to establish review committees required to read all 97 of these books is an alarmingly wasteful concentration of resources. Instead of purchasing two copies of every book to fill libraries, taxpayer money is going towards buying 7-10 copies of all 97 books, just to complete the review processes.
Meanwhile, multiple Beaufort County Elementary schools recently reported less than 10% of students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades meeting or exceeding reading proficiency expectations.
Rather than allocating resources with the intention of improving literacy rates, the county is actually forced to spend time and money addressing attempts to remove opportunities for students to read.
I hope that my commentary has emphasized the complexity of book bans and the varying significance of their impact. I also want complainants to understand how their actions are hoarding district resources, denying Beaufort County students the attention and money they need and deserve for a successful education. Thank you.
Effects on the Publishing Industry Argument
Good evening and thank you all for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Elizabeth [redacted] and I am going to share a little more about the unintended ramifications of the efforts at censorship which the complainants are so reluctant to call “book bans.” When two of my peers and I had the amazing opportunity to converse with Jodi Picoult, we were able to understand the national consequences of book bans on the entire publishing industry from the perspective of a (newly controversial) author. She explained that, when books containing certain content written by certain authors become as hotly debated as they are now, publishing companies must take books’ potential to be banned into consideration when they decide whether to publish it.
Publishers obviously want to sell as many copies as possible and the knowledge that schools may be more hesitant to purchase certain books, and that those stories will therefore lose a key audience, will caution publishers against investing in these kinds of stories. Now, I have reported the statistics that my brother and I gathered after individually researching all 97 books on the complainants’ list, but I will repeat these numbers again in this context.
30% of the challenged books feature main characters that are members of the LGBTQ+ community. 24% are written by non-white authors and 19% contain main characters of color.
These are the books that publishers are going to recognize as having a high potential of being banned. The stories that detail social systems of injustice, vicious racial hierarchies, and devastating examples of hatred towards the LGBTQ+ community. The books that reflect hardships experienced by marginalized students while offering success stories that foster hope in children who previously felt trapped in a cycle of violence or abuse. When people refuse to call these “challenges” by their true name, book bans, they ignore the effects of censorship that span far beyond school libraries and ultimately do result in the exact definition they associate with “book bans.” To all of you, I ask you to consider these consequences on every future vote about whether to concur with book review committees’ findings. Please understand that, by echoing the claims that books like the ones on this list should be removed from schools, you are creating a society that is forced to intentionally silence stories with the ability to build empathy and even save lives. In the polarized state of our nation, the influence of your decisions is much greater than you may have initially imagined. Thank you again for the opportunity to comment tonight.
Purpose of Public Education
In the complainants’ recent appeal of the decision to return the last round of challenged books to school libraries, a statement was made about the role of public education in society. According to the author, “Both [the NEA and SC for Ed] are very clear about wanting to transform education into something it was never designed to be; racially and socially just, and equitable.” I had to read this sentence several times to finally convince myself that there was no mistake, no typo or missing word. The complainant was actually admitting to the shameful, discriminatory truth behind every book banners’ motivations. To refute the point about what public education was or wasn’t designed to be, I’d like to talk a little about the designer himself: Beaufort’s own, Robert Smalls.
In 1895, the South Carolina Constitutional Convention met to reconvene about election laws, one of which proposed a poll tax and literacy test to discourage illiterate Black citizens from exercising their Constitutional right to vote. In response to these attempts, Robert Smalls made it abundantly clear exactly why he prioritized codifying compulsory education in South Carolina:
“How can you expect an ordinary man to ‘understand and explain’ any section of the Constitution, to correspond to the interpretation put upon it by the manager of election, when by a very recent decision of the supreme court, composed of the most learned men in the State, two of them put one construction upon a section, and the other justice put an entirely different construction upon it. To embody such a provision in the election law would be to mean that every white man would interpret it right and every negro would interpret it wrong. I appeal to the gentleman from Edgefield to realize that he is not making a law for one set of men.”
Robert Smalls promoted literacy, comprehension, and critical thinking because he was working to create the society that the complainants fear: one of racial and social justice and equity. To properly fulfill the purpose of a democracy, Smalls recognized the necessity of an educated voter base with the ability to accurately analyze political developments, a mission that could only be made possible by a government’s commitment to providing education. For this reason specifically, Robert Smalls worked to successfully amend the South Carolina constitution to guarantee access to free education for every student in the state, regardless of race.
Stories and institutions that promote social justice and equity amongst races do not counter the original intention of education; they fulfill it. Robert Smalls had the vision that a society with access to public education (for which no one had to “opt-in”) would develop into an informed, knowledgeable democracy with the power to achieve his ultimate goal: the abolition of racial discrimination and prejudice. As we enter into School Library Month, we should honor the legacy of Robert Smalls by choosing to celebrate diversity in our community and on our school library shelves.
Further examples routinely added to the Get Ready Stay Ready DAYLO Page.
How to Enhance Your Public Comments in 5 Simple Ways
Public speaking can be intimidating no matter your age, but it seems magnified when you are speaking directly to a group of people who hold power in your community. Feeling nervous before you address your school board? No worries – here are some tips that will enhance your public comments and help you come across as eloquent and informed, as you intend to be.
Understand your time constraints
School board meetings typically have a period of time that is set aside for public comments. Thus, it is typical that each individual will have a limited time to get their point across. When writing your speech, you should keep your time constraints in mind because your speech will get cut off if you extend past the allotted time. Each school district differs in the amount of time they give individuals, so make sure to look it up on your school district website beforehand! For reference, our school board allows three minutes per comment and our comments are usually about 500 words or less.
Avoid redundancy and repetition
On the other hand, just because you are limited to a certain amount of time, don’t feel as if you need to be talking the entire time! Avoid repeating yourself just to take up time because it can make it seem like you don’t have enough evidence to support your claims. Simplicity is key!
Bring props
If your school board allows, try to bring props to help enhance your speech. For instance, at one of the previous Beaufort school board meetings, Beaufort DAYLO brought signed copies of Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult to show the school board members that the banning of Nineteen Minutes in Beaufort county school libraries did not go unnoticed by the author. Props can help board members see the big picture and remind them that they still hold a great deal of power, even though they hold office locally and not on a larger scale.
Express your gratitude
As a student, you may already be looked down upon or judged based on the simple fact that you are a teenager. Being young doesn’t mean that we can’t form our own opinions and speak out for what we believe is right. However, this may mean you have to work twice as hard to earn the school board’s respect because of their preconceived judgments regarding your age. The easiest way to gain their respect is by expressing your gratitude in your speeches and thanking the board for the time to talk. It doesn’t need to take up a lot of your speech; just a simple “thank you” at the beginning and end of your address can go a long way!
Practice your speech beforehand
The only way you’ll know if your speech will come across the way you desire is to practice! Whether you practice in front of a mirror, your friends, or anyone who has the time to listen, practicing is a vital tool that can easily help you come across as an efficient speech giver. If you have the time, practice changing your inflection in certain parts of the speech or adding hand gestures to help your speech seem less static. Try to memorize your speech to the best of your ability to show the board members just how passionate you are about this topic. Practicing your speech will also make you feel more confident when you go up to the podium, so just relax and practice (because you got this)!
Op-Ed Articles
An op-ed article submitted for newspaper publication can be a very effective tool for pro-literacy, anti-censorship advocacy as well. The term op-ed is an abbreviation for “opposite the editorial page” and refers to brief, focused articles from community members and subject matter experts on contemporary topics relevant to a newspaper’s readership.
Here is an example of an op-ed from DAYLO, written by two of our student leaders in partnership with an adult subject matter expert, addressing the connection between book bans and student access to essential information about sexual violence and assault.
Through our pro-literacy advocacy work, DAYLO connected with the National Women’s Law Center, which in turn led us to be introduced to Sara Barber, executive director of the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (SCCADVSA). Ms. Barber was interested in how book bans deny students access to literature about the realities of domestic violence and sexual assault and about healing from drama and seeking resources for help. As DAYLO students had specifically addressed those issues in public comments at Beaufort County School Board meetings, conjoined to two books challenged locally, Ms. Barber suggested a collaboratively written op-ed. In this partnership, Ms. Barber was the subject matter expert, able to provide a framing narrative and statistics from the SCCADVA. DAYLO student leaders Patrick and Mary were able to add their personal perspectives, specifically echoing public comments they had made previously in defense of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Elena K. Arnold’s Damsel respectively. The resulting op-ed ran in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Charleston Post and Courier newspaper on February 15, 2024, days after a South Carolina State Board of Education meeting (which the article also references). From Ms. Barber, we also learned that the op-ed was used the following week as an instructive example for college courses on Social Advocacy and Ethical Life.
A second example of an op-ed is the collaboration between DAYLO student leader Kate and 2024 American Library Association Banned Books Week Honorary Youth Chair Julia Garnett. This article, which also appeared in the Charleston Post and Courier, calls for student involvement in book review committee decisions as they directly impact students’ equitable access to educational materials. DAYLO first connected with Ms. Garnett through collaborations during Banned Books Week. Julia received national attention, including being honored at the White House and being named one of GLAAD’s 20 Under 20, for successfully advocating for her own role in review committee decisions as a high school student. She was able to serve as a subject matter expert for the article and as a peer-mentor to Kate who was actively advocating for students’ involvement in review processes in South Carolina. This article appeared on December 4, 2024. Julia also had her first byline in Ms. Magazine that same week and continues to collaborate with DAYLO.
Both examples serve as both a model of a pro-literacy, anti-censorship op-ed and of successful collaboration between a student organization and more established advocates as learning and mentoring opportunities. Op-eds are an excellent opportunity for student advocates to have an impactful public voice in the media and to use the written word to defend the written word, which is itself a pro-literacy activity.
Letters to the Editor
Another great option to reach your school board and community is to submit a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. Readers of your local newspaper are probably people who feel strongly connected to and invested in their communities. Writing a letter to the editor that denounces censorship will raise awareness of the issue in your community and inspire active community members to further research the issue.
The first step in writing a letter to the editor is selecting a local newspaper and researching any guidelines for letters to the editor. This can either be done online or with a phone call to the paper’s office. The guidelines may consist of a word limit which is important to keep in mind when crafting your letter.
In submitting your message, you must decide whether you wish to remain anonymous or include your name. Both are great options for various reasons. If your community is mostly supportive of intellectual freedom and you could connect with people by including your name and some personal information in your letter, then go ahead and do so! It also may feel empowering to you as a student to assign your name to your work. However, some communities are less kind to students speaking out against book bans. If you feel like including your name will make you a target for book banners, maybe consider publishing your letter anonymously. Your statement can still be meaningful and important without your name attached to it.
EXAMPLE (originally published in the Beaufort, SC, Island News, January 2023)
Personal freedom is a right that all Americans possess. Our freedoms have been hard won and are the result of the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of individuals who believed in freedom so much that they laid down their lives to ensure our rights. As such, we believe in the right of every child in school to have access to materials that would broaden their horizon and strengthen their education. Recently the students and parents of our county have found the right to access books infringed upon. The attempt to ban books in Beaufort County Schools is an insult to the intelligence of our children and families and represents a blatant disregard for the freedoms that groups like Moms for Liberty claim to represent. The actions of this group represent an assault on intellectual freedom and, in direct opposition to their self-professed value of liberty, an assault on the freedom of parents to make decisions for their own families. One of the most troubling aspects of these bans is the fact that we have been given little reasoning as to why these books have been removed from our shelves, despite the importance of their contents and the positive effects we believe they have on our community.
The book banners claim that they object to all of the ninety-seven books on their list because of content they have deemed “inappropriate” for middle and high schoolers. The most egregious problem with this claim is that it is entirely subjective. They offer no definition for what constitutes “inappropriate” content. They seem to believe that they should be the sole judges of what is appropriate for every family and student in the county. It is our belief that the sweeping invalidation of this large body of literature is a violation of the rights of Beaufort County families and students. Additionally, attempting to define parameters around the definition of inappropriate content will prove fruitless due to the large variation of parental beliefs on student maturity and appropriate book content. Because parental beliefs on what constitutes appropriateness vary greatly, we feel that the best solution is for parents to utilize the parental control measures that are already in place in Beaufort County School libraries, i.e., contacting their school librarian and putting in place the restrictions that reflect their families values and needs. It is entirely unreasonable and unfair for any individual or group of individuals to attempt to set guidelines for every Beaufort County student’s access to information. This shortsighted and overreaching attempt to control every Beaufort County School District family’s ability to access literature and information is a truly inappropriate idea here. The simplest solution to honoring parental rights in Beaufort County School libraries already exists, so in addition to the massive waste of government money and resources, we wonder what the motivation is behind these attacks on intellectual freedom.
Additionally, restricting access to books because of a small group’s personal opinions limits our students’ abilities to broaden their worldview and balance their educational opportunities. Beaufort County is an economically diverse county, with students at every school varying greatly in household income. As such, restricting students’ access to books will result in even more educational inequity among students, as students from lower-income households are less likely to be able to purchase their own books or even access transportation to the Beaufort County Library.
As leaders of the Beaufort High School and Beaufort Academy chapters of DAYLO (Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization), we believe access to diverse stories is essential to fostering a healthy, empathetic, and diverse community. The 97 books in BCSD libraries that have been targeted for censorship disproportionately represent authors of diverse backgrounds. Reading these books and being educated about these stories through school library access encourages personal growth and critical thinking skills imperative to becoming engaged leaders and citizens. Banning these books violates the intellectual freedom of students and families, and will only make students less empathetic and curious about our world. As Atticus Finch said in To Kill a Mockingbird, “You never really know a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb in his skin and walk around in it.” Restricting these books removes a point of connection among students who may feel isolated in their experiences and also removes an opportunity for promoting empathy for those with little exposure to viewpoints different from their own. The book banners cite “inappropriateness” as their motivator, but their attempts to circumvent established parental control processes and force their values on everyone are what is truly inappropriate.
Millie [redacted], President of the Beaufort High School DAYLO chapter
Elizabeth [redacted], President of the Beaufort Academy DAYLO chapter
(DAYLO was subsequently featured in a front-page news article in this same paper, reprinted from a front-page news story in the Charleston Post and Courier.
Letter to the Editor – Example 2
Dear Superintendent & School Board Members,
My name is [redacted]. I am 17 years old, transgender, and a Junior at [redacted] High School in the [redacted] school district. I am a member of my school’s branch of DAYLO, the Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization. Our objective as an organization is to read, discuss, and spread awareness of literature that explores and discusses diverse and controversial topics, as well as to participate in community outreach supporting this goal.
There has never been a point in history in which the people making books less accessible have been the heroes, and the supposed objective of ‘protecting children’ does not make today’s attempted book banners any different.
I’m currently taking AP Language and Composition. At this point in the year, we are discussing argumentative essays—one of the three essays every AP Language student will have to complete during the exam in May. In preparation for this essay, we have discussed logical fallacies and the potential bias of news sources—using politics as our primary examples and discussion topics. In freshman year, we read books such as 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and To Kill A Mockingbird. Thus, I have witnessed that fourteen to eighteen year old students are capable of having in-depth, intellectual discussions about these topics—and in doing so, prove they are mature enough to understand them.
School libraries already make a point of stocking books suitable for the age of their students. Should, for example, a middle school student want to seek out a book that covers topics their school library does not supply, they would have to endeavor to find it through other means—and that desire to cover those topics proves they have already been exposed to it through other means (an inevitable fact) and seek to make sense of it—a desire that should be nurtured, not stifled. Should students not endeavor to seek them out, but stumble upon them anyway, the objective should be to create an environment where they feel safe to ask questions about it, rather than limit it entirely.
We live in a world where, like it or not, children experience racism, poverty, and violence. Children are gay and transgender. Children have experienced sexual violence and neglect. One of the strongest forms of soothing these children, of helping them understand that they’re not alone—or even to simply understand the world we live in—is the written word. To deprive us of it is to leave us more stranded than we already are.
Non-Speaking Advocacy
We understand how daunting it can feel to stand in front of opinionated, and sometimes angry, adults. Speaking in front of large groups is not always enjoyable, no matter the setting. If you feel the same way, don’t assume that there’s nothing for you to do to defend intellectual freedom in your community. Here’s a list of alternative courses of action you can take from the comfort of your own bed, speaking from our personal experience!
Letters to the School Board
Speaking during the public comment section of your school board meetings is certainly a great way to reach the board, but it isn’t the only way. If you’re more comfortable writing your thoughts and arguments on paper without having to present them, sending letters to your board is a great alternative.
The format for your letter/email can be pretty similar to our suggestions for writing a public comment, just with the appropriate introduction and closing. Remember to state your name and age and the school you currently attend. It is best to keep these messages fairly brief and concise to ensure the board will read and comprehend them fully. Many messages sent to the school board are angry and demanding, so prioritize respect and gratitude to set yourself apart and validate your arguments.
If you don’t know which board member represents your specific district, try researching that online and reaching out to them first. Board members care about getting reelected and are most likely to listen to their constituents or the people who vote for them. If your own representative isn’t receptive or responsive, try sharing your message with the rest of the board. Some members believe censorship is wrong but fear they do not have the support of the public to vote against book bans. Your written support will remind them that their community is on their side and will rally around them if they set themselves apart by making the right choice.
Attend Board Meetings
If you’re not a huge fan of writing or don’t feel confident in your ability to formulate a persuasive letter to your school board, you can actually help the cause with your presence alone. Attending school board meetings as a community member, even if you don’t feel comfortable commenting, is a wonderful way to support those speaking against censorship and to remind the board that your community supports the right to read. There is power in numbers and forcing the board to see a visual representation of community support. Your presence is especially valuable as a student because the board is used to seeing disgruntled parents and adults. Attending the meeting shows the board that this issue matters enough to students that you are paying attention and taking time away from your weeknight to prove that.
Contact State Representatives
When most of us hear about the people with the final say on book bans, we think about school boards, library boards, and other local government officials. While these individuals hold significant power when it comes to censorship in schools or libraries, we also must remember to pay attention to the bills being introduced and passed in our state legislature.
Our state senators and representatives can’t enact specific, local book bans, but they can pass legislation that makes it easier to do so. For example, South Carolina’s legislature recently introduced a bill that would force teachers to censor certain historical content to “protect” students belonging to groups that have historically acted as oppressors. The wording of this bill may not overtly discuss book banning, but it is an attempt to normalize censorship and sets a precedent for books discussing systemic oppression and discrimination to be removed.
In order to stop these harmful bills before they gain traction, you must first watch your state legislature to know when they come up. Our state governments are unfortunately significantly less transparent than one would hope, so you will have to pay close attention to the wording of this legislation because those signing off on it will never openly refer to it as a “censorship bill.”
Once you have identified this legislation in your state, determine whether it is currently being debated in the House or Senate. This will tell you which of your elected officials to contact. If you’re not sure who your senator or representative is, you should be able to find that information easily online using your address. Find the name and contact email of your elected official.
The actual wording of your email to your representative can be quite simple. You may have a longer testimony that you want to share, but keep in mind that it is sometimes even more effective to keep it concise. Legislators have interns tasked with checking emails and keeping track of the number of the legislators’ constituents who support or oppose the bills being debated. All they need to see is that you are a constituent of your legislator and that you oppose the bill currently being debated.
Scroll down to TE Example 1 for a template email to send your legislator.
Scroll down to TE Example 2 for an example email to a state senator.
Letter to the editor
Another great option to reach your school board and community is to submit a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. Readers of your local newspaper are probably people who feel strongly connected to and invested in their communities. Writing a letter to the editor that denounces censorship will raise awareness of the issue in your community and inspire active community members to further research the issue.
The first step in writing a letter to the editor is selecting a local newspaper and researching any guidelines for letters to the editor. This can either be done online or with a phone call to the paper’s office. The guidelines may consist of a word limit which is important to keep in mind when crafting your letter.
In submitting your message, you must decide whether you wish to remain anonymous or include your name. Both are great options for various reasons. If your community is mostly supportive of intellectual freedom and you could connect with people by including your name and some personal information in your letter, then go ahead and do so! It also may feel empowering to you as a student to assign your name to your work. However, some communities are less kind to students speaking out against book bans. If you feel like including your name will make you a target for book banners, maybe consider publishing your letter anonymously. Your statement can still be meaningful and important without your name attached to it.
Scroll down to LE Example 1 for an example of a letter to the editor
Thank-you notes to librarians and teachers
One of the long-term goals of extremist groups trying to ban books is to defund public education and create a system in which they can teach their own ideologies as fact. Part of this strategy involves attempts to censor classrooms and libraries, insulting educators’ professionalism and expertise and making schools an undesirable place to work. To counteract these efforts, you can work on expressing your gratitude to local teachers and librarians by writing thank-you notes. This small gesture reminds educators that their selfless work is respected and appreciated. When people experience censorship efforts in their workplace, they may receive threats of violence, be labeled as groomers or pedophiles, or even face efforts to have charges pressed against them. Being surrounded by constant negativity and criticism can be scary and alienating, so showing your support with a heartfelt note will stand out in that sea of conflict.
Join or form a pro-literacy club
If you don’t really feel comfortable taking a stance on book bans at all right now out of fear of backlash or general hesitance to throw yourself into that fight, consider joining/forming a pro-literacy club. This could mean many things, whether it be a book club, a service club, or anything else you believe will encourage literacy in your community. In a time when reading and intellectualism are under such brutal attack, it is essential that we do everything we can to rekindle and continue to foster a love and appreciation for reading. A group that exists to be pro-literacy rather than anti-censorship is often more appealing to potential members and has the ability to outlast the issue to which it is built in opposition.
TE Example 1. Template for an email to a legislator:
Subject: Constituent’s (OPPOSITION TO/SUPPORT OF) (NAME OF SPECIFIC BILL)
Dear (SENATOR/REPRESENTATIVE) (LEGISLATOR’S LAST NAME),
My name is (YOUR NAME) and I am a high school student, as well as your constituent. I am writing to you in (OPPOSITION/SUPPORT) of (NAME OF SPECIFIC BILL). I (OPPOSE/SUPPORT) this bill because (CONCISE, DEFENSIBLE REASON REASON FOR STANCE). As your constituent, I ask that you accurately represent the will of your constituency by voting (FOR/AGAINST) (NAME OF SPECIFIC BILL).
Thank you for your service to our state and community.
Sincerely,
(YOUR NAME)
TE Example 2. Example of an email to a state senator:
Subject: Constituent’s Opposition to H. 3728
Dear Senator Davis,
My name is Elizabeth [redacted] and I am a high school student, as well as your constituent. I am writing to you in opposition of H.3728. I oppose this bill because it minimizes the significant impact of systemic oppression on our country, prohibiting students from accurately learning their own history as well as their peers’ history, resulting in an inability for students to practice empathy. As your constituent, I ask that you accurately represent the will of your constituency by voting against H.3728.
Thank you for your service to our state and community.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth [redacted]
LE Example 1. Example of a letter to the editor:
Personal freedom is a right that all Americans possess. Our freedoms have been hard won and are the result of the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of individuals who believed in freedom so much that they laid down their lives to ensure our rights. As such, we believe in the right of every child in school to have access to materials that would broaden their horizon and strengthen their education. Recently the students and parents of our county have found the right to access books infringed upon. The attempt to ban books in Beaufort County Schools is an insult to the intelligence of our children and families and represents a blatant disregard for the freedoms that groups like Moms for Liberty claim to represent. The actions of this group represent an assault on intellectual freedom and, in direct opposition to their self-professed value of liberty, an assault on the freedom of parents to make decisions for their own families. One of the most troubling aspects of these bans is the fact that we have been given little reasoning as to why these books have been removed from our shelves, despite the importance of their contents and the positive effects we believe they have on our community.
The book banners claim that they object to all of the ninety-seven books on their list because of content they have deemed “inappropriate” for middle and high schoolers. The most egregious problem with this claim is that it is entirely subjective. They offer no definition for what constitutes “inappropriate” content. They seem to believe that they should be the sole judges of what is appropriate for every family and student in the county. It is our belief that the sweeping invalidation of this large body of literature is a violation of the rights of Beaufort County families and students. Additionally, attempting to define parameters around the definition of inappropriate content will prove fruitless due to the large variation of parental beliefs on student maturity and appropriate book content. Because parental beliefs on what constitutes appropriateness vary greatly, we feel that the best solution is for parents to utilize the parental control measures that are already in place in Beaufort County School libraries, i.e., contacting their school librarian and putting in place the restrictions that reflect their families values and needs. It is entirely unreasonable and unfair for any individual or group of individuals to attempt to set guidelines for every Beaufort County student’s access to information. This shortsighted and overreaching attempt to control every Beaufort County School District family’s ability to access literature and information is a truly inappropriate idea here. The simplest solution to honoring parental rights in Beaufort County School libraries already exists, so in addition to the massive waste of government money and resources, we wonder what the motivation is behind these attacks on intellectual freedom.
Additionally, restricting access to books because of a small group’s personal opinions limits our students’ abilities to broaden their worldview and balance their educational opportunities. Beaufort County is an economically diverse county, with students at every school varying greatly in household income. As such, restricting students’ access to books will result in even more educational inequity among students, as students from lower-income households are less likely to be able to purchase their own books or even access transportation to the Beaufort County Library.
As leaders of the Beaufort High School and Beaufort Academy chapters of DAYLO (Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization), we believe access to diverse stories is essential to fostering a healthy, empathetic, and diverse community. The 97 books in BCSD libraries that have been targeted for censorship disproportionately represent authors of diverse backgrounds. Reading these books and being educated about these stories through school library access encourages personal growth and critical thinking skills imperative to becoming engaged leaders and citizens. Banning these books violates the intellectual freedom of students and families, and will only make students less empathetic and curious about our world. As Atticus Finch said in To Kill a Mockingbird, “You never really know a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb in his skin and walk around in it.” Restricting these books removes a point of connection among students who may feel isolated in their experiences and also removes an opportunity for promoting empathy for those with little exposure to viewpoints different from their own. The book banners cite “inappropriateness” as their motivator, but their attempts to circumvent established parental control processes and force their values on everyone are what is truly inappropriate.
Millie [redacted], President of the Beaufort High School DAYLO chapter
Elizabeth [redacted], President of the Beaufort Academy DAYLO chapter
Self Care and Wellness Panel Discussion
Books:
- Micro Activism
- Social Justice for the Sensitive Soul
- Being the Change
- Activist: A Story of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Shooting
- You Truly Assumed
- Radical Hope
- Letters from Young Activists: Today’s Rebels Speak Out
- Yes You Can: Your Guide to Becoming an Activist
- Wake, Rise, Resist: The Progressive Teen’s Guide to Fighting Tyrants & A**holes
Podcasts:
Online Resources:
- Youth Activism Project
- University of Michigan Self-Care Tips for Youth Advocates and Activists
- Newport Institute Young Adult Advocacy
- Beginner’s Guide to Self-Care for Activists
- Youth Activist Toolkit
- Teaching Human Rights-Youth Activists
- Anti-Defamation League-Youth Activism
- ALA-YALSA Advocacy
- SCEA-CEWL Wellness Sessions
DAYLO Case Study in Success
Finding a DAYLO Advisor
Finding an advisor is an extremely important part of starting a DAYLO chapter. With most schools, any new club that’s going to be approved needs an advisor who will be at every meeting and who is consistent in listening to members’ ideas and thoughts.
To find an appropriate advisor for a student-led book club, we recommend recruiting from your school’s English department or school library.
Talk to a few different potential candidates about starting a club. Look specifically for an advisor who is:
- Most enthusiastic about the idea of starting a book club!
- Supportive of DAYLO’s mission of fostering empathy and understanding through the reading and discussion of diverse literature
- Supportive of a student-led model and open to candid discussions about students’ potential interest in advocacy
- Organized and willing to meet with leaders before meetings to discuss upcoming events
- Willing to work outside of contract hours (ex: going to service events outside of school)
- Willing to read the books along with you, add to discussions without leading them, and offer recommendations for future book club selections
Also, it is important to note that the advisor you pick should have a good relationship with your school’s administration. Because DAYLO chapters have a reputation for being pro-literacy advocates in public forums, there is always the possibility for administrative concerns, and it is best to have an advisor who can also be a good advocate for your chapter under these circumstances.
Do you know what’s even better than having one supportive advisor? Having two supportive adult advisors! That might be a second teacher or librarian at your school. But there’s another option, too – consider the merits of having an additional off-campus advisor, like a public librarian, bookstore owner, or local writer—someone based in your local literary community who shares your goals, values DAYLO’s mission, and can assist you in community literacy projects, securing books for your book club, and/or connecting with authors.
Meet DAYLO Advisors, Claire Bennett and Jonathan Haupt.
Ways to Advertise DAYLO
- Social Media: Social media can be a great platform to post and share events that DAYLO hosts and participates in as a way of raising awareness and building interest. However, it is important to keep in mind that everyone needs a media release form in order to be in posted photographs, and the created account should be made private.
- Word of mouth: A quick and easy way to advertise DAYLO is by telling your friends about the club. You can also tell your teachers to mention the club to their classes. Be an advocate for DAYLO with those most likely to be interested.
- Like Minded Clubs: DAYLO members are also often members of other service and special interest clubs with missions and values which align or intersect with DAYLO. Consider meeting with those clubs to talk about DAYLO and how to join.
- Socials: Having a social gathering or an interest meeting is another fun way to talk about DAYLO. When holding a social, it is important to provide food as an incentive to gain attendance of potential new members. You can also display books that your chapter has read or is reading, as well as photographs and other materials from DAYLO community literacy events. DAYLO has an empowering and inspiring story to share. And if your chapter is just beginning, feel free to reach out to other chapters for materials about our experiences.
- School news or announcements: Most schools have announcements and/or a school news to which all students are required to listen. Promoting DAYLO in the announcements and/or news is a beneficial way for students to learn about the club, and you can gain potential members.
- Posters: Posters are a cute and effective way to advertise DAYLO, and also a fun project for DAYLO members to create. It is important to make the poster look attractive and to include meeting dates and times and information about what DAYLO is and does.
Find Your Own Thing
From our book club selections to our pro-literacy community service projects to our levels of comfort and engagement in advocacy efforts, every DAYLO chapter is different—and that’s amazing! We encourage each chapter to find the approach that is most impactful and rewarding to your members in your school and in your community. Are you volunteering with an English as a Second Language program? Did you have a cosplay as your favorite character competition? Did you have a book club discussion meeting in which you built your favorite scenes in LEGOs? Build a parade float? Share a meal described in your book? Have a meeting in which everyone reads and recommends a different book? Your chapter may be the first to try something completely new. And if so, we would love to hear about it!
DAYLO Anti-Censorship Resources
Read:
Download the list below: Anti-Censorship Resources
- Get Ready, Stay Ready
- Kids’ Right to Read Project – National Coalition Against Censorship
- American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
- American Civil Liberties Union – South Carolina (ACLUSC)
- Freedom to Read SC Coalition
- Pen America
- EveryLibrary
- American Library Association
- American Association of School Librarians
- South Carolina Association of School Librarians
- Defense of Democracy
- Unite Against Book Bans
- The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
- Penguin Random House Everyone Toolkit
DAYLO Media Coverage
Read:
Download the list below: DAYLO Media Coverage
- DAYLO Instagram Page
- DAYLO Facebook Page
- Banned Together Documentary
- 2.15.24 DAYLO Op-ed in The Post & Courier
- 12.17.23 DAYLO Presentation at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Lowcountry 11.9.23 A CEWL (SCEA) Conversation with DAYLO (video)
- 10.12.23 Publishers Weekly: CBC Panel Considers Censorship from Kids’ Perspectives (article)
- 9.22.23 Book Riot: Student Groups Against Book Bans (article)
- 8.4.23 American Association of School Librarians Commends DAYLO (article)
- 7.29.23 DAYLO Presentation for Indivisible Beaufort (video)
- 7.18.23 Education Week: What Happened When Students Led Fights to Reverse Book Bans (article) 6.29.23 DAYLO Conversation with EveryLibrary: The Fight for The Freedom to Read (video)
- 5.21.23 DAYLO Presentation at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Beaufort (video)
- 4.5.23 Beaufort Human Library (short video)
- 3.22.23 Front Page Article on DAYLO in The Island News (article)
- 3.13.23 Front Page Article on DAYLO in the Charleston Post and Courier (article) 3.9.23 Teddy Bear Picnic (short video)
- 4.10.22 Teddy Bear Picnic (short video)
- 4.8.22 Beaufort Human Library (short video)
- 1.30.22 DAYLO Presentation at SC Council of the Teachers of English conference (video) 11.5.21 Book Drive for New Teachers (short video)
- 11.5.21 Book Drive for New Teachers (Short Video)
- 12.9.21 Pat Conroy Literary Center Interns & DAYLO (short video)
Contacts and Credits
Like DAYLO itself, this toolkit is a student-led, mentor-advised collaborative effort. We are grateful to all of the DAYLO students and mentors who contributed and edited content—and even more grateful to those of you now making use of this materials to develop your own pro-literacy community service and advocacy engagements. We welcome your questions and comments. Here is how to reach DAYLO:
Email | Link Tree | Instagram | Facebook
Contributing Students
Layn B., Anjali B., Millie B., Isabella T., Madelyn C., Peter C., Elizabeth F., Patrick G., Arden L., Nora O., Holland P. Mary R., Kate S., Zoe W.
Contributing Mentors
Claire Bennett
Jonathan Haupt