The Williamson County Board of Education voted to remove three books from its school libraries and restricted access to two other titles during Monday’s special-called meeting. The 1999 novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the 2005 novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and the 2018 novel Where the Crawdads Sing were effectively banned from all Williamson County schools after a majority vote on each title.
Williamson County school board member Eric Welch (left) listens to a citizen who supports removing books from schools, Dec. 9, 2024
The board also restricted access to the 1999 novel Speak for high school students, while the 2019 novel The Field Guide to the North American Teenager was restricted for high school juniors and seniors. Speak was previously present in WCS middle and high schools, while the four others were previously only in high schools.
District removes books including ‘The Bluest Eye,’ ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ and Dr. Seuss’ ‘Wacky Wednesday’ to comply with state law
All five of those books have received major motion picture adaptations since their releases. Where the Crawdads Sing was one of the nearly 400 books banned from nearby Wilson County Schools in October.
All board members were present for the meeting, with District 6 member Jay Galbreath attending remotely via Zoom.
The votes broke down in several different ways for each book. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was removed in a 9-3 vote, with Eric Welch, Melissa Wyatt and Galbreath voting no. The Field Guide to the North American Teenager was restricted to high school juniors and seniors in a 10-2 vote, with Welch and Wyatt voting no. Speak was restricted to high school students in an 8-4 vote, with Welch, Wyatt, Dan Cash and Drason Beasley voting no. The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Where the Crawdads Sing were each removed in a 10-2 vote, with Welch and Wyatt voting no.
Rep. Gino Bulso attends Williamson County school board meeting, Dec. 9, 2024
A WCS spokesperson tells Scene sister publication the Williamson Scene that the removal of the three books from schools has already begun, although it’s unclear at this time how many copies of each book have been in the schools. The two now-restricted books will be removed from school library shelves and “students will need to work with their school’s librarian to check out the book[s].”
A longer version of this story was first published by Scene sister publication the Williamson Scene. Read the full version at this link. Aiden O'Neill contributed reporting.
