Lawmakers spread misinformation that a Wilson County school library is closed because of a new state law

Left-leaning media outlet the Tennessee Holler attracted thousands of views and hundreds of retweets with a story on X Monday that claimed a Wilson County high school library is starting the year closed because of a new state law passed by Republicans. That law moves districts to ban books with inappropriate or sexual material.

According to the tweet, which included an email screenshot, an anonymous principal in the district told the outlet that the school will “delay the opening of the library just to be on the safer side of things.” The post claimed that the decision was due to librarians’ fears over how new state laws could “criminalize librarians and educators."

The tweet was quickly picked up and reposted by lawmakers including State Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, who represents Tennessee’s 55th congressional district. The post was also shared by the Tennessee House Democrats’ X page.

“Teachers work every day for too little money bc they simply want to educate our kids. They don’t have the desire or the time to indoctrinate your child and certainly don’t want to harm them in any way. So let them do their damn jobs, stop threatening them & just say ‘thank you,’” Clemmons’ post read.

State Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, also reposted the story.

“This is frightening territory folks,” she wrote on X.

However, the narrative that a school is shutting down its library because of the new state law does not appear to be true, according to an email from Wilson County Schools’ Public Information Officer Bart Barker. Barker told the Tennessee Firefly that the library at that particular school “is actually serving as Chromebook/Textbook check-out hub,” as noted by the principal in the email to the Holler.

“That’s normal procedure for our very early days of a new school year,” he said. “Should this library - or other libraries - experience a prolonged delay in a full operational opening outside of that main reason (Chromebook/Textbook check-outs) then we will address that.

“The fact remains that Chromebook/Textbook checkout is currently going on within some of our libraries. That process can take some time. Libraries will resume normal operation once that process is complete."

Wilson County Schools has had a book challenge system in place for more than two years that's conducted through a districtwide book committee. Barker says the district is now implementing a new book challenge procedure that's designed to comply with the new state legislation.

The Holler tweet also referenced that the principle claimed the unnamed Wilson County principal said teachers are requested not to have classroom libraries to avoid "dealing with the pressure."

Barker could not confirm nor deny that any principal has made that request, but he said decisions of that type are at the principal's discretion. 

“Regarding the principal’s comments –all principals have the distinguished duty to run their schools the way that they seem to be most effective for their teacher/student community as a whole,” wrote Barker.