Only 3 Objections Received For Somerset's Proposed Revisions to School Library Policy 500-19

Somerset County Public Schools had its policy 500-19 open for public comment for months now, and the only three objections to the policy came from the politically-charged Maryland State Educators Association (MSEA), the ACLU of Maryland, and the Maryland Association of School Librarians. That's right, not one Somerset County citizen.

The Maryland State Educators Association has already lost its constitutional argument against parents before the United States Supreme Court in Mahmoud v Tayler (2025). MSEA argued that parents in Maryland have no right to "Opt Out" from vulgar, sexually explicit and obscene library materials.

The Supreme Court in its 6:3 decision ruled that the parents absolutely have the right to Opt Out from any library materials or curriculum if such material violates the family's sincerely held religious beliefs. Maryland families have the Constitutional rights to protect their children from harmful effects of obscene adult materials in the schools.

Parents should be EXTREMELY WORRIED that outside organizations are targeting the Somerset County Board of Education on their Policy 500-19, which fully intends to comply with the United States Supreme Court precedents - not only in the parental right to "opt out," but also in following the Freedom to Read Act and ensuring that section 4-142 is fully enforced that "the school libraries may not discriminate against the authors race, sex, ethnicity or religion" and that "the books shall not be removed because of the author's race, sex, region of national identity".

See Maryland Law, Freedom to Read Act.

The Superintendent shall be in charge of setting up lawful procedures to remove books based on the steps identified in the Freedom to Read Act, where a PARENT or a Child may file an official complaint to the school Superintendent and where the Superintendent with assistance of an appropriate committee shall decide whether the book in question violates the Freedom to Read Act or not.

If the book contains obscene material as set forth by the Supreme Court precedent then the book can be removed and the book does not enjoy protection of the section 4-142 of the Freedom to Read Act, because the book was not being removed because of the author's race or nationality, but because of the obscene content that's not suitable for minors.

This clarity helps everyone understand what the MSEA, ACLU, and the Maryland Association of School Librarians attempt to undermine.

The fascinating case presented to the Board by the Maryland Association of School Librarians referred to in their opposition to Somerset County Board policy 500-19 cites Virginia v. American Booksellers Association, Inc., 484 U.S. 383 (1988) (often referred to as American Booksellers v. Virginia).

Sadly, the Maryland Association of School Librarians failed their ability to read or comprehend the case they referred to. In that case, Virginia filed the Amendment to its Criminal law to prosecute bookstore owners and sellers for selling "harmful books to minors".

The United States Supreme Court held that the Virginia Amendment does NOT violate the First Amendment, and that booksellers CAN BE CRIMINALLY PROSECUTED! 

The Supreme Court of the United States specifically referenced the exact 3-prong test of what is considered obscene material, which is what the Somerset County Board of Education specifically and identified verbatim in their policy 500-19.

Could the Maryland Association of School Librarians have provided helpful guidance to the school board by turning the issue on its head and presenting a misleading premise that advances its own narrative, rather than addressing the local school board’s effort to comply with numerous Supreme Court decisions? Isn’t the board’s stated objective simply to protect minors while they are under the supervision and control of adults who are entrusted with their care?

Fellows & Editors

August 16, 2026

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