As community members and library board officials continue to debate the potential merits and consequences of the Columbia County Library’s controversial book reshelving guidelines, an alarming trend has emerged: librarians are quitting.
Since the adoption of these guidelines in September 2024, at least four librarians have resigned from their positions. Among them is Lizzie Lee, a former Columbia County librarian who submitted her resignation in March.
Lee described a growing sense of hostility in the workplace that began to obscure her passion for the job. For her, the culture at the library began to unravel around 2022, when a surge in book challenges escalated into personal attacks, which, according to Lee, included accusing librarians of grooming, pedophilia and promoting pornography.
“None of them were grounded in fact, but the vitriol was real,” Lee said.
Pressure to comply or leave
Lee pointed to the role of County Manager Scott Johnson, who she says insisted on full compliance with the reshelving guidelines as well as the unspecified goals of the new Columbia County Libraries Manager Keisha Evans.
“During a staff meeting when I raised concerns about ethics, I was shouted down,” she recalled.
She shared an audio recording of an exchange that took place during a March 12 library staff meeting where Johnson addressed librarians.
The recording begins with Johnson acknowledging the politically charged undertone surrounding changes being made at the Columbia County Library. He emphasized his full support for Evans, stating that staff needed to align with her leadership even if they personally disagreed with the direction being taken.
While he acknowledged that specific goals had not yet been clearly communicated, he insisted that librarians should commit to the manager’s vision or consider seeking employment elsewhere.
When Lee questioned how staff could get on board without knowing what the goals were, Johnson responded with repeated questions about her job satisfaction.
View audio transcript here
Lee: “Since we don’t know those goals right now how can we be committed to getting on board?”
Johnson: “Are you happy working here? “
Lee: “Am I hap -”
Johnson: “Are you happy working here?
L: “That’s not relevant to my -”
J: “Yes it is, I’m asking you, are you happy working here?”
L: “I’m not going to answer that question.”
J: “You’re not, you’re not going to answer that question if you’re happy?”
L: “No sir, because I asked you a question.”
J: “Okay, what’s your question?”
L: “My question is, if we do not know the goals, how are we expected to get on board?”
J: “Okay, you can’t, you don’t know the goals, so we’ll make sure you know the goals so you can get on board then. Now I have a question for you. Are you happy working here?”
L: “I do not want to answer that question right now.”
J: “Okay, well I think the answer’s pretty clear.”
A link to the full audio recording of the March 12 library staff meeting can be found at the end of this article.
Ultimately, the pressure Lee felt — combined with what she described as a lack of clarity and support—led her to leave her position at the Evans library branch.
“I loved working with the Greater Clarks Hill Regional Library System,” she said. “My role allowed me to connect with families, create meaningful programs and work alongside some of the most compassionate people I’ve ever met…my departure, you know, wasn’t about my love of library work. It was about the breakdown of support and protection at the county level.
“It’s a very, very lofty goal, you know, to protect the First Amendment. And that’s ultimately what we’re trying to do is protect the freedom of speech,” she said. “And that’s hard. It’s a big responsibility.”
“My departure, you know, wasn’t about my love of library work. It was about the breakdown of support and protection at the county level.”
Lizzie Lee, former Columbia County Librarian
‘We gave it our all every single day’
Other librarians who have left the Columbia County Library, all citing the current environment surrounding the reshelving guidelines, include Sabrina Mueller, Elizabeth Hobbs and Natalie Pulley, the latter of whom sat down with the Augusta Press to discuss her resignation.
Around six weeks ago, Pulley added her name to the list of departures after 15 years with the Evans branch.
“I didn’t feel like I could continue to work for Columbia County and still honor my professional ethics,” she said. “Librarians are taught to be champions for free expression.”
“[The children will] know when we’re gone, when we’re all gone…they’ll feel that. Because we, you know, we gave it our all every single day,” she said tearfully.
How librarians choose books
Pulley gave the Augusta Press a simple breakdown of the guidelines that are already in place for librarians when it comes to book selection. She said that the library has a collection development policy (CDP) that is around 15-20 pages long.
“Very detailed guidelines,” she called them.
Books are reviewed in professional journals, publications such as School Library Journal, American Libraries and Book List. The library’s collection development policy serves as a guide for librarians when using these journals. For example, the policy might require books to have three star reviews from three different professional journals in order to be approved for the library.
Once acquired, books are shelved based on a combination of the publisher’s age recommendations and the age recommendations from professional journal reviews. Librarians, according to Pulley, compare those recommendations and make a “semi-subjective decision” from there.
“We don’t just go by what the publisher says,” she said.
“I didn’t feel like I could continue to work for Columbia County and still honor my professional ethics.”
Natalie Pulley, former Columbia County Librarian
‘It hijacks our time, our energy’
Librarians such as Pulley and Lee said the work they do to promote literacy is disrupted by persistent book challenges and reshelving work.
“When, you know, one or two people repeatedly challenge books, you know, and sometimes dozens of books at a time, it hijacks our time, our energy, it pulls the staff away from helping patrons and it delays programming,” said Lee.
“Staff that are busy reshelving books based on new guidelines won’t have time to program a quality story time…it leaves children, parents and educators confused about what’s safe to read, you know? And that’s not access,” she continued.
As for the future of the Columbia County Library, Lee said: “They can either make it a welcoming place or they can make it a place where no one knows what is safe to do anymore.”
Johnson responds
Johnson responded to the comments about staff needing to follow the guidelines or seek employment elsewhere by stating he did say that.
“I was fully aware that I was going to be recorded and, yes, I told them that everyone needs to get on board and follow the guidelines that were set by the commission or they can seek employment elsewhere. I think I made myself very clear,” Johnson said.
He added that the he did not make the guidelines, which were approved by the Columbia County Board of Commissioners in September 2024 and the Greater Clarks Hill Regional Library Board in December 2024.
“These are not my guidelines. I don’t make the rules. My job is to make sure that the guidelines are being followed,” Johnson said.
With the guidelines, Johnson emphasized that the books are still available in the library, just in different sections.
“We didn’t give either side of this everything they wanted,” Johnson said. “The books are still available in the library, but there are rules that must be followed in terms of where they are placed. We didn’t ban any books.
“It really doesn’t matter where the books were originally. What is important going forward is that the guidelines are followed. We have some great, wonderful library staff, and they are committed to their work, but folks who don’t want to follow the rules are just not a good, fit and they should look for employment elsewhere.”
Library staff openings
As of Friday, July 11, Columbia County had eight job openings for different positions at the libraries. The county is advertising for a children’s library manager, circulation manager, Evan’s library branch children’s specialist, Harlem library branch manager, library assistant – Harlem branch, two library assistants at the Evans branch (part-time) and young adult librarian – Evans branch.
Reporter Scott Hudson contributed to this story.
