In 2005, Laura Mallory’s three eldest children were enrolled at J.C. Magill Elementary in Loganville, GA. Magill is one of over eighty elementary schools in the Gwinnett County Public School System. Along with these schools, Gwinnett County also contains twenty nine middle schools, twenty three high schools, and eleven specialty schools. At its Loganville location, Magill Elementary rests on the edge of Gwinnett and neighboring Walton county. When Mallory discovered the presence of the Harry Potter books in the school media center, and additionally learned from her child’s teacher that any materials from the media center can be used in the classroom, she launched three separate complaints with the school to have the first four books in the series removed from Magill’s library. These complaints were brought to the attention of the school’s Media Committee, a group “composed of administrators, teachers, and community representatives… to review media materials and challenges to instructional resources” (State BOE). In each of the three hearings dedicated to Mallory’s complaints, the Magill Elementary Media Committee voted not to remove the books from the school media center.

Laura Mallory vs. Gwinnett County Board of Education, 2006-84, (GA State BOE. 2006).