A group of concerned citizens Monday continued their efforts to move sexually explicit books out of the kids and teen sections of the St. Joseph County Public Library.
But those efforts again failed.
Library supporters said the library already has a policy for when someone thinks material doesn’t belong in the library, or a certain part of it. They can fill out a Reconsideration of Material form. The library’s Reconsideration Committee then makes a ruling that can be appealed to the library board.
At its July meeting the board had affirmed a library staff decision to keep a book titled, “This Book is Gay,” in the teens section, after the group appealed.
Some, like Ryan Posh, were still talking about the book at Monday’s meeting. He said it encourages use of the gay sex app Grindr, which is supposed to be for adults. Posh read some sexually graphic phrases he selected.
“After the July board meeting I recognized that many of you have come to the realization that something should be done here,” Posh said. “You have the power and the necessary facts needed to make the right decision to amend the policy such that these harmful and obscene books are removed from the youth sections.”
But Judy Fox, an attorney and Notre Dame law school faculty member, said the group picks small parts of books it finds objectionable rather than considering a book in its entirety. She said she worries about the larger effects on society of censoring what kids can read.
“Banning books is the first step toward an autocratic government and it’s a line in the sand that we must draw,” Fox said. “And I want to thank all of you for being firm and living by your principles. The library has a good policy to review whether a book is, quote end quote, pornographic.”
Fox, an attorney and Notre Dame law school faculty member, said her teenage granddaughter, who is gay, has complained that she doesn’t see people like her in novels depicting young adults in love.
“If we go down the path that we’re starting to go down, and banning those kinds of books, you are putting my granddaughter’s health, safety and frankly, life in danger.”
Fox said it’s telling that the vast majority of books that conservatives are trying to ban are about LGBTQ characters and themes.
It might have been a matter of semantics, but Elizabeth Murphy said she isn’t out to ban the books. She simply wants them moved out of the kids and teen sections.
“This is not book banning,” Murphy said. “It is not an issue of free speech. No one is saying a book can’t exist, or that adults can’t have access to obscene material if they must. We are simply asking that obscene, pornographic and harmful material to minors be prohibited from the collections in the library that are aimed toward minors.”
Murphy and other critics said it makes no sense for the library to have a policy shielding kids who use library computers from sexually explicit websites while refusing to do so with its books.
But Michelle Gloss said even trying to move books away from children in a library would start a slippery slope that could lead to outright bans, and more broadly, to fascism as a society.
“We don’t just jump in to this sort of political environment,” Gloss said. “It happens in very small increments.”
Cecilia Hess said society already places age restrictions on adult movies, magazines, websites, beverages and businesses. She asked why the library can’t do the same with sexually explicit books.
“Some people might say, if you don’t like it, don’t check it out, and actually I’m extremely sympathetic to that position for the general collection,” Hess said. “But the best part of going to the library has always been browsing and we don’t want to neurotically hover over our kids’ shoulders as they browse in the area that’s supposed to be pre-screened for their age group. Because just as your libraries cannot prescreen every book in every section, it’s all the more impossible for parents to do so.”
But library supporters and staff said it is a parent’s responsibility to ensure their child is reading books that are appropriate for them.
After the two-hour meeting, Board President Marvin Curtis said the board has no plans to substantially change its policy.
