Amid growing concerns from conservative and liberal parents alike, the St. Tammany Parish Library Board has decided to remove 83 challenged books from the stacks and place them behind the circulation desk, pending a four-month review of their content.
It was the latest development in a controversy that began in June, when the libraries erected displays for Pride Month. Some parents have demanded permanent removal of books they consider inappropriate for children, while others have pushed back against efforts to suppress LGBTQ material.
The Library Board of Control's decision came Tuesday at the Covington branch, where crowds formed almost two hours before the meeting started.
Transgender books
The board also upheld a decision by an internal library review committee not to remove two books that revolve around transgender youth:
- "I Am Jazz," written by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings and illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas
- "My Rainbow," written by DeShanna Neal and Trinity Neal and illustrated by Art Twink.
It was the first time the board fielded such an appeal, library spokesperson Amy Bouton said.
Diane Bruni had filed a formal complaint in September that the two books were “propaganda that pushes explicit sexual orientation on minors." On Tuesday, she said the books affirm gender confusion and what it means to be male or female.
Board member Bill Allin defended the decision to make the books available for browsing. “Be loved for who you are; that's the message," he said. "We have a responsibility to serve the whole parish, and you can’t impose your ideas on everyone else.”
By request only
In moving 83 other challenged books to restricted access, the board agreed to extend its review period for as long as four months. The books will remain searchable in the library system's online catalog but will be available for checkout only by request.
That was too restrictive for Ruth Terry Spiros. “The joy of the library is not necessarily going into the computer to see what's there; it’s about browsing," she said. "I think it's excessive to be moving stuff away.”
Jamie Segura agreed: “Moving books to a location not openly accessible to all is censorship.”
Audience members at a meeting of the St. Tammany Republican Parish Executive Committee on Nov. 28 hold up signs objecting to certain material in parish libraries. Some books have drawn fire from critics who say children are being exposed to sexually explicit material.
The drive to rid the library of some books has been pushed by the St. Tammany Republican Parish Executive Committee, which in October urged conservative elected officials to speak out against children’s exposure to what they called pornographic material at public libraries.
“This whole thing is extremely difficult,” Allin said. “All we can do is try to guide a course in the middle and provide some security for the parents that are concerned.”