Library systems continue to adapt and provide resources to their communities
The Corpus Christi Public Library system has faced challenges in recent years but continues to provide needed resources for the community.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the age target for the Corpus Christi Public Library’s youth section, which officials say is for ages 13 to 17.
Residents asked for three books to be moved or removed entirely from Corpus Christi’s public library because of their LGBTQ+ content, according to city records.
The review forms, obtained by the Caller-Times through a Texas Public Information Act request, detail the objections library cardholders raised when seeking changes to city collections and why the requesters believe the materials don’t comply with library policy.
The cardholder, who in January called for the children’s book “Auntie-Uncle: Drag Queen Hero” to be removed along with “all other books like it,” claimed the book caused “gender confusion.”
“These are innocent children who barely know the difference between right and wrong,” the complainant said in the complaint.
The review was released a day after about two dozen council members made an emotional appeal to council members to take a stance on diversifying the library’s collection with materials that include LGBTQ+ themes, as well as raising concerns about possible censorship and debate over who is ultimately responsible for policing minors’ consumption of books.
LGBTQ+ advocates have previously suggested the book’s title and subject matter alone indicate anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment, and details from the released documents it was asked to reconsider on Wednesday borne that out.
Reasons for reconsideration
A book in the young adult section, “What If? Answers to Questions About What It Means to be Gay or Lesbian,” was requested to be moved to the adult section the following month, but the requester believed the book’s purpose was “to encourage children to become gay,” according to documents.
“This is a book that parents should choose to give to their children,” the requester wrote. “… It is not the role of libraries to get involved in children’s sexual issues.”
Meg John Barker and Jules Scheele’s Queer: A Graphic History was placed in the adult section after a client wrote that the book’s purpose was “to encourage minors to engage in the ‘queer lifestyle’ described in the book” and asked for an age restriction.
“The role of a public library is not to use taxpayer dollars to force extreme ideas like queer ideology on children or the general public,” the petitioners wrote. “In particular, the library does not have other materials that demonstrate the problematic nature of such lifestyles.”
Ultimately, none of the books were moved or removed after review by a committee that read the books. The committee determined that the books met the Library’s collection development criteria; age restriction was not an option.
The library’s policy is “freedom of information for all and does not restrict the right of patrons to read, see or hear library materials,” the document states, and allows access to “a wide variety of information resources and materials representing the range of human thought and experience.”
“Given the range of ideas and information available to you, it is inevitable that you will encounter resources that you may find inappropriate or offensive,” the policy states.
It was not revealed who requested the changes.
City officials cited a law that exempts them from publishing the names of people who “request, obtain or use library materials or services.”
A ruling by the Texas Attorney General is pending.
Library Committee
The library board, as an advisory body, is not involved in any decisions or recommendations regarding the review, and some cardholders said they were unaware of the book until its request was made public.
The committee is responsible for hearing appeals from claimants who are dissatisfied with city staff recommendations, and the claimants seeking the removal, relocation or restriction of three books containing LGBTQ+ content did not appeal.
The nine-person panel has heard only one complaint this year – a complaint by a complainant who wanted the sex-education book “Doing it Right: Making Smart, Safe and Satisfying Choices about Sex” by Bronwen Pardes removed from libraries.
A committee of city officials who reviewed the book recommended that it be moved from the young adult section to the adult section rather than removed, a recommendation that was later unanimously supported by the Library Board of Trustees.
What people said at city council meetings
About two dozen people spoke to council members during a roughly hour-long public comment session on Tuesday, with many of them speaking out about the presentation, characterization and inclusion of LGBTQ+ books in public libraries.
While the City Council does not necessarily have a direct say in how library books are selected, stored, or removed from the library (those decisions rest with city staff, including the library director and ultimately executive staff), the Library Board recently created a subcommittee to review the library’s collection development policy, and several residents urged the City Council to get involved.
Among them was Justin Love, who describes himself as a student pastor and told the City Council he came to City Hall to protest “the promotion of DEI and LGBT ideology that some of the people here today are trying to entrench in our public library system.”
DEI is an acronym for diversity, equity and inclusion.
“The LGBT movement is an evil religion,” he said, urging city officials that “DEI and LGBT content must be categorically rejected, not just here but across the country.”
Love’s comments are “why we need something like DEI,” said Robert Kimes, vice president of Pride Corpus Christi and director of the Coastal Bend Pride Center.
He added that it’s important that LGBTQ+ themed books are available and called on the City Council to follow up on discussions about the library.
“Make sure that our LGBT voices, our children, our families, our communities are protected and that their stories are heard,” Kimes said.
Subcommittee
The library board serves as an advisory, not a decision-making, body and has been mired in controversy since City Council members appointed five newcomers to the board in November.
Some of the newly appointed staff members said they were interested in moving books containing material they considered sexually inappropriate from the young adult section of the library to the adult section.
City officials said the youth section is aimed at ages 13 to 17.
No board members have expressed interest in relocating LGBTQ+ books.
The Collection Development Policy, currently under consideration by the subcommittee, outlines criteria for book selection, retention, review, and removal.
The subcommittee will make a recommendation to city staff, who will then decide whether to adopt the proposed changes.
Critics have raised concerns about the subcommittee, suggesting its intent is to recommend tweaks to policy in ways that limit access to books containing LGBTQ+ and underrepresented representation or promote censorship.
This is misinformation and “the idea that we want to limit the diversity of library collections is simply absurd,” subcommittee member Joan Carillo said in a message to the Caller-Times.
“We are focused on the safety of children, ensuring they are not exposed to sexually explicit material,” she wrote. “Our only concern is keeping children’s bookshelves free of salacious material, not restricting books.”
“New commissioners were appointed and subcommittees were established because local residents and the City Council requested these changes,” Carrillo added.
On Tuesday, resident Tom Tagliabue called on city officials to disband the subcommittee, saying its “existence is divisive and driven by interests that are inconsistent with a professional, community-focused library.”
“Please do not believe the rumors and scare tales about pornography, child indoctrination and training in our libraries,” he said. “Such statements are an insult to library staff and an insult to oppressed minorities.”
In a message to the Caller-Times, subcommittee member Melinda de los Santos declined to comment on Tagliabue’s request to disband the subcommittee but wrote that the group is “working diligently to complete this assignment so we can move on to other business.”
Officials said once the recommendations are finalized, they will be released to the public following an initial evaluation by city staff.
Closed Meeting
According to state law, if the number of subcommittee members is not enough to meet a quorum for the board, subcommittee members are allowed to meet alone, without the public or staff present.
Because the Library Board subcommittee is made up of four members, it does not have to follow the Texas Open Meetings Act.
Generally speaking, the Subcommittee on Municipal Affairs can raise questions, said subcommittee member Alice Upshaw Hawkins.
“Why can’t outsiders be present?” she said. “They can’t speak or express their opinions, but they can listen to the negotiations.”
“City business should be conducted in the public,” Becky Mohler said at the City Council meeting, asking what the purpose of the subcommittee meeting behind closed doors was. “When secrecy is allowed, you have to ask why,” she said. “Why secrecy, why closed doors?”
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