A Columbia County Library Advisory Board meeting on Tuesday garnered comments from multiple community members in response to a set of guidelines for determining book placement, which went into effect in early September.
These guidelines divy books up into age-appropriate categorizations, seemingly with the goal of protecting youth from unnecessary violence, sexual content and profanity.
However, some have come forward with their concerns that the guidelines are limiting young people’s scope of information.
The guidelines are sparking public conversation around soft censorship, which refers to library books being placed in restricted areas – making them still technically available, but not immediately accessible.
Around 40 books have been moved to other sections since the passing of the guidelines, including “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky, “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green and “Forever” by Judy Blume, all of which have been transferred to adult shelves.
Book Looks as a screening tool
Community member Karin Parham spoke at Tuesday’s meeting, where she criticized the use of Book Looks – a rating system-based literary screening tool – to determine where books should be placed in the library.
Parham noted that Book Looks is affiliated with Moms for Liberty, an organization which has been designated by The Southern Poverty Law Center as an extremist group; Parham continued by saying that Moms for Liberty “only represents one very specific viewpoint.”
“Over 40 books have already been moved without any public discussion or transparency, just using the ratings on Book Looks as a primary guide,” said Parham.
She continued by saying: “The point of Book Looks is to make it easier for individuals to challenge books in local libraries and school libraries without actually reading the materials.”
LGBTQ+ visibility
Greta Newman appeared at the meeting to speak on behalf of dropping the guidelines, saying that as the parent of a transgender child, she believes the library’s guidelines are lessening LGBTQ+ visibility.
“I’ve gone through and read a number of these books to see what the issues were, and it seems that the intent is to limit or prevent access to any books with LGBTQIA+ characters or themes…it appears that people are fearful of what access to these books might do to our youth, as if access to these books can turn people gay,” said Newman.
Newman expressed that representation is “crucial” for LGBTQ+ youth, a demographic which has a statistically high suicide rate.
“What [books] do is expose children to a wealth of different ideas. Maybe not all of them fit with your particular family values, but they certainly fit with mine,” said Newman.
Placement of the Bible
Former board member Marlena Burgeron addressed the current advisory board by reciting an original poem entitled “It’s My Library Too,” which highlighted the multiple reasons she stands against the newly implemented guidelines.
She stated during her delivery of this poem that according to the library’s guidelines, the Bible would need to be moved to the adult section.
“Something else that I found, based on your guidelines, you would need to re-shelf the Bible to the adult section, because there are several passages especially in the Book of Judges that require viewer discretion” said Burgeron.
In favor of guidelines
Brenda Heidman, the sole speaker in favor of the shelving policy, spoke out against a petition started by Parham, which is circulating to stop the adoption of the guidelines. According to Heidman,“if people knew exactly what was going on, very few would sign it.”
Heidman said that the guidelines are not banning any books, since the books will still be available in the library.
“No information is being narrowed, the information is still available, on the shelves, for adults,” she said.
She emphasized that she believes all books available to youth should help them develop “mentally, physically, spiritually.”
“Critical thinking is not learned from books about sex, rape, drugs or incest, or looking at dirty pictures…who are these people who write books about sex, rape and drugs for children? Are these people I can trust around my own children? No,” she added.
A separate petition, aiming to uphold the guidelines, has been started by Elizabeth Popiak.
Dr. Carraway comments
Advisory Board Chair Dr. Sandra Carraway made a comment about the ongoing issue of book categorization.
“For a year, this community, not just one person, but a community of people have been dealing with what’s age appropriate…that clearly is a struggle that’s been presented here…that’s something that our community will continue to deal with…hopefully we will find a spot where it’s appropriately arrived at,” Carraway said.
Regional board meeting
An upcoming Regional Library Board Meeting will be significant in determining whether the guidelines will continue or be removed. This meeting will be held on Dec. 10 at 11 a.m. at the Evans Library, located at 7022 Evans Town Center Blvd.
