Library books under fire

Editor October 28, 2022 Comments Off on Library books under fire
Library books under fire

Issue explodes with 130 books available to children

By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau

SLIDELL – While St. Tammany Parish may be considered a mostly conservative community, the national issue of liberal views vs. conservative took center stage at the St. Tammany Library Board of Control meeting on Tuesday night in Slidell, where growing opposition to sexually-oriented books in parish public libraries, all available to under aged children, has hit the proverbial fan.
The issue began three months ago when a 67-year-old grandmother in the parish, Donna Bonnoitt, learned about displays set up in three St. Tammany Parish public libraries, promoting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual (LGBT) PRIDE month.
With the support of several other conservative friends, the group identified what they said are over 130 books in St. Tammany public libraries that promote the gay and lesbian lifestyle, transgender changes, and books teaching a multitude of sex acts to young people. They also claim there are books supporting pedophilia with adults and children.

Bonnoitt referenced a book called “Lawn Boy,” which Bonnoitt said is about “explicit sexual content and adult sexual content with a 10-year-old boy,” while also noting a book named “SEX—A Book for Teens.”
There are no restrictions on any books in the public library system, confirmed Library Director Kelly LaRocca, acknowledging that any book is available for anyone of any age.
“The library has material for everyone, and it is up to the parents to monitor what their children see,” she said.
Bonnoitt asked what the process was for a member of the public to remove a book from the libraries, so she attended July, August and September meetings of the Library Board, specifically asking for certain books to be removed. To date, those requests were denied.
On Tuesday night, the battle moved to the latest meeting of the Library Board of Control, held at the Slidell branch on Robert Boulevard, where the maximum number of people allowed in the room exceeded 100, most of whom were there to speak out against the books.
While no action was going to occur on any books, the Library Board was only obligated to listen to a long list of public comments, most of which asked for some kind of restrictions on access, not banning books.
“Pornographic books are available at the library, both here and for download,” said Kathleen Benefield with the Louisiana Family Forum. “From our perspective, many of these books could be considered prosecutable since they involve minors and adults. The presence of these books is attracting people knowing pornography is here, as well as children.”
“This is inappropriate sexual material for kids,” said Candace Mallard. “We trusted our library to pick the right books and now we see books supporting transgenders, which have an 82 percent chance of considering suicide. Why would we support such a thing for our kids and for the library system to proselytize our kids for this?”
Most of those in opposition to the books did not advocate for bans, but asked for restrictions in an adult section, requiring parental approval for those under 18 years of age.
Joanna Minor noted one book that was called, “I am Jazz,” which “is a story about a boy, who at age two, supposedly knew he was a girl. That is preposterous!”
With each speaker limited to three minutes, Connie Phillips did a rapid-fire presentation with pictures showing images from some books, which included gay interaction among young men, as well as graphic language from the book she read to the audience. It included other information about masturbation, sex toys and more.
“This board has this on their agenda and have ignored us in our requests to remove these materials,” she said.
LaRocca explained that all the books in the library are chosen by patron request—36 percent of the library books—and then the majority of other books brought in by a panel of only three people she has hired, with no public input or oversight.
“They are professional librarians with Master’s Degrees who try to have books for all interests,” she stated.
On the criticism of allegedly pornographic materials in the parish libraries, LaRocca flatly claimed, “we do not have any pornographic collections in our system.”
Among the many on hand Monday night there was much dispute about that with books such as “Gender Queer,” “Lawn Boy,” and “Sex: A book for Teens” that included, “masturbation and kinky sex topics,” according to Bonnoitt.
LaRocca said that her concern with removing any books, or even putting restrictions on them, is that the Library Board could face first amendment legal challenges. And perhaps preparing for that, one of the agenda items that drew questions from the public was when the board approved money “for possible legal challenges” if any of the books led to those issues.
LaRocca was asked directly if she believed any books should have restrictions in the library.
After declining to specifically answer, a second request to answer the question led to her comment of, “we would be open to have a discussion about that,” and then added, “the real point here is that it should be up to parents to monitor what their children are seeing.”
She added that any kind of censorship would bring up potential free speech issues and lead to legal ramifications for the parish library system.
“The library is about free speech,” she added. “But maybe all this controversy means someone shows up here and checks out a book. That would be a good thing.”
Bonnoitt and a growing group of parish residents said the fight is far from over. With Parish President Mike Cooper and Parish Council appointing the seven-member board, the opposition to the open availability of what they call pornographic books may soon move to seeking changes in the board.
“There is no system right now for any oversight to what these three people pick for the entire library system,” said Bonnoitt. “We want a template about how to know what books are coming to the library system. And then we want to see what is in the public schools.”
LaRocca said that in the past two years there have been no books removed from the library for any reason.
Among the small number of opponents to any change, one speaker named Tamara Murray told the board, “I’m sorry these Christian bigots are making your job more difficult.”
Kitty Carmody, a longtime Slidell resident, also said she was concerned with any censorship since, “that can become a slippery slope.”
However, no attendees at the meeting called for banning any books, but rather, supported restrictions for younger individuals to view them.
Other criticism at the meeting surrounded the board’s vote to approve potential dollars for legal advice if the issue led to that.
“So, you are considering using taxpayer money to defend your position against what the taxpayers are saying they want?” asked Slidell Councilman Trey Brownfield.

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