York County councilman shouldn’t pick where kids books go in libraries, says new petition
A York County councilman wants some county library books moved out of the kids section because of content about gender identity and sexuality, but that effort has quickly attracted opposition.
The Herald reported Tuesday Councilman Tom Audette wants the York County Library to move books on gender identity and sexuality out of the children’s sections and into the adult section. Audette asked the council to address the issue.
His request was met Wednesday with a change.org petition to demand the council “stop all efforts to remove, relocate, require a special label, or in any way impede access to any book” in county libraries due to personal beliefs or opinions. As of Saturday, the petition had more than 400 signatures.
It’s the parent or guardian’s responsibility to decide which books their child borrows from the library, the petition says.
“We do not need Councilman Audette to unilaterally decide what should be in our libraries and where certain books should be located,” the petition states.
Efforts to obtain comment from Audette since the petition posted have been unsuccessful. The councilman said earlier in the week, when York County Council met, that an “astonishing” number of people had reached out to him with concerns about the books.
“I’ve got parents that are coming to me with kids and grandchildren that are extremely concerned about bringing their kids into the children’s section of the York County library because of this book content they’re seeing,” Audette said during the council meeting.
The Herald also asked readers for their opinion about what should happen. That online poll, which is not scientific, in the initial story asked readers if county libraries should leave children’s books on gender identity or sexuality where they are, ban them altogether or move them as Audette proposed.
That online question has received more than 740 responses. Of them, 92% of readers say libraries should leave the books where they are. Then, 4% each want the books moved or banned.
Not the first book controversy
Audette spoke specifically this week about books he said target children age 2 to 17. But the question he raised about which material should be available to young readers isn’t new, particularly to the York County area. Two years ago, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster called for an investigation into school library materials after a parent complained about titles in Fort Mill School District high school libraries.
The parent who filed the complaint stated at the time the move wasn’t about gender issues and that students need education and support on that topic. That complaint involved what the parent called sexually explicit material. After a review, the school district removed “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe from its high school libraries.
The American Library Association, a library advocacy group that dates back to 1876, said more than 2,500 books were challenged last year in its State of America’s Libraries report released last month. That was the highest attempted book ban count in more than two decades of tracking. Last year’s total is up 38% from the year prior.
Public libraries had the most challenges, at 48%, followed by school libraries at 41% and schools in general at 10%. Parents, according to the report, initiated 30% of the challenges followed by patrons (28%) and political or religious groups (17%).
Gender Queer was the most challenged book in the U.S. last year. Of the top 13 challenged books, all of them have sexually explicit material listed as a reason. Seven of them, including the six most commonly challenged books, also listed LGBTQIA+ or equity, diversity and inclusion content as a cause.
This story was originally published May 6, 2023 at 8:16 AM.
