York County Library board voted on books issue, but that wasn’t what the crowd came for
Nearly 30 people packed into a small room Thursday evening at the York County Public Library in Rock Hill, many hoping to sway library board members to move children’s books many find objectionable.
But people didn’t get their chance to talk.
Chairwoman Tamara Osborne told the crowd they would be able to address the board only on specific topics being voted that evening.
And even though “controversial materials” was on the agenda, Osborne said in an email after the meeting that those materials had nothing to do with moving children’s books — the topic many in the crowd had shown up to discuss.
A handful of the same people addressed the York County Council Monday, asking the council to relocate children’s books that deal with subjects related to gender identity and LGBTQ+ people. The request was that the books be moved to the adult section of the library.
“I do want to make it clear to everyone here tonight, since this is the first time we have ever had a audience at our board meeting, that there is not anything on our agenda tonight to discuss the movement of books from one section of the library to the other,” Osborne said.
The controversy came up earlier this month when Councilman Tom Audette asked for a review of children’s books. He said constituents had reached out to him regarding books in the children’s section of the library with content they considered sexually inappropriate.
Those who favor moving the books say that would put power in the hands of parents to decide what their children read. Those who want the books unmoved say the relocation is a form of censorship.
The council has no say where the library displays the books, Chairwoman Christi Cox told the crowd at Monday’s meeting. The council has the ability to cut funding to the library, but that issue has not been proposed.
The library’s vote on controversial materials coincided with Audette’s pleas, but Osborne said in the email, the library’s vote was coincidental and was intended only to update the form and policy if a patron disagrees with the selection of library materials. The focus was on the complaint and review processes, Osborne said.
Minutes from the March 9, 2023 library board meeting describe a “recent uptick in book challenges and the amount of time the staff-led committee has spent addressing the challenges.”
Osborne told the crowd the board already had discussed the controversial materials policy update at previous meetings and would not discuss the topic again. She told a member of the public not to interrupt the meeting after he asked “what is the policy?”
The board did not vote on any matters after hearing legal advice in executive session.
Before the board voted, two residents spoke — one saying she supported the library’s book choices for inclusivity.
“There are people out there supporting you that support your decisions that appreciate the diversity and the inclusion,” Erin FitzWilliam said.” My husband and I are very appreciative of the diversity in the books, and that’s the key.”
Another resident, Kathleen Haley, delved more deeply into the LGBTQ+ books.
“The larger topic in protest seems to be books related to gender identity and LGBTQ topics,” Haley said. “These are topics that people should have available to an age-appropriate audience who may be questioning their own identity and learning to empathize with somebody else’s lived experience.”
This story was originally published May 19, 2023 at 12:35 PM.
