Thank you to The Post and Courier’s editorial writers, for stating the obvious: Libraries “couldn’t ban books even if they wanted to; people can still purchase pretty much any book libraries refer to as banned.”
I’m tired of being called a book banner. I’m also tired of us being so polarized that we’ve lost all common sense. Sexually explicit material shouldn’t be accessible to children. It’s not political. It’s also not a “publicity stunt,” as your Sept. 3 editorial called the Charleston County Republican Party’s request that the Charleston County Library move “all sexually explicit books” from the children’s section of the libraries to a restricted, adults-only section.
About two years ago, I began researching the volume of sexually explicit books in our library, and I was shocked. It’s not rocket science — and you don’t even have to leave your home to discover it. Go to ccpl.org and type “sex” in your search engine. All of these books are accessible to children because children can check out any book they want. If they want to check out an R-rated movie, mom needs to give the OK and lift the “card restriction.” It’s ironic that Hollywood has stricter standards than our libraries. Read the ratings guide at filmratings.com. Then, check the content of a few of the books that just came up in your library search.
I couldn’t check out adult books in the 1980s, so when did this happen? I also had no idea what was on the shelves in the children’s section. I know, the library staff expects “parents to do their job.” I thought the library staff was doing its job and the books were cataloged according to age-appropriate content. Instead, books are catalogued based on publishers’ recommendations.
Living two blocks away, we called the library our second home. When my kids could finally walk to the library on their own, they loved spending afternoons at the new young adult section at the main library on Calhoun Street. They weren’t on phones; they were reading. I thought things were good. So when I learned the young adult section had become filled with filth, I wanted to help. Surely adults would agree we need to fix this, right?
First, I met with our branch manager, and I spoke to librarians. Next, I submitted a patron’s request for reconsideration. Then, the library’s review committee and the director denied my request. I wanted to appeal, but there was no appeal process. Finally, I met with Executive Director Angela Craig and Deputy Director Jim McQueen. I showed them graphic images and content. I even went to the police and showed them. They shared their frustration with the books. One officer suggested my best option was to find a civil attorney.
I naively thought if I shed some light on these books, the board and the library director would agree that they clearly don’t belong in the hands of children. Unfortunately, it was the opposite. My request to make Nikol Hasler’s book “Sex: An Uncensored Introduction” only available to young adults with parental consent would be “contrary to CCPL’s collection development policy, inconsistent with the mission and values of the public library as an institution, and impractical to implement.” At the time, there were only two copies of this book in the entire system. How could that be impractical to implement?
So I took Ms. Craig’s advice, and I went to the library board. I gave the board members a packet similar to the one I showed their director. In my two-minute speech, I simply asked board members to review their policies and procedures of selecting, cataloging and shelving books. I also asked them to review their patron’s reconsideration policy because it lacks due process. I heard nothing. In fact, our board doesn’t even have to rewrite its policies and procedures; the library board in Campbell County, Wyoming, has already created a policy for “Protecting Children from Harmful, Sexually Explicit Material in Areas Designated for Minors.” It’s accessible on the group’s website.
Fast forward to today. The Sept. 3 editorial said the burden of identifying books that we don’t believe the library staff should make available in the children’s section should fall on those of us who object to the books, but the library staff knows what’s on the shelves. I have a list that I started months ago. To ensure I wasn’t being unreasonable on what made the list, I went to booklooks.org, which provides a rating and provides copies of the content. After confirming the books were in the library, I only put those on my list that this site rated as 3 or higher on a scale of 1-5. That would be the filthiest of the filth.
Yet books keep coming in, and I can’t keep up. The authors keep writing, the publishers keep publishing, and our dedicated staff keep ordering, cataloging and shelving them. I’m happy to hand off the list to anyone who wants to take over from here. I’m also happy to help “relocate the books.” In fact, there are dozens of us willing to help. We just want libraries to be a safe place for children to explore like they used to be not too long ago.
Pam Kusmider is a former high school teacher in the Charleston County School District.
This post was originally published on here
