The battle over books in Livingston Parish libraries has dwindled down to one sore spot: A shelf.
For more than two years, the parish has been embroiled in debate over what some call inappropriate books for children. No books have been removed from libraries, but there have been frozen library cards, social media callouts and book removal attempts. And the Livingston Parish Library Board of Control has seen some of its members pushed out and replaced.
The latest development is a debate over the location of the new “Parenting Shelf.” The shelf, created by the board of control, holds books that are a combination of juvenile nonfiction and fiction that cover topics such as sexual education, drug abuse, grief, mental health, racism, puberty and more. The library staff, not the board, decides what goes on the shelf.
A meeting Tuesday night became tense when the discussion turned to the parenting shelf. Board member Larry Davis wanted to move it outside the children’s area to a neutral location near the front desk.
“We received a lot of good feedback from what I was looking at. Everybody loves the shelf,” he said. “The main thing that the parents called me about is that the books are at eye level, which is what we did not want.”
Davis said he was concerned about the possibility of a child roaming the area and grabbing a book that covers a sensitive topic.
Fellow member Dewanna Christian agreed that the shelf needs extra attention or precaution.
“What is the point of putting it on the shelf, if no one’s policing the shelf,” she asked.
But moving the shelf isn’t as straightforward as one may think.
Parish Attorney Brad Cascio advised the board in July that relocating books can face the same scrutiny as removing books.
“I would just warn you to be careful when relocating a book. Like I said, it’s going to be looked at the motivation for relocating it, where you’re relocating it, and it’s going to be looked at just as tightly and just as closely as if you took it off the shelves completely,” he wrote to the board.
Some don’t like the idea of the shelf at all.
Elise Leblanc, a Denham Springs retired English teacher, thinks the shelf defeats its own purpose. She said now all the books some people are worried about are in one central location.
“I think it’s ridiculous based on the Parish Attorney’s information and risky business,” Leblanc said. “It’s ridiculous to have all this commotion and stir up this trouble.”
Is the shelf censorship?
Currently, there is only one book under review on the parenting shelf: “Fire Safety” by Emma Bassier. Public records show a patron wanted the book to be placed back in the general children’s section.
Cascio, the attorney, has previously said that books that are not clearly for children can easily be moved outside the children’s area — but books that are meant for children should be placed in that section.
In July, Tulane University Law Clinic wrote to the board: “The potential policy of relocating challenged works pending review violates the Constitution because it removes protected works from the shelves… Federal courts have held that stigmatizing controversial books by relocating or removing them from circulation is a First Amendment violation.”
The rest of the board — and the public — was split on the idea of moving the shelf or giving it extra attention.
During public comment, board member Abby Crosby told the room it breaks her heart to “know that some of these children might stumble across something and they might think that it’s OK.”
Watson resident Mandy Pickering said she wasn’t originally in support of the shelf but believes the Watson branch has done a wonderful job with it. She even said during public comment that her friend in Ascension Parish wishes their libraries had something similar.
Pickering is against moving the shelf out of the children’s section, however, due to the possibility of it being unconstitutional. She and several other attendees said children 13 and under must be accompanied by an adult in the library, so parents should be able to steer their kids away from the shelf if they wanted to.
Jordan Gonzalez, a Denham Springs resident, said it’s important to learn and have conversations about the topics on the shelf, rather than shy away from them. He pointed out that there’s an age restriction on checking out books, so children will only be looking at books briefly.
“If my daughter is old enough to recognize a vagina on this page — ‘Daddy, what is this vagina?’ — then she’s old enough to learn what that is,” Gonzalez said.
Public commenters, including District 7 council member Ricky Goff asked if they could just raise the height of the shelf if it being eye-level is the issue. Board member Shalisha Labat said the parenting shelf is in the taller stacks of the juvenile section.
The controversy over books Livingston kicked off when former library board member Erin Sandefur, who is now a parish council member, shared she wanted to ban or restrict books about gender identity and an LGBTQ guide for teens.
For some in Livingston, the fact that there is so much controversy over a single shelf shows how people trying to ban books won’t take no for an answer.
“There was a community post saying it was a great idea, now it’s not good enough, now it needs to be moved,” said Amanda Jones, a Livingston Parish school librarian whose opposition to attempts to remove books got her national attention.
Jones said the parental shelf is not a problem “as long as the books aren’t all a catch-all for LGBTQ+ themes.”
Nationally in 2023, books about the experiences of LGBTQ+ people and people of color made up 47% of titles targeted for censorship, according to the American Library Association.
The debate has not been settled. The board majority voted to table the parenting shelf discussion until Nov. 19 — extending the shelf life of Livingston’s book control conversation.
This post was originally published on here
