Status of books called ‘frustrating’
Dozens still remain accessible in library
By KEVIN CHIRISlidell news bureau
SLIDELL – Nearly six months since a new St. Tammany Library Board of Control was appointed, with the hopes by many to move sexually explicit books off the shelves and into a restricted section, frustration is growing from public officials and the public about the fact that little has been done to address the situation.A couple of factors could legitimately be pointed to for the early lack of action, even though Parish Councilman Jeff Corbin, who has shown great support for the work from Library Director Kelly LaRocca, claims “the problem has been fixed.”Soon after the new board was put into place, three ousted members filed a lawsuit seeking to be re-instated, claiming their First Amendment rights were violated. That led the District Attorney’s Office to tell the new Library Board to hold off on having any meetings for two months.
As the lawsuit dragged on, the board began to meet four months ago, but since that time, has not taken any serious action to address the situation.The “problem” started over two years ago when several parish moms discovered dozens of sexually explicit books in the 12 public library branches, mostly in easy reach of minors. Even the children’s section had many books supporting and educating about the gay, lesbian and transgender lifestyles.That led to an extended battle in the parish for nearly two years after a watchdog group was formed, named the St. Tammany Library Accountability Project (STLAP), which officially challenged over 150 books as being pornographic or containing sexually explicit materials. The request was to move them to a restricted section, not asking for any book bans as some media reported. The former board steadfastly refused to restrict anything other than about a dozen graphic novels that had pictures of people having sex.When the new board was appointed, it was expected that many of the challenged books would be deemed “sexually explicit,” and moved to a restricted section. Even a new state law, Act 436, was passed that supported such a move.However, a new section in the libraries called “New Adult” has instead been used for sexually explicit books, even though the section is still unrestricted from the public.Current library policy says that any challenged books must be read by a LaRocca-appointed committee, which then makes a recommendation to the full board about restricting it, moving it to a different collection in the libraries, or doing nothing.The former board passed a resolution in April of 2024 that stated all books in the previous Teen section should be reviewed for sexual content. However, the board also created the new Adult section, and even for books that have been found to have that content, they are not being restricted—only put in the Adult section. Even though LaRocca and Corbin believe they are “restricting” the books since children are not supposed to go there, the books could still conceivably be picked up by any minor who wanders into the unrestricted Adult section.Corbin said he believes the actions by LaRocca are commendable and added, “that has fixed the problem.” Since being elected last year, Corbin has defended the actions by the library director on many fronts, including a recent e-mail when he told her “Thanks for your continued service to our community.”For that matter, the new parish councilman said “I’m aggravated that we are still being told we haven’t fixed the problem. Kelly is adhering to the state law by putting them into the Adult section. If you don’t like the law, then why don’t you go and change it?”While Corbin acknowledges that some minors can wander into the new Adult section and find a book with sexually explicit materials, he puts the blame squarely on the shoulders of parents.“If you are worried about your child doing that kind of thing, then parent your child,” he said.New Board Member Carole Gillio said that one reason the board has not done more so far is “because we have so many books to review, and to do it according to current policy, it would take three to four hours per book.” Gillio said she is working on finding a way to “streamline the review process.”While there were over 150 challenged books originally, Gillio said she believes that number is down to 70 since LaRocca said they have reviewed many in the Teen section (soon to be called Young Adult) and moved them to the new Adult section.However, Parish Councilman David Cougle, who was the original private citizen who took on the fight before winning election to the council, said the real problem is that the current library policy is allowing the books to remain accessible.“We need to rewrite the policies and so far, no new board member has made a recommendation to do that,” he said.That led former STLAP leader Connie Phillips and Cougle to both suggest Slidell attorney Charles Branton, who has a Master’s Degree in Library Science, be hired as a consultant to come up with a list of recommendations for policy changes.“The Library Board has spent so much money in the past hiring all kinds of consultants so I don’t see any reason they shouldn’t be willing to hire Mr. Branton. He is very knowledge and experienced in these library matters,” Cougle said.Phillips was originally the person who filed dozens of the book challenges, and most recently said she continues to find new books with detailed sexually explicit story lines. The most recent one was “Red Hood,” which had graphic detail about a teenage girl having sex with a wolf, while she was menstruating.When Phillips brought the book to the attention of LaRocca, she said the board had not gotten around to reviewing it yet.“That is usually her excuse for so many sexually explicit books still sitting on the shelves,” Phillips said. “The truth is that Kelly LaRocca always has and always will be beholden to the policies of the American Library Association (ALA), which is on record as opposing any restrictions of books from children or minors.”Phillips believes the new state law needs toughening, perhaps with the power to fire librarians who know about the books and do nothing.“The library culture will not change voluntarily. As for me, I have completed my mission of exposing the agenda, but it’s not up to me to reform policy. I rang the bell for citizens of this parish, so now I am done with it and can only hope others will finish this,” she said.Parish Council Chair Arthur Laughlin agreed that more needs to be done to restrict the books from kids.“Even when you watch a Netflix movie it shows you what kind of content is there,” he said. “But we have books with sexually explicit material that kids can just wander in and find. Personally, I don’t want anything dangerous in the library for my kids, and I don’t want them finding books that teach them about sexuality.”
