Concerned citizen Jennie McCormick-Killian, standing at left, displays a cover image from the young adult novel being discussed at Friday’s meeting of the Bellaire Public Library board. Jade Peterson is shown on right.
The Bellaire Public Library in Antrim County.
BELLAIRE — Nearly 40 people attended a library board hearing in Bellaire Friday morning to discuss if, when and where LBGTQ-themed books should be offered to library patrons — particularly those under the age of 16.
The impetus for the public meeting at Forest Home Township Hall was a patron request to remove an LGBTQ-themed book called “Heartstopper” from the library.
Library Board Chair Mary Edens said the stated purpose of Friday’s hearing was to gather input on the book removal request, which could then be shared with the board’s three-member policy committee for further review.
Despite that admonition, the audience comments quickly veered away from book removal to a more heated debate about which books should be restricted for adults only.
“If we drop off our children (at the library), there’s a chance they will have access to sexual content,” Jade Peterson said. “Maybe there needs to be an area with a red rope around (those books). I think a lock box behind the (library staff) desk also might work.”
Peterson later called one of the “Heartstopper” books “crap,” adding that she did not have access to sexual content at libraries when she was growing up.
Other commenters said that giving children access to “sexually explicit” material could cause “psychological suffering” and damage a child’s “developing mind,” eventually leading to an addiction to pornography.
“When I was trolling the young adult section of the library, I found books that no one should be reading,” said Deborah Robb, 30, of Bellaire. “Pushing moral degeneracy is really alarming. … how do you justify that?”
Area resident Lee Whipple said talk of book banning and restrictions is a “red herring” meant to distract attention from the real issue at hand.
“I think that homosexual relationships between teenage boys is not the norm in our culture,” he said. “I’d ask you, would you put in the library a similar graphic novel about a boy and a girl who are engaged in a sexual relationship presented as a positive thing and a norm?
“I think most parents wouldn’t want that.”
OPPOSING VIEWS
Much of Friday morning’s debate centered on the role of parents in supervising what their children read, as well as free speech protections in the U.S. Constitution.
Edens reminded the audience that there’s a fundamental difference between a public library and a school or university library. “Schools are expected to act ‘in loco parentis’,” she said, using the Latin phrase for “in the place of a parent.”
Schools also “are subject to Title IX responsibilities,” she noted, adding, “Public libraries are not the same.”
Mike Ierulli of Traverse City spoke out against any type of book bans or restrictions, saying that one parent or group of parents should not decide what others can read.
“Freedom is in danger,” he said. “Book bans are overwhelmingly targeted at marginalized groups, such as people of color and the LGBT community. Children deserve a change to understand the world around them.”
Daniel Olson echoed that view, saying that parents have a right and responsibility to decide what their own children can read – but not others.
“I went to see the ‘Heartstopper’ books myself and I was impressed,” Olson said. “They’re much less explicit than some people are saying. I have to wonder why this particular series is being targeted.”
Single mother Kalico Casady, who helped organize an online petition against book bans and restrictions in Bellaire, attended Friday’s hearing with her two children.
“I homeschool my kids and the library is an invaluable resource,” she said. “My daughter has read all five ‘Heartstopper’ books. They talk about really important issues like bullying, friendships and eating disorders.”
“It’s absurd to call them ‘garbage’ or ‘grooming’ (materials),” she added, noting that she is “a proud member of the LGBT community.
“If we restrict books like ‘Heartstopper’ we’re really sending a message that (LGBTQ) people are inherently wrong.”
PLACEMENT & ACCESS
The Bellaire public library is relatively small with one full-time and six part-time employees.
Back in early October, area resident Jennie McCormick-Killian objected to one of the “Heartstopper” volumes being displayed on an end cap in the young adult book section of the community library.
At the time, Library Director Tom Shilts, 61, agreed to move the book in question away from the front display to a shelving area about 20 feet away.
Subsequently, McCormick-Killian launched a petition drive on Change.org urging the library to restrict access to the “Heartstopper” series to those who are at least 16.
On Friday, Shilts said the library is “supposed to be a mirror of the community,” not a censorship board or parental authority. “While we do our best to organize our collection by age group, I can’t read other people’s minds and I don’t feel comfortable making decisions for other people’s kids.”
In response to a suggestion to put “objectionable books” in a lockbox, library board member Sydney Luke said: “For me, it sounds like (they) are trying to transfer consent from parents to the librarians.”
Shilts, who worked as a children’s librarian in Okemos, Michigan, for many years, said that it’s rare for anyone under the age of 15 to go into the young adult section: “I’d say about one per week – at most.”
TADL EXPERIENCE
Michele Howard, director of the Traverse Area District Library, said she’s seen only one removal request in the last five years and that was regarding a documentary video about a mass shooting in Australia.
The requester was referred to a form on the library’s “collection development policy,” which is on the tadl.org website. In this case, Howard said, the requester understood why the documentary was added to the collection and dropped the request.
About two years ago during June Pride Month, someone checked out all of the LGBTQ-themed books on display, which prevented others from reading them. However, that person eventually returned the books to the library.
More recently, someone was “hiding” or relocating non-fiction LGBTQ books at the main library branch on Woodmere Avenue. They were eventually found.
“Now we’re on the alert for those type of things,” Howard said. “It’s our job to offer materials on a wide range of topic and interests. I think it’s a violation of the First Amendment to ban or restrict some types of books because someone doesn’t like them.”
For example, Howard said, she doesn’t like Stephen King novels and some people don’t like Harry Potter books, but there are plenty of other choices available.
Furthermore, she said, parents cannot “drop off” unaccompanied children under the age of 12 at TADL libraries.
TADL does run a “Queer Tales Book Club,” but no one under the age of 18 can attend unless accompanied by a parent, she noted. Meanwhile, the Bellaire Public Library board is expected to meet again in mid-December to receive input from its policy committee on the “Heartstopper” request.
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