Dozens of Athens-area residents turned out to an Athens Regional Library System Board of Trustees meeting to speak out against removing childrens’ books from shelves, although no removals were discussed by the board.
The Oconee County chapter of Moms for Liberty—a nationwide right-wing group initially formed to oppose mask mandates in schools during the pandemic—has been pressuring local libraries to remove books that center the LGBTQ community, although the group argues that its focus is on explicit depictions of sexuality in general. No one from Moms for Liberty spoke at the Jan. 18 board meeting, but about 15 people spoke against removing or reclassifying books in general.
Several speakers opposed a citizens committee to review library books. Such a committee was apparently mentioned by Moms for Liberty members at a recent Oconee County Library Board meeting where the board rejected requests to move five juvenile or young adult books dealing with LGBTQ themes into the adult section. But it originated with the Oglethorpe County Republican Party, according to the library system’s executive director, Valerie Bell. The Oglethorpe GOP invited Bell to speak at a meeting about the library system’s procedure for reviewing books.
The Athens Regional Library System has branches in not only liberal Clarke County, but surrounding Oconee, Oglethorpe, Madison and Franklin counties, which skew conservative. Each county has its own library board, and so does the five-county system as a whole. Challenged books are currently reviewed by a librarian with a graduate degree, then a committee of librarians, then a committee of the county library board. The county’s full board makes the final decision. Challenges are limited to five per quarter to avoid overloading staff.
Speakers said they feared that a citizens committee would have its own agenda. Decisions about stocking and placing books are best left to professional librarians, they said.
“They [Moms for Liberty] have absolutely no right to decide what my children read, or any other children, except of course their own,” Oconee County resident Lisa Mende said. Other speakers included Clarke County Board of Education member Mark Evans and Winterville city council member Tina Mills.
Chris Dowd of Athens Politics Nerd captured the meeting on video:
Bell said that when Oglethorpe County Republicans brought up the idea of a citizens committee, “I said I would look into it.” She told Flagpole that she is meeting with staff about ways “to make [libraries] a welcoming environment for everybody without limiting access to materials.” That would not mean labeling certain books or moving them into new sections, she said, but could involve a list of resources for parents to review materials. Staff and trustees would have to sign off on any policy change, Bell emphasized.
Trustees also discussed new guidelines for banning library patrons. Although trustees and staff danced around the issue, it clearly related to homeless individuals who frequently gather at the Baxter Street branch. “The behaviors are the behaviors,” Bell said. “We’re not looking at any one group of people.”
One person who seemed to be mentally ill was recently banned for urinating in public and other actions, Bell told Flagpole. Library staff are “trauma-informed,” she said, and a social worker is stationed at the Baxter Street branch for support, but there are certain things that staff and other patrons should not have to deal with.
The Jan. 18 meeting took place in a conference room at the unfinished new library in Oconee County’s Wire Park development. The old Watkinsville location has closed in order to move materials over to the new space, and the Wire Park library is scheduled to open on Feb. 3, Bell said. It will be a soft opening, she said, and a formal ceremony will be held sometime this spring when the weather improves.
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