The Daviess County Public Library on Wednesday approved adding a new optional library card level that would restrict juveniles from checking out any material not in the juvenile section. DCPL Executive Director also provided an update on her review of the nearly 250 books that were “audited” by a community group, and she detailed the thorough process she’s using. During public comment, nearly 20 people spoke and overwhelmingly showed their support for the library and the materials it provides to all readers.
Due to the number of people wanting to speak, the meeting kicked off with public comments. A total of 17 people spoke, including library workers, community organization leaders, former teachers, and other citizens simply wanting to voice their support for DCPL’s actions. To watch the full meeting including public comments, watch our Facebook Live stream here.
DCPL Young Adult Librarian Sarah Jacobs said she has overseen the library’s young adult collection for the last 8 years. She explains the term “Young Adult” is a genre of writing specifically published for ages 13 to 18.
“To determine which young adult books to add to the collection, I look at book reviews produced by professional journals, such as School Library Journal. These reviews are written by trained professionals who consider a book’s literary quality, its theme and how likely it is to appeal to its intended young adult audience. I also look at whether a book has won awards or been added to ‘Best of’ lists,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs added that she wants young adults to be able to read books that reflect their family’s values, and her goal is to find a book that is right for every reader — noting not everything will be right for everyone.
“There is no one book in our young adult collection that is right for every reader. I believe that families are capable of deciding for themselves which books are appropriate with the understanding that, as librarians, we will always be there to provide information and recommendations when asked,” she said.
Jennifer Vogel is a member of the American Association of University Women. Vogel said that following the book review request made by the Daviess County Citizens for Decency (DCC4D), she created a petition to show support for the library and calling for the books to remain in their respective sections, also saying parents should decide what their children can read.
Vogel said that the petition garnered 1,916 signatures — between virtual and physical — from residents of Daviess County.
“I felt really passionate that it was not up to any one group to say what books are here and what books that we have access to,” Vogel said.
In mid-August, the DCC4D group said it completed an “audit” of books in the teen and juvenile sections of the Daviess County Public Library and “uncovered a combined 248 titles that are inappropriate for developing minds.” DCC4D claimed the 248 titles contain imagery or text depicting sexual activity and sexual orientation, profanity, and controversial racial commentary, among other topics they deemed inappropriate.
In a release, DCC4D requested that Waller be fired immediately, all titles on the list be removed from the juvenile and teen sections (and relocated to the adult collection), and policies be changed to follow the group’s outlined “library expectations.”
Waller has since been reviewing the titles listed by DCC4D. Following the close of public comments in Wednesday’s meeting, Waller read a lengthy statement about how she is approaching the book review process.
“I have a personal awareness, as a parent myself, of the difficulties parents face when trying to uphold their family’s values in a world of content with potentially differing values. But the concern that was presented before us is not one of differing points of view, it is whether the library is making available obscene material to minors,” Waller read from a statement.
She said the obscenity law states that to be deemed obscene the content must meet the following criteria:
“1. To the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the predominant appeal of the matter, taken as a whole, is to prurient interest in sexual conduct; AND
2. The matter depicts or describes the sexual conduct in a patently offensive way; AND
3. The matter, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”
Waller said she is consulting with other professional librarians, comparing DCPL’s shelving section to other regional public libraries, reading articles for and against a specific book, looking at any awards earned by a book, and looking for “concrete facts” as to any damage that may have occurred from reading the content.
Waller said at the core of the review process, she is looking at the full context of the passages and asking if the purpose of the content as a whole is only to titillate or elicit sexual arousal.
Waller said, due to the “ands” stated in the law, “I believe the definition of obscene cannot be met in most of the books I have so far reviewed.”
“Teen life can be provocative. Many of these titles are based on an author’s own experiences. There is discussion of abuse, violence, sex, drug-use, discrimination, consent, responsibility, and empathy. Most times the intent is not to arouse, but to educate and prepare a young adult for this world (one that many of them will be voting in and potentially going to war for in just a couple of years),” she read from her statement.
During public comments, the last speaker, Darin Tapp, said he was not against banning books or censoring people, and suggested that the library implement a rating system similar to movie ratings.
During her statement, which was prepared before the meeting, Waller said a rating system is not something that should be left to an individual library
“There has been a request to rate the material in this library. This request is more fitting for a larger, national conversation than one for a local public library,” Waller said. “Until there is an industry-standard organization, like the Motion Picture Association of America, that can rate books without a political or religious agenda, we will be unable to identify the content of everything we have on our shelves. And we cannot use our own personal, moral judgement as such. If you ask us to do so, you are asking us to put aside our professional and non-partisan ethics. Everyone’s boundaries are different; therefore, the onus must be on the individual.”
During her statement, Waller also recommended a new limited access card that patrons can sign up for. With that card, juveniles would only be able to check out media from the juvenile section.
The board approved the new card unanimously, but Waller said it could take a couple of months to implement the new access level because they have to code each of the items in the juvenile section — which includes upwards of 60,000 pieces of material.
Waller previously stated, and confirmed again during an interview after Wednesday’s meeting, that she has finished reviewing all the books in the juvenile section that the DCC4D group requested be relocated to the adult section. She recommended those books remain in the juvenile section.
Waller added that she’s reviewed about half of the books in teen section that the DCC4D group requested be reviewed. She said she is waiting until the full review is complete before recommending whether there be any changes.
