Regarding Senator Gary Boswell’s recent editorial, it unfairly characterized the Daviess County Public Library and its director, Erin Waller, as responsible for the estimated $35,000.00 of tax dollars spent in reviewing and auditing materials at the request of the Daviess County Citizens for Decency (DCC4D).
The original book list is seven pages long and contains nearly 250 book titles. DDC4D used a site called BookLooks to rate books of concern. BookLooks is not an industry-recognized content rating system and was founded in 2022 by former Moms for Liberty member Emily Maikisch.
Dozens of the books requested for review by DCC4D do not appear to violate the “community standards” Mr. Boswell references in his editorial. Some example titles include:
- Lunch from Home: per BookLooks, it contains a character referenced with the pronoun “their” a
total of three times throughout the book. - Magnolia Flower: A historical fiction love story between an escaped slave and a Native American
(with no sexual content) - I Dissent: Ruth Bader-Ginsburg Makes Her Mark – BookLooks’ cited concern is a historically-
accurate reference to racism and a mention of the male-female pay gap
All three of these books, along with many others, were rated as a “1/5 – Lowest Concern” by DCC4D’s own preferred rating system, so why were they requested to be reviewed in the first place? In fact, of the titles originally requested to be reviewed, DDC4D continues to take issue approximately 40. Our library was forced to expend resources and taxpayer dollars for a trivial exercise in removing so-called “woke” content.
It is concerning that books written for children about topics such as the achievements of women and factual historical events like the enslavement of Black people are viewed as violating “community standards.” Additionally, DCC4D has stated they wish to defund events for Daviess County’s LGBTQ community. Our LGBTQ community pays taxes like everyone else – they deserve representation as well.
Written by:
Cheryl Field Brown, on behalf of Coalition for an Inclusive Daviess County
