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| From: CoolCat Catalog |
By Gretchen Garrity
The State of Idaho is fighting hard to keep libraries safe for children. And they've had a legislative win in an ongoing legal battle. Read about it HERE. Idaho passed a law last July that requires removal of material that meets legal definitions for being harmful to children. From the article:
"Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador said he was pleased with the judge’s decision.
'I am pleased the court ruled that Plaintiffs are unlikely to succeed on the merits of this case and are also unlikely to prove that Idaho’s law protecting minors from harmful material in schools and public libraries is somehow unconstitutional,” he told the Idaho Capital Sun. “While the case itself was not dismissed, we will continue to defend Idaho’s law as this process continues.'”
Meanwhile, the Christian County Library continues to provide access to books like the following:
"Sex Plus: learning, loving, and enjoying your body," by Laci Green. Located in the teen section (aka "Young Adult"), the book is described on CoolCat thusly:
“This groundbreaking book from sex educator and YouTube phenomenon Laci Green has everything you’ve ever wanted to know about sex, sexuality, pleasure, and your body.
Prologue: Clitical thinking – Your genitals – Periods – The care and keeping of vaginas – sexual identity – Gender identity – Body Sexploration – Kink – Relationshipping – Dating violence – Epilogue: Why we need sex ed."
Next up is "Trans Teen survival guide" by Owl and Fox Fisher. It's located in the Ozark teen section.
According to the description on CoolCat:
“So you’re trans? – Gender roles are dead – Telling the world (or not!) – What do I call you? – Being you (whoever that is) – Dysphoria: the monster – Puberty and how to cope – Hormone therapy – Genitals, parts, junk: what suits best? – Surgeries – Dating as a trans person – Awkward trans tales – Dealing with the media – Documenting your journey – Don’t get mad, get even! – More than just trans – Self-care and how to help others – Hopes for the future – Resources and cool people – Appendix: Young trans kids and how to support them – Glossary"
Here are the tags. Notice the recommended ages--8 to 16.
And then there's "The Passing Playbook" by Isaac Fitzsimons, located in the Nixa, Ozark, and Sparta teen sections, and recommended for ages 12 and up.
The description:
“Fifteen-year-old Spencer Harris is a proud nerd, an awesome big brother, and a David Beckham in training. He’s also transgender. After transitioning at his old school leads to a year of isolation and bullying, Spencer gets a fresh start at Oakley, the most liberal private school in Ohio. At Oakley, Spencer seems to have it all: more accepting classmates, a decent shot at a starting position on the boys’ soccer team, great new friends, and maybe even something more than friendship with one of his teammates. The problem is, no on at Oakley knows Spencer is trans—he’s passing. So when a discriminatory law forces Spencer’s coach to bench him after he discovers the “F” on Spencer’s birth certificate, Spencer has to make a choice: cheer his team on from the sidelines or publicly fight for his right to play, even though it would mean coming out to everyone – including the guy he’s falling for.”
The next selection is "Meet Cute Diary" by Emery Lee, recommended for ages 14 and up and located in the Nixa teen section.
The description on CoolCat:
Noah Ramirez thinks he’s an expert on romance. He has to be for his popular blog, the Meet Cute Diary, a collection of trans happily ever afters. There’s just one problem; all the stories are fake...When a troll exposes the blog as fiction, Noah’s world unravels. The only way to save the Diary is to convince everyone that the stories are true, but he doesn’t have any proof. Then Drew walks into Noah’s life, and the pieces fall into place.”
And then the final selection: "Cemetery Boys" by Aiden Thomas. This book is located in the Ozark teen fantasy section and is recommended for ages 13-18.
“Yadriel, a trans boy, summons the angry spirit of his high school’s bad boy, and agrees to help him learn how he died, thereby proving himself a brujo, not a bruja, to his conservative family.”
Not only is transgender advocacy a theme in "Cemetery Boys," but so is the occult. These books are just a few of the selections that came up on a simple search in the CCL.
THE ADVOCATES
These are the books that groups like U-turn in Education and the National Council of Jewish Women St. Louis: Right to Read Coalition are suggesting should be available to all, regardless of the rights of parents and the protection of minors. The NCJW is partnering with U-turn in Education here in Christian County, and recently sent an activist to speak at a library board meeting.
You can view the NCJW's considerable NGO connections at Data Republican. NCJW is almost 35% taxpayer-funded.
Among the issues that the NCJW champions is abortion access, bathroom equity rights for students, gun control, LGBTQ+ rights, sports equity for transgender athletes, separation of church and state, and economic justice.
The NCJW's Form 990 for 2023 states their purpose is to serve the St. Louis community: "Community service and membership: Each year, more than 2,000 NCJW volunteers log over 10,000 hours to touch the lives of more than 10,000 St. Louisans."
However, their "Right to Read Coalition" is a statewide endeavor: "We oppose attempts to restrict access to public and school libraries. We have confidence in trained, experienced librarians and educators to evaluate and select materials available to the public."
I wonder if the Coalition would be so firm in their trust if they were exposed to some of the hundreds of books freely accessible to minors in our library. Should a librarian's right to evaluate and select books for minors trump parent rights, community values, and the right of children to be protected from age-inappropriate and sexually explicit books and materials?
It seems that groups like U-turn in Education and the "Right to Read Coalition" are saying the right of adult activists to force accessibility of certain books is more important than the right of children to be protected from said books, as well as the right of parents to curate what materials a tax-payer-funded entity provides to minors.
As has been said countless times, this is not about banning or censoring books. It's about book boundaries. It's sensible, it's moral, and it meets the needs of the whole community, not just activists with an agenda.
