You will want to listen to this 27-minute interview of intrepid advocate for children, Bonnie Wallace. She details what is going on in our libraries and schools, how she has been persecuted (but victorious), and about a lawsuit whose outcome helps public institutions protect children. No more excuses.
She notes that librarians are trained by the ALA, and how that training results in the kind of books that find their way into the children and teen sections of our libraries.
Here is the website she mentions that is an aid for parents looking to review books that may be in their children's school or library: RATED BOOKS. It is also linked in the sidebar along with other resource sites.
Incidentally, three of the books mentioned are listed in our library's catalog:
A Court of Silver Flames: Excerpts HERE. Warning: Graphic depictions of sex. Review HERE. This book is said to located (?) in the Ozark and Sparta "Fantasy." Fantasy is a genre. Is it also a location? Is this book accessible to minors in Ozark and Sparta? Is there a teen section for fantasy and an adult section? Very confusing.
All Boys Aren't Blue (a book that was challenged and retained by our library in 2023). You can access excerpts HERE. Warning: GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS of sex acts. This book does not belong in the hands or minds of minor children, yet it was retained in the teen sections of both Nixa and Ozark.
Gender Queer: Book review HERE and HERE. This book is said to be on display in Ozark.
“It drives everything behind the scenes. We don’t think about it, but it really does do that. And it also drives what happens when something goes wrong and how we react to things, be it, you know, a book challenge….our reactions are also driven by policy.” pic.twitter.com/X9NcAwDbEk
— Dan Kleinman @OccupyLibraries (@OccupyLibraries) August 13, 2026
Children deserve beautiful books. We are pleased to present https://t.co/AMPKFGbC0A
to make more of these beautiful books 📖 Traditional illustration,
wholesome stories, eternal virtues and writing that respects children
Since the big publishers won't provide quality literature for children, small publishers are filling the vacuum. Candlelight Art is just one of many independent publishers of quality literature.
The slop that passes for children's literature is not worth the paper it is printed on. If libraries continue to shelve the crap that the "Big Five" publishing houses incessantly push, the nascent demand for private subscription libraries will also grow.
Just walk into any public library. The children and teen sections are full of comic books, manga, graphic novels -- many of them prurient and of poor literary quality. Libraries are choosing to buy these materials. No one is forcing them to do it. The trained experts are putting these books in their public library shopping carts, and the taxpayers are paying for them.
But the Marxist ALA-inspired library revolution is fizzling out. And not a moment too soon.
— Dan Kleinman @OccupyLibraries (@OccupyLibraries) August 10, 2026
By Gretchen Garrity
When officials are unwilling for members of the public to expose the kinds of materials available to children in schools and libraries, you have to admit there is a potent agenda to destroy our society. It won't do to say or think, "It's not in my school." It is in your school and your library. And you cannot hide from it anymore.
Tyrants and revolutionaries always go for the children--the Nazi Youth, Mao's Red Guards and so on. Schools and libraries are vectors for indoctrination. It's not just desensitizing children to sexual themes like rape, incest, transgenderism, even necrophilia, but there is a large push of occult themes. Witchcraft, sorcery, necromancy are all common themes running through many books for minors today.
The goal is to degrade children, to affect their minds and emotions in ways that are difficult to overcome. The goal is to separate your children from you and your values so as to control and direct them. It isn't for kids "to see themselves in the library" as the ALA likes to aver. It's to infect them with a mind virus so as to make them easier to radicalize.
It's easy to see the effects--take a look at just about any college campus today. Ponder the mental health issues children and teens are dealing with today. Porn addiction is at an all-time high. Note THIS article, which states, "The explicit images, underlying messages, normative symbolic nature, and
sequence of sexual behaviours depicted in pornography can influence the
emotional, cognitive, and behavioural aspects of sexuality,
particularly when these aspects are not yet well established (). Similar
to the impact of excessive media use, pornography consumption can lead
to a time displacement effect. Instead of spending time in cognitively
stimulating activities such as completing homework or studying,
adolescents allocate more time to viewing internet pornography. As a
result, students' academic performance tends to deteriorate."
While the article details digital sexualization, public schools and libraries are full of books that include the same type of sexualization. If you don't believe me, take a walk through your local library branch. Head toward the graphic novel section, for instance. Pick up ten random books. Flip through them. This is considered "literature."
Here is one book currently in our library: Rookie on Love by Tavi Gevinson.
It's an anthology from a now defunct online magazine named Rookie. According to Kirkus reviews, it includes "diverse voices" of teen girl love, including transgender, queerness, promiscuity, and so on. Here is a video review of the book, which is located in the Ozark teen section (ages 12 and up):
And here is a NEW (2026) book that has been placed in the Children's Comic Book section of the Clever library. Arcana: the cursed fate describes how a "queer found" family fights generational curses. There is also the use of tarot cards and graphic paranormal depictions, according to Kirkus Reviews. The first book in the duology is Arcana: The lost heirs (2025), and is found in the Nixa teen graphic novel section.
As an exercise in finding out what is accessible to minors in our local libraries, click on the photo below of currently shelved books in Ozark teen section (makes the image clearer and you can enlarge). Then starting from left to right, look up the books one by one. By the time you finish the top shelf, you will see books that promote sexualization of minors, leftist political activism, and transgender ideology.
Dan Kleinman's article about being silenced for speaking out against explicit books in libraries, also details the remedy. Read the whole thing HERE. As he says, "Libraries are not required to treat a 10-year-old the same as a
40-year-old. They never were. The claim that they must do so comes from
ALA policy, not from the US Constitution nor New Jersey law. When boards
delete that policy and reclaim their own authority, the institutional
pressure to silence parents and dissenting board members loses its
foundation.
The power has always been local. It simply has to be exercised."
Trustee
Mary Hernandez de Carl resigned from the Christian County Library
District Board on June 30. Hernandez de Carl replaced former board
president Allyson Tuckness, whose tenure became contentious when
citizens were made aware of age-inappropriate and
sexually-themed books found in the children’s and teens’ sections
of the library.
When she first became involved with library activism, Hernandez
de Carl put together a binder (which I briefly laid eyes on) that
detailed some of the issues with books for minors. She spoke at board
meetings and met with other citizens, eventually being appointed to
fill Tuckness’ unexpired term. A former teacher
and a homeschool parent, Hernandez de Carl was involved in hiring the
library district’s new executive director, Will Blydenburgh.
When
she was attacked by the press and local activists, I defended her.
You can read about that HERE.
While I do not regret supporting her appointment to the Library
Board, it became clear over time that Hernandez de Carl had a basic
misunderstanding of the role of the library board, especially in
conjunction with the function and role of the library’s executive
director.
Missouri
statute directs
the governing authority of a library district to a publicly-appointed
board. The executive director is the employee of said board and is
responsible for day-to-day functioning of the library district, as
noted in statute.
Further,
the Missouri
Secretary
of State’s office outlines the legal authority of local library
boards:
"The
local
Library Board of Trustees
holds the legal authority to create, adopt, and change the policies
of a public library district in Missouri. [1,
2]
Under
Chapter
182 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri (RSMo),
library districts operate under a system of local control. The board
functions as an independent governing body to oversee the library's
operations, finances, and rules. [1,
2,
3,
4]"
As
detailed in other articles, previous Christian County library boards
had given governance power over to administrative staff. Once given
away, authority is difficult to take back. This issue is not just a
problem in public libraries, but also in public schools and other
local boards. Board positions become less about governance and more
about rubber-stamping what administrative staff determine is best for
a taxpayer-funded institution.
Perhaps
Hernandez de Carl was not aware of the work involved, especially as
relating to a library district that had given up some statutory
authority to paid staff. She was appointed to the library board
partly to make sure the library was following state and federal
guidelines regarding the protection of minors. During her short
tenure on the board of trustees, she was appointed to the policy
subcommittee to help facilitate a coherent youth collection policy that
protects children and provides a safe place for them to access
age-appropriate books and materials.
The subcommittees were formed to provide a systematic approach
to policy-making and to provide transparency. Subcommittee findings
and recommendations would be shared with the library board,
discussed, amended, and eventually voted upon in an open meeting. Instead
of working within the parameters of the subcommittee (composed of two
board members, at least one staff member, and the board attorney),
Hernandez de Carl worked independently of the subcommittee with
staff.
She was replaced on the policy subcommittee by board member
Kristin Roussell at the May 2026 board meeting. As a portion of her
parting address, which she prefaced as “honest reflections,” Hernandez de Carl accused
board members of blaming the executive director for legacy problems
that have carried over. Indeed, she blamed other board members for
delaying progress in the library.
Perhaps she does not remember that in the December 16, 2025 board meeting, she advocated for a pause on deciding policy. According to the Springfield Daily Citizen, "Treasurer John Garrity nominated Roberts to serve on the budget subcommittee and Mary Hernandez de Carl to the policy subcommittee. Hernandez de Carl, who advocated for a temporary “pause” to some subcommittee proceedings, voted in opposition to these changes.
“(Executive director Will Blydenburgh) has been here for three months. We still don’t have a strategic plan for what the next three years are going to look like, and you know, I think he needs, together with the library staff, to develop the strategic vision … and once that is established, we can see if it’s necessary for these meetings to continue to go on,” she said.
Policy development was paused for months. I am not aware of the development of a strategic vision for the library to date. This
is a small example of why she seems to have a basic misunderstanding
of the division of roles and responsibilities of a governing board
versus administrative staff. Changing the culture of an institution
is difficult. It requires vigilance and adherence to guidance that
has been agreed upon by the governing authority—in this case the
library board.
That
decision has caused many months of delay in passing a policy that the board of
trustees—not
administrative staff--is
statutorily tasked with formulating. The irony of
accusing the library board as a whole of delaying progress while engaging in it
herself, is just sour grapes.
It
appears that when Hernandez de Carl did not get her way regarding how
to handle policy development, she felt justified in attacking the
board as a parting shot. Much of what she said was questionable, including
equating the intention to protect children with a political ideology.
Protection of children from harmful materials is not an ideological
stance. It is a normal, natural human stance. Here is an interview with her from a year ago.
It
was as if she completely forgot why she got involved and was
appointed in the first place. When a heinous book, Sibylline,
was added to the teen collection in February of this year, Hernandez
de Carl was quick to suggest the book should be formally challenged.
The executive director was made aware of the book at that open
meeting.
The book is now listed in the Nixa branch under “Nixa
New,” which does not really indicate a clear location designation.
Why would it not be listed under the “Adult” designation? Is the
“Nixa New” a display? If so, where is the display? Do
minors have access?
Of
course Sibylline is not the only book pushed out to minors in libraries. There are hundreds of them, such as “Rookie
on Love” by Tavi Gevinson. It’s in the Ozark teen section. Here
is a review of that book by Florida high school English teacher and
champion of protecting children, Vicki Baggett:
In
fact, three months ago, David Rice of Hick Christian, submitted 70
book challenges to the Library District. When I spoke with him in June, he still had not received an acknowledgment.
In
her praise of the Library's new executive director, Hernandez de Carl did not mention
the protection of children from harmful materials. She merely opined
that the Christian County Library collection now provides a
“thoughtful curation and respect for the interests of our
community.” She
completely failed to note that age-inappropriate books including those with sexual
and transgender-driven themes are still being added to the
collection, while hundreds of already-shelved books remain accessible
to minors.
Hernandez
de Carl accused the board of “micro-managing,” “second-guessing,”
“unnecessary interference,” and “distrust.” Quite a litany of
accusations. Where is the evidence to back them up? She presented
none. And, she brought a political slant to her comments, noting that
the “Libs” had seemingly abandoned the library perhaps as a way
of giving the “Conservative Right” time destroy to themselves. NOTE: I
will add the video of her comments when it becomes
available. Scroll to the 34:00 minute mark:
Most
people, whether Democrat or Republican, desire to protect children
from harm. It is the iron grip of hard line Leftists (like the ALA)
who are intent on indoctrinating children with age-inappropriate and
sexually-driven materials.
Hernandez de Carl cannot have it both ways. Either the Library has made significant progress since the new executive director was hired as she averred at the beginning of her remarks, or her accusations of "unnecessary interference" and delayed progress against the Board are true.
If
she had truly believed what she said about the Board, Hernandez de Carl should have
brought her accusations to the Board as the governing authority and
laid out her arguments. Instead, she chose to publicly berate the
Board. What she really did was expose her own inability to work as a
team member with the Library Board.
BREAKING:
The Rutherford County Library in Tennessee voted 8-3 in favor of FIRING
library director Luanne James after she refused to move over 100 books,
including LGBTQ and DEI books, from the children's section to the adult
section.
It's worthwhile watching the video with the sound off at first. The reactions of those who are advocating for sexually explicit and age-inappropriate books are angry, loud and well-organized in their purple shirts.
This is not about the First Amendment or the so-called "freedom to read" or the fake "Library Bill of Rights," or censorship or banning books.
It's about indoctrinating children. Note that the books are still available in the adult section for those parents who are desirous of exposing their children to certain books. The opposition does not care that the books are still available in the library. They WANT ALL CHILDREN TO BE EXPOSED TO THOSE BOOKS. They want to force your children and grandchildren to be exposed to them, regardless of content, age appropriateness, and social indoctrination.
If this was not a very important battle, the Marxists and social justice warriors would not fight so hard.
School librarians are not “trusted experts” for children. 👧
Here is another reason why, from a mom of six.
“Freedom to Read Act” is from American Library Association—it sets school librarians as trusted experts. Do not sign that into law and repeal the others.
— Dan Kleinman @OccupyLibraries (@OccupyLibraries) March 16, 2026
By Gretchen Garrity
When libraries shelve and promote age-inappropriate materials, they contribute to harming children. Recourse for parents is often dismissive and burdensome. Sexualizing children is deeply evil and it should be readily identified as such. Introducing minors to gender ideology, sex and sexual situations before they are emotionally ready, and before their parents have consented, isunacceptable in taxpayer-funded organizations.
In a recent article, Dan Kleinman of Safe Libraries notes, "This
ongoing conflict underscores a core reality: as the Supreme Court has
affirmed, parents are the primary protectors of their children's best
interests and possess the fundamental constitutional right to direct
their upbringing and education without being shut out or overridden by
schools or public libraries.
Opponents,
however—a powerful vocal minority—have framed parental objections to
sexually explicit materials available to children as censorship,
successfully influencing policy in many districts and states to
effectively override family oversight regarding curriculum, access to
sexually explicit materials, and exposure to politically driven agenda
initiatives."
Recently, two Christian County Library Board members suggested that parents should be filling out challenge forms to alert the library to inappropriate books after the book Sybilline (discussed HERE and HERE) was exposed at a public meeting. The book was published in February. To his credit, the executive director also noted that speaking to staff could serve the same function.
As Kleinman notes, "Public schools and
public libraries place sexually explicit illustrations and text in front
of your children and require you to fight to protect your child from
accidentally seeing it."
Are librarians not trained to curate their collections in a manner that protects children? Why must citizens, who pay the salaries of these trained staff, be the ones to ferret out and object to sexualized and age-inappropriate books?
The reconsideration policy and forms are not designed to protect children or parents' rights. They are designed to retain books in the library, regardless of content. If you have ever filled one out and turned it in, you know what happens. See HERE. The book is almost always retained with reasons such as the book has been checked out recently, the book has numerous positive reviews and awards, the publisher determines age-appropriateness, one must not discriminate, and so on. At best it is a stall tactic. At worst it is meant to let parents know in no uncertain terms that the library knows best and you are to go away and let the experts get on about the business of the library.
The American Library Association (ALA) is so invested in the unquestioned authority of libraries to be the arbiter of appropriateness that they even have a confidential support form:
The ALA considers restricting access or relocating a book to the adult section as censorship or banning. It is neither, since no books are being suppressed (either in part or whole) and the government has not banned the book. These books are widely available at bookstores, online, etc. The argument has been successful in the past, but the courts are taking a second look and deciding that taxpayer-funded libraries have a right to curate their collections without forced exclusion or inclusion. Recent court decisions are also beginning to acknowledge and defend parental rights.
The ALA remains adamant that "the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction" is a right that extends to children. Again, insisting that children have a "right" to be exposed to depictions of sex (of whatever kind), genitals, transgender ideology and so on is evil on its face.
In his article referenced above, Kleinman also writes, "Constitutional Parent's Rights appear
to be placed as secondary to a child's "right to read" which is not a
right at all, but a suggested library policy by the American Library
Association. "Freedom of Information," does not override Parent's
Rights, either, also a suggestion from the ALA, however public libraries
use both policies to potentially violate Constitutional rights of
parents with regard to children's education and development."
The Missouri Public Library Trustee Manual, which relies heavily on ALA ideology, provides a sample reconsideration policy HERE (page 76). It is very similar to the ALA sample reconsideration policy you can find HERE.
You can find the Christian County Library reconsideration form HERE.
On page 25 of the state trustee manual it states, "Trustees must recognize the right of citizens to question board actions and be willing to listen and explain the policies of the library. The board should offer an open, concerned image without accommodating censorship demands. [Bolding added] Have a simple procedure for the board to use when dealing with material challenges. The library director should be the first person that meets with the patron and receives the complaint. If the matter is not satisfactorily addressed by the director, then the library board is next in line to receive the complaint."
Again, the accusation against citizens is one of censorship. And again,
censorship involves government suppression, in whole or part, of speech
or writing. Neither is happening just because a public library decides
to curate its collection and abide by laws protecting children. And the Missouri trustee handbook flat out states that the library should offer a sense of concern "without accommodating censorship demands." It should be noted that the Missouri trustee handbook is not law. It promotes guidelines. No individual Missouri library must enforce or endorse them.
A library must take into consideration their patrons, including those who are minors and the laws governing their protection. Here is a portion of the Christian County Library policy on censorship. Although the board formally disassociated from the ALA, the LINK to a censorship policy differs from the updated materials policy that can be linked HERE. It should be updated to reflect the deletion of the policy below.
The fact is, the curation of library collections is primarily with those selecting, approving, and buying the books.
Book reconsideration challenges are used to identify
who objects to the books and how many times they submit objections. They
are performative on the part of the library. In essence they are written struggle sessions. To suggest a public library is incapable of properly curating a children's collection in accordance with laws designed to protect minors is also an insult to staff. Although parents are the lawful arbiters of judgment regarding their children, librarians who adhere to state and federal statutes regarding child protection would be generally in alignment. If there is a need for additional training, the executive director and board should make sure it happens.
Parents and other patrons should not have to scour the children's section to protect them from age-inappropriate and sexually explicit materials. Children should be allowed to remain free of such things in a library--the place where a world of knowledge, truth, and goodness should await them--not indoctrination, sexualization and degradation.
Instead of using reconsiderations as a 'gotcha' moment it would be a welcome surprise if the library took seriously the implementation of an updated collection policy. At the moment it is a pity reconsideration challenges could become a common avenue of collection curation, and not the library performing due diligence to protect the community's children.
Over three years ago, members of the community became aware that age
inappropriate and sexually explicit books were being shelved in the
Christian County Library's children and teen sections.
Appealing to the library board was ineffective. An uproar occurred,
resulting in several town hall events sponsored by the county
commission.
Citizens were
activated and began taking a closer look at how these books were
finding their way into our library system. At the top of the system
is the American Library Association, which works closely with some of
the biggest book publishers. Together, there is a tight system of
promoting agendas that run counter to a healthy culture that protects
children.
The publishers seek
out authors who are willing to produce books that often amount to
smut, and this blog has exposed many of them. Additionally, the ALA acts as the
arbiter of professional library training through their accreditation
monopoly, along with dozens of spin-off organizations that all
undermine a commonsense culture of protecting children.
The result: hundreds of age inappropriate books are marketed to children and
teens and made freely available to them, often right under
unsuspecting parents’ noses. At one point, it was noted that at least 400 such books were
shelved in our district’s four library branches. And the books keep
coming. Even if the books were all restricted/relocated today, book
purveyors are working hard to make sure more are coming down the
pipeline.
Due to the uproar, the
county commissioners took back the appointment process and began
vetting candidates for the library board. This resulted in a complete
turn over of the board during the last couple years. Three of the
five current board members were all previously active in advocating to
protect children from exposure to sexually explicit books.
How well have they
accomplished their goal? While there have been some gains such as
disassociating from the ALA (which still has a large influence), and updating the bylaws to better reflect library governance according
to statute, much remains to be done.
How many sexually
explicit books have been restricted or relocated? What is the
collection policy for children’s and teens’ books? Does it reflect state and federal law? Has the staff
been trained to review books before they purchase or do they simply
continue to rely on organizations like the ALA, various publishers and
reviewers? Are books bought in lots or bundles without review?
I ask these
questions because yet another sexually explicit book, just published in February 2026, has been
purchased and shelved in our library. That book is titled Sibylline.
It is described five times in the online catalog as “Juvenile
fiction.” The publishers originally marketed this book for ages
14-17, but the outrage among reviewers who received advance copies of
the book was such that the book is now being marketed for age 17 and
up. An incremental concession by the publisher.
There is at least
one copy in the Ozark library’s teen section (ages 12-17). The book
contains the rape of a minor, explicit sex, a 'threesome', and 'adjacent'
necrophilia. Let me explain. The teen was described as not breathing,
as motionless, as dead. That he was found not to be dead pages later
is little consolation to the non-consensual nature of the sex scene.
The comments at
Goodreads
are hard hitting and unusual for a secular review site. And here is a
short discussion of Sibylline with Allie Beth Stuckey and Anne Sey of
Library4kiddos.com.
At a January strategic planning meeting, the library's Executive Director Will Blydenburgh planned to begin formulating an updated collection policy. His idea was to present at the February meeting a portion of a collection policy--the introduction and scope. He promoted the idea of presenting to the board a collection policy in "chunks" on an ongoing basis. "Maybe
we can do another addition, you know, whether it's March or April.
We'll see where we stand. But we'd get started in February for that
meeting," he said (advance the video to about 59 minutes).
That
did not happen. What happened was an assertion the collection policy
was being worked on, but there was no draft of even the beginning of a
policy. What did happen amounted to a diversionary tactic: the
presentation of an Amazon Wish List that citizens could access to buy
and donate books to the library. Video HERE (advanced to the 1:05:00 time stamp).
The thing is, AI can write a collection policy in seconds, formulated and geared toward the needs of Christian County. It could be tweaked and polished, added to or corrected in any manner.
I know because I did it. Choose any AI program you want to, add in any applicable laws and so on. Indeed, there are many well-written collection policies that are ALA-averse and easily available. I believe the library board is aware of at least one or two.
So, the question must be asked: Why is a collection policy taking a year or more to formulate? Why are drafts going to be provided in "chunks" while books like Sibylline are still being purchased by library staff and shelved where children have access?
We have a new library board,
and a new executive director who has been on the job for seven full months now. And still the vile sexually explicit books
are being purchased with taxpayer funds, shelved in our library and made available to minors.The book
Sibylline has been checked out. Your child may be reading it right now.
The Library's bylaws state in Art. VIII: "The Board of Trustees has the following powers and responsibilities:
●Policy Setting: The board establishes library policies, including rules for the operation and use of library facilities and services in coordination with the Executive Director."
There were subcommittee meetings in March and April of 2025 that discuss formulating a policy for the children's collection. It is worth giving a listen to HERE and HERE. The groundwork was being laid. It has since been laid to rest, apparently.
It's a shame the library board is dithering--unable or unwilling
to do the job they were appointed to do in a timely manner. Meanwhile, children have unrestricted access to books like Sibylline. More such books are undoubtedly en route.
There is a library board meeting tonight at 6 p.m. The agenda does include a "Collection Development Policy Update" under Old Business.
At their Feb. 24, 2026 meeting the Christian County Library Board of Trustees
voted down a motion to limit mobile hot spots to one for each library branch. Treasurer
John Garrity* began looking into mobile hot spots at the
library when he saw the annual cost for them, anywhere from over $20,000 annually to the current cost of around $18,000.
There are 45 mobile hotspot devices, according to the library's Feb. 21, 2026 Verizon billing record. Six are not being assessed charges for whatever reason and seven have charges although there is zero data usage. One hotspot is designated as a staff device.
The
Board packet (which you can access HERE)
beginning on page 25, details information the treasurer shared with other board
membersfour
weeks before the meeting, as well as
library staff’s executive summary beginning on page 29.
Public comments included arguments both for and
against the mobile hotspots. The video
below should be prompted to just after the
9-minute mark. After the speakers are
finished, there is discussion surrounding the mobile hot spots. Please note the speaker in favor of the hotspots owns her own home, owns at least two smartphones between family members, runs a business out of her home and widely travels the state.
According to the library staff's summary there were 329 total checkouts of
mobile hot spots last year (334 if you go by the 2025 annual report). Hot spots are checked out at four-week intervals.
If you divide the 329 checkouts by 12 that comes out to about 27.4
checkouts per month. The library's online checkout shows 34 devices available for checkout. Taking into consideration the nearly $20,000 it takes to maintain and pay for the hotspots, that means each hotspot is costing the library about $480 per year.
In
a county of 96,000 citizens the library's mobile hot spots are
serving a mere .348%
of the population, some of whom may be library staff. Less than half
of one
percent of Christian County citizens
are receiving free internet at a cost of almost $20,000 annually for
taxpayers. If you figure that, like the speaker, some mobile hotspots are
being rotated in one
household through two or more library cardholders, that means the
number of individual households served is even less.
As mentioned earlier, there are currently seven devices the library owns that are using zero data. They may be broken, stolen, lost, or misplaced, yet the library continues to pay monthly fees for them. This was noted in the Feb. 24 meeting. I believe the staff is researching this issue.
And, according to an employee assignment record I obtained through a sunshine request, there were three hotspots checked out to employees for remote work in 2020 and 2021 during the Covid time. From the record it appears they have not been checked back in, though the employee record may not have been updated. The equipment descriptions do not fit the monthly invoice designations, making it impossible to determine if these hotspots are currently in use. The latest February Verizon bill notes a $40.01 hotspot charge for "Christian Co Staff 3" with usage of .506GB. Usage for that staff hotspot in the months of January and December include 1.302GB and 1.501GB respectively.
I
also made a sunshine request to the Library,
asking how many unique users requested the mobile hotspots for a
several-month time frame. The Library responded by saying they would
have to create a new record to give me that information, and
therefore the request was denied on legal grounds.**Board Vice President Kelli Roberts also asked that
question of Executive Director Will Blydenburgh at the Feb. 24
meeting. It was not the first time that question has been asked. The
extremely limited reach of these mobile hotspots
is a major equity and accessibility issue, as
other libraries have noted.
The Grand
Rapids, Michigan Public Library system, with an annual budget of
$15.5 million is phasing out their mobile hot spots. They will be allocating the funds
elsewhere. According to the article, "'Despite
the large financial investment, the reach of the collection is very
limited,' Library Director of Marketing and Communications Katie
Zychowski wrote in an email to News 8."
The Grand Rapids library also noted how many unique checkouts they had in 2025. "During fiscal year 2025, the hot spots were checked out 869 times to 490
people. GRPL calculated an average yearly cost of about $183 per user." The Michigan library openly shared the number of unique users. They clearly saw the financial implication and equity issues.
Rotating
checkouts in one household is a problem in libraries, as you can see
in the following conversation on Reddit titled “Hotspots
are our nightmare”:
The conversation on
Reddit roams widely on the problems of providing free mobile
hotspots to patrons. What was
not thoroughly discussed in the meeting was the use of filters on the mobile
hotspots. Note the following from the Reddit conversation:
The CCL does not have filters on the mobile
hotspots, which means the library has no control over the usage of their electronic devices once checked out. The mobile hotspots were only recently moved to the Library of Things and limited to adult checkout. Depending on which
organization is tracking internet usage, from 10-30% of
all internet usage can be attributed to viewing porn. Additionally,
these unfiltered hotspots could be used for any number of criminal activities.
Let's next address the apparent need that mobile hotspots serve in rural areas and for low-income citizens. The staff-compiled summary listed several reasons that hotspots should be continued.
They noted the rural nature of parts of Christian County, with broadband service being limited (though it is being rapidly expanded). It is useful to note that cell phone towers are also being quickly erected, and that most areas of our county have 100% or close to coverage of either fixed or mobile broadband. As indicated in the treasurer's report, the need for pandemic-era mobile hotspots for rural areas has passed for the following reasons:
Pandemic policies are no longer in effect
All four library branches are open and provide free wi-fi
Almost universal smartphone market penetration (91% of adult ownership nationwide)
Virtually 100% of smartphones include hotspot hardware as a native feature
Free wi-fi in Christian County is widely available at restaurants and retail shops, and is more reliable than mobile hotspots. If your phone's wi-fi goes down, so does the mobile hotspots.
5G is widely available in the county's major hubs, and is improving in rural areas through state-funded grants. Several 5G radio towers are slated for completion in early 2026 to eliminate any remaining dead zones.
There are several government and low-income internet assistance programs for the truly needy, and many of the major providers also offer programs to assist customers with different options.
To summarize some of the issues:
Major equity and accessibility issues for taxpaying Christian County residents. Mobile hotspots serve less than one half a percent of citizens in Christian County.
If the library attempted to provide mobile hotspots strictly for residents below the poverty line, only 4% (about 8,000 in poverty in CC) of the truly needy would have access to the library's mobile hotspots if all of the checkouts are those in poverty and are the same number served in 2025.
Residents in under-served areas are fast approaching full coverage for internet service through expanded broadband programs, new cell towers, as well as satellite internet.
The number of actual served citizens is less if one takes into account the common situation that some households check out hotspots on a rotating basis, thus cutting equal access even further.
The annual cost to maintain mobile hotspots is nearly $20,000, which breaks down to about $480 per device per year.
None of the mobile hotspots at the CCL include internet filtering.
Seven of the devices are costing the library monthly charges, but are seemingly unaccounted for and showing no data usage.
Additionally, from the employee assignment sheet, it looks as if three mobile hotspots were checked out to the Christian County Healthy Department on Dec. 17 (there is no year noted), but have not been marked as returned.
The question really comes down to the library's financial focus and overall mission.
Should a library's focus include providing free internet service in homes?
Is it financially feasible?
Can taxpayer funds be better utilized elsewhere in the library?
Are all library patrons being served equitably?
Since public libraries such as the St. Louis and Grand Rapids libraries are phasing out the Covid-era mobile hotspots, this issue should be revisited at the Christian County Library. Providing free internet to an extremely limited number of citizens may not be the best use of library funds, especially when there is a diminishing need.
The library board has financial and ethical responsibilities on behalf of all citizens of Christian County who are served by the library district. The library cannot be "all things to all people," but it can provide excellent library services that reach as many people as possible with the taxpayer funding provided to it.
**It is questionable whether the library can refuse to provide extracted information from an existing record.
According to AI (GROK):
"[U]nder Missouri's Sunshine Law (Chapter 610, RSMo), requesting certain data extracted or pulled from existing records is generally not considered "generating a new record" that the public governmental body is required to create from scratch. The law requires agencies to provide access to existing public records but does not obligate them to create entirely new records that do not already exist.Key points from the law, court decisions, and related guidance:
The Sunshine Law mandates that public governmental bodies provide access to and copies of existing public records (as defined in § 610.010(6), RSMo, which includes records retained by or for the body, whether written or electronic).
Public bodies are not required to create new records in response to a request. This principle is clearly stated in Missouri case law, such as Jones v. Jackson County Circuit Court (162 S.W.3d 53, Mo. App. W.D. 2005), where the court held that the law "does not require a government body to create a new record upon request, but only to provide access to existing records held or maintained by the public governmental body."
Similar guidance appears in summaries from the Missouri Attorney General's Office and other official resources, emphasizing that agencies must grant access to what they already have but are not compelled to compile or generate new documents solely for the requester.
However, there are practical nuances, especially with modern electronic records:
If the requested data can be easily extracted or generated from an existing database or computer system (e.g., running a simple query or report that pulls information already stored), some interpretations argue it may qualify as an "existing record" rather than creating something new. For example, legal analysis from sources like Spencer Fane (discussing governmental hospitals) notes that if a spreadsheet or output "could easily [be] generated from existing records in the database," there is "at least an argument" that it counts as an existing record, particularly if producing redacted originals would be more burdensome.
In such cases, agencies often produce the extracted data as the most straightforward way to comply, especially when it's low-effort and promotes transparency (the law is to be liberally construed in favor of openness per § 610.011).
If the request requires substantial new compilation, analysis, summarization, or creation of a novel document (e.g., a custom report requiring significant manual effort or new calculations), agencies can generally decline to create it and instead offer access to the underlying raw records.
Agencies can charge reasonable fees for research time, search, and duplication (§ 610.026), which may cover the effort to pull data from databases.For the most accurate application to a specific request, review the exact wording of your request and consider consulting the agency's custodian of records, or—if denied—the Missouri Attorney General's Office (which handles Sunshine Law complaints). The full text of Chapter 610 is available on the Missouri Revisor of Statutes website for reference."
