Bacon's Rebellion

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Another Skirmish in the Book Wars

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Dick Hall-Sizemore
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Botetourt County resident demonstrates her opposition to proposed restricted access to library by juveniles. Photo credit: Cardinal News

by Dick Hall-Sizemore

After hearing from residents in two meetings demanding that LGBTQ+ material be removed from the county library, the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors has come up with a suggestion that, indeed, would put parents in charge, but would create great inconvenience for everybody involved.

As reported by Cardinal News, the Board of Supervisors has recommended that the local library board adopt a policy requiring that all persons under 18 be accompanied by a parent or guardian while visiting a library branch. There would be an exception for 16- and 17-year olds who had written permission from their parents on file with the library.

The result would be a great inconvenience for parents of kids younger than 16 who are not worried about the materials in the library. Likely, those kids would end up reading less.

A better solution would be for those parents who do not want their children exposed to LGBTQ+ material to take on some responsibility themselves. Prohibit their children from going to the library or, as an alternative, accompany them to the library.

Fortunately, the Board of Supervisors has little authority over the library. As the county attorney noted, public libraries are overseen by the Library of Virginia. It seems that the Board of Supervisors may have been doing a little posturing.

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14 responses to “Another Skirmish in the Book Wars”

  1. Scott McPhail Avatar
    Scott McPhail

    ” As the county attorney noted, public libraries are overseen by the Library of Virgina. ”

    That’s news to me.
    Unless you are referring to this section of the administrative code
    “17VAC15. Library of Virginia (Library Board)
    VAC AGENCY NO. 15
    . . .
    It is authorized to prescribe standards of eligibility of local and regional public library systems to receive state aid and to allocate to such systems available state and federal funds. Code of Virginia, Title 42.1, Chapter 3. ”

    Here is a link to that part of the code ie 42.1 ch. 3 (Library boards generally.

    I believe someone is passing the buck

  2. LesGabriel Avatar
    LesGabriel

    The Code of Virginia states that among the responsibilities of the Library of Virginia are:

    6) To give direction, assistance and counsel to all libraries in the Commonwealth, to all communities which may propose to establish libraries, and to all persons interested in public libraries, as to means of establishment and administration of such libraries, selection of books, retrieval systems, cataloguing, maintenance, and other details of library management, and to conduct such inspections as are necessary.

    While this fits in with your remark that “public libraries are overseen by the Library of Virginia”, it is not clear to me that it has the ultimate authority over what local libraries decide to allow or disallow on their shelves.

    Perhaps someone with more direct knowledge could clarify.

    1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      I am just passing along what the county attorney told the Board of Supervisors. It was not the main focus of my story. Now that it has been called into question, I share the skepticism of you and Scott. Rather than being answerable to the State Library, local library boards have a great deal of autonomy, including the authority to “adopt such bylaws, rules and regulations for their own guidance and for the government of the free public library system as may be expedient.” https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title42.1/chapter2/section42.1-35/

  3. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    Tattoo their foreheads with a “This child is prohibited from LBGTQ+ material.”

    Maybe just “I am not curious (blue or yellow).”

    1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      Best suggestion yet. Only those of a certain generation will understand your second sentence.

      1. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        Ha chachacha, I got a million of ‘em! I’ve also solved the “diversity of thought” problem at Virginia state colleges and universities too.

        “It is a privilege to be invited to speak at Virginia’s institutions of higher education. There is a fixed speaker’s fee, regardless of subject or speaker’’s reputation, of $30,000 for a one-hour venue. Make checks payable to The Fund for William and Mary (for example)”. Win-Win.

    2. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      In Virginia, people have to be at least 18 to get a tattoo without parental permission.

      1. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        Not a problem in this case. Remember who’s doing the limiting.

        Actually, the kid should be asked to sign an agreement attesting that s/he has parental permission. Don’t worry about minors signing contracts. They sign student loan contracts all the time and they’re enforced.

  4. f/k/a_tmtfairfax Avatar
    f/k/a_tmtfairfax

    How to address access to age-inappropriate materials in a public library, while avoiding censorship is a complicated issue. First, we need to examine whether we truly mean that there should be no prohibition of books or other materials in a public library based on content. How about books that explain how to create a ghost gun? How to hit your spouse/significant other without leaving marks? Why [fill in the blank] is an evil religion whose believers should be eliminated. A film showing a late-term abortion. Why [fill in the blank] race/ethnicity is inferior? I suspect many people would strongly object to many of these or other similar materials being purchased with tax dollars and available in a public library. Ergo, we don’t really mean that we oppose all censorship in our public libraries. Let’s be honest with ourselves.

    Putting that aside, how does a public library address the issue of access age-inappropriate materials? At some point and when children reach a certain age, parents need to be responsible for what their children do and read. I’m not sure what that age is. Maybe it’s 16 when we allow teens to drive.

    We regularly impose restrictions on minors’ use of public facilities. Children under the age of X must be accompanied by a person 18 or older to use Y. If it works for the weight room at a community gym or public swimming pool, why not the public library?

    The ages where lines are to drawn needs an open discussion by public officials and residents of the community.

    1. Nathan Avatar
      Nathan

      I think movies are an appropriate comparison. If a child shouldn’t watch an x rated movie, why should they be exposed to the same acts graphically and explicitly portrayed in books?

      There was a time when it was commonly understood that sexually explicit materials were not appropriate for children, and parents didn’t need to police that restriction everywhere a child might go.

      What changed? Progressives.

  5. DJRippert Avatar
    DJRippert

    I know there are a lot of hardworking librarians. But there were a lot of hardworking blacksmiths at the dawn of the automobile era too.

    Sometimes technology disrupts.

    As digital banking progressed, the number of bank branches (per capita) in the US declined.

    https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/FB.CBK.BRCH.P5?locations=US

    As more and more people are connected to the internet, it seems we should need fewer and fewer physical public libraries. If virtual libraries were created, age verification becomes relatively easy. And the costs of maintaining physical public libraries could be diverted to other needs. Community meetings could be held at the local elementary school.

    But government never shrinks. It is a ravenous beast that seeks to consume ever more of the America’s wealth.

    Reagan was right …. “Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.”.

  6. WayneS Avatar
    WayneS

    A better solution would be for those parents who do not want their children exposed to LGBTQ+ material to take on some responsibility themselves. Prohibit their children from going to the library or, as an alternative, accompany them to the library.

    Yes!

  7. Nathan Avatar
    Nathan

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/07cda899380cc18d471de3e77c3ead228e01ef8f354ecef6067feb668cb1cb7b.jpg

    Let’s just understand why this has become an issue. It’s because of books like this that are used to proselytize LBGTQ+ to children.

  8. James Kiser Avatar
    James Kiser

    I think Playboy,Penthouse and other sexually explicit material should be available in all libraries for children to read and they should also offer movies to children such as Debbie does Dallas to check out.

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