Attempt to ban Corpus Christi book targets LGBT community
The library system continually adapts and provides resources to the community
The Corpus Christi public library system has faced challenges in recent years but continues to provide needed resources to the community.
Books with LGBTQIA+ representation are being targeted for bans in the city’s public libraries, posing not only the risk of censorship but also an attempt to erase a community, activists say.
During a two-month period this year, three of the four books requested to be relocated, restricted or removed by residents were books whose main character featured the LGBTQIA-plus community or that focused on LGBTQIA-plus issues.
These include a book called “Queer: A Graphic History,” which requested an age restriction and was found in the adult nonfiction section of one of the city’s public libraries, and a book called “What If? Answers to Questions About What It Means to Be Gay and Lesbian,” which was found in the young adult nonfiction section.
A request has been made to completely remove a children’s book entitled “Auntie-Uncle: Drag Queen Hero” from public library collections.
After review by a city committee, none of the books were removed, relocated, or access restricted. The committee concluded that all of the books met the library’s holding criteria and recommended that they remain in their place on the shelves.
The nine-member Library Committee was not involved in any of the decision-making processes. It does not conduct an initial assessment of applications and only hears appeals lodged by an applicant to contest the Committee’s original recommendation.
The applicants of the three books have not appealed.
But the leaders of two LGBTQIA-plus organizations said that while the applications had been unsuccessful, the attempts represented a dangerous sentiment directed against the community.
The problem some residents have with the books is that they can “bring (the LGBTQIA-plus community) to the forefront and help people understand them better,” says Jonathan Swindle, president of the nonprofit Pride Corpus Christi.
It was an attempt to “remove this from the public eye,” he added.
“For us, this is not a fad,” Swindle said. “This is our life and that’s why we will always fight for our rights and the comfort of living in our safe homes and either raising families or building businesses … and giving back positively to our communities and building better communities.”
Requested to re-examine
The website of publisher Simon & Schuster describes Eric Marcus’ book What If? Answers to Questions About What It Means to Be Gay and Lesbian as addressing “more than one hundred questions from real teenagers.”
“Whether you are curious about your own sexual orientation or want to understand and support someone close to you, this book contains a wealth of answers,” the publisher’s description states.
“Queer: A Graphic History” by Meg-John Barker and Julia Scheele is described on the publisher Icon Books’ website as a graphic novel that shows “the history of queer thought and LGBTQ+ action.”
“From identity politics and gender roles to privilege and exclusion, Queer examines how we came to view sex, gender, and sexuality the way we do; how these ideas are intertwined with our culture and our understanding of biology, psychology, and sexology; and how these views have been contested and challenged,” the description reads.
While possible relocation or removal of books can be reconsidered, there is no possibility to place an age restriction on a book as requested by the library card holder.
Librarians rely on parents to decide whether materials are appropriate for their minors, city officials said. Parents can choose to be notified via email of their minors’ current checkouts and borrowing history.
confidentiality
It was not disclosed who requested the restriction, relocation or removal of the books.
The reason for this is the confidentiality policy, city officials explained.
The names of the applicants are not available unless the applicant appeals.
In response to a public records request from the Caller-Times, city officials sent a letter to the state’s attorney general seeking comment on whether the Texas Public Information Act requires the applicant’s identity to be made public.
In the letter, officials cite a law that exempts the public disclosure of the name of a person who “has requested, received or used library materials or services.”
“The City claims that the information submitted represents information that identifies an individual who requested a library service,” the document states. “The City’s reconsideration form is intended to provide patrons with the opportunity to request the review and reconsideration of a material or service by the Corpus Christi Public Library.”
The requests for re-examination of the book have thrown a spotlight on the material, Swindle said.
“It sheds light on what you should get,” he said.
The Subcommittee
The Library Board recently established a subcommittee to review the Corpus Christi Public Libraries’ collection development policy, which establishes criteria for adding books to the collection and for retiring books.
Several of the newer members of the Library Board have expressed interest in the possibility of reorganizing the library’s book offerings by section, which could involve moving some books that they consider to contain inappropriate sexual content from the young adult section to the adult section.
Some of the library’s newer board members said there was no intention to restrict or remove books with LGBTQIA-plus-specific themes, adding that concerns were more about general sexual content described as obscene, which is currently housed in the youth section.
However, the powers of the panel are limited to recommendations, meaning that if there is an interest in changing the collection development policy, the library director would decide whether or not to accept the recommendations.
An overview of the collection development
Although the Library Board does not consider the initial reviews for renegotiations—and the subcommittee has not yet made recommendations on library collection development—dozens of local residents have attended recent meetings and expressed differing opinions on the fate of the four books that were requested for renegotiation.
According to Melinda de los Santos, the discussions in the subcommittee on collection development policy or on the suitability of books for young people are not about banning books.
While “the new board members were appointed by elected city officials in their respective districts in response to citizens’ concerns,” that does not equate to a book ban, she wrote in a statement read in part at the meeting she wrote earlier this month.
In a recent appeal hearing, the board unanimously supported a library committee’s preliminary recommendation to move Bronwen Pardes’ sex education book Doing it Right: Making Smart, Safe and Satisfying Choices about Sex from the juvenile section to the adult section.
The applicant had requested the removal.
The fact that the committee does not side with the applicant is proof of its intentions, says de los Santos in his statement.
“Our goal is not to ban books, but to support the library and elected officials in protecting our community, especially children,” she wrote. “Citizens are still unaware of the books affected.”
“Doing it Right” is an educational book, she told the Caller-Times, but added that there are books in the youth section with sexual content that, in her opinion, are aimed at seduction.
One reason the policy needs to be reviewed is because parts of it are outdated, said de los Santos. For example, there is a reference to the American Library Association that is no longer applicable following the Texas State Library and Archives Commission’s decision to split from the organization.
The subcommittee is also comparing the city’s library policies with those of larger peer cities in the state, including Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth, El Paso, Arlington, Plano and Irving, she said.
Reflection of a community
It’s no surprise that the majority of books requested by residents for reconsideration revolve around LGBT issues, said Robert Kymes, vice president of Pride Corpus Christi and director of the Coastal Bend Pride Center.
This is an expression of progress that takes “one step forward and two steps back,” he said – and there are some concerns about the publicity of the controversy unfolding in Corpus Christi’s public libraries.
“There will probably be as many people opposed to these books staying on the shelves as there are people for keeping them on the shelves,” Kymes said.
It is important to have books available that reflect a community, he added.
While the Pride Center has a library – which also contains questionable books – public libraries must also provide similar resources, Kymes said.
He said that they would like to continue to show their presence in the future, for example in the library committee and at city council meetings.
“We are committed to our LGBT community,” he told the Caller-Times in June. “We are making sure that resources like our library here at the Pride Center are accessible. We are making sure that we find allies to stand with us.”
More: This is how the Corpus Christi Library Board became controversial
More: Here are four books that have been requested to be removed or blocked from Corpus Christi libraries
More: The Library Board has voted on a motion to remove a book. Here is the decision.
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