Student Opinion: Public Libraries Should Stay Public

By Eleanora Glick

During celebratory months, many libraries put up displays to highlight writers that focus on topics that are being recognized during that month. At the Davis public library, I have seen displays for women, people of color and of course people who are part of the LGBT community. However, in communities there are people who clearly do not want certain books out there. Even in public libraries.

This year, Adrianne Peterson, manager of the Rancho Peñasquitos branch of the San Diego Public Library, put up a Pride Display to highlight books about being LGBT. The display was highlighted with a Pride flag. While the display was not very big, it was big enough to make people upset. Ms. Peterson received an email from two residents, stating that they had checked out all the books from the pride display and would not be returning them unless the display and all of the books were permanently removed. The email stated that “Flags, signs and book displays based on how adults experience sexual attraction and gender identity have no place in an open and public space for children.”

Some of the books that were removed included, The Rainbow Parade by Emily Neilson, a book about a young girl and her mothers going to visit a Pride Parade for the first time, Gay Rights by Tina Kafka, a book providing information and statistics about the queer community in the United States, and Pride: An Inspirational History of the LGBTQ+ Movement by Stella Caldwell, a book that focuses on important history events in queer history such as Stonewall, the HIV/AIDS crisis and influential people such as Harvey Milk and Marsha P. Johnson.

After the San Diego Union-Tribune reported on the protest, residents of San Diego banded together to donate multiple copies of the books that had been checked out. The library system received donations that were matched by the city, in an effort to fund and enhance programs directed at education and support programs for the LGBT community.

The council member representing Rancho Peñasquitos, Marni von Wilpert, was quick to support the library during the protests, asking the community to help the library’s effort to rebuild the display and replace the books that were being held ransom. Von Wilpert is the first Democrat to represent the suburb of Rancho Peñasquitos, traditionally a conservative neighborhood that has been seeing a shift into more liberal views over the years.

The perpetrators, Amy M. Vance and Martha Martin, refused to comment and have not been heard from. It was later revealed that the text of the email that they sent was identical to a template that was posted by a right-wing group called CatholicVote. Despite the name they state that they do not speak for any individual bishops or the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

This group has promoted a campaign known as “Hide the Pride”, a movement that encourages those to move and check out books about LGBT topics. In a PDF, the group stated that they should “reclaim the public library” and includes a list of instructions on how to remove the books from public libraries, including a suggestion to have multiple people help so that someone can “be on the ready to film for the duration of your time at the library, in case any staff give you trouble”. Some of the books on the list of books they need to remove are: It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health, by Robie Harris, Pink is for Boys by Robb Pearlman and We are Okay by Nina Lacour. They are not only removing books about being queer, but perfectly normal books about sex education. The books on this list are said to “push eroticism, glorify LGBTQ identities, undermine parental rights, and are 100% against the Church’s teaching on love and sexuality.”

Luckily, thanks to the massive donations and the matching of that donation from the city, the pride display was replenished and fixed. Now, children and adults can now have access to the books. Oh and the books that were removed? They were revealed to have been returned.

Some people think that it’s not that big of a deal, it’s just books right? However, the public library is a massive resource for people that need information. I used to go to the public library that we have here in Davis every week. I used to work with my mom and a language tutor there and when I was there, I would go and check out books. I remember getting so many books and reading them like crazy. I used to love getting Calvin and Hobbes, manga as I got a bit older, and my favorite book to check out, the Red Cross Handbook on First Aid (I was a bit of a weird kid). The public library has always been an amazing source for everyone. Even if you don’t like some of the books in the library, you are not obligated to check them out. There are thousands of books, available to anyone and that’s the way that it should stay. Libraries should not be politicized since they have information for everyone, regardless of your race, gender, age, sexual orientation or political ideology. Not all content at libraries is appropriate for children, but it’s not the library’s job to police what other people’s children read. It is also not the library’s job to determine what is appropriate for children to access.

Public libraries do not belong to any specific group of people. They are public because they are accessible to everyone regardless of who they are. Many people in extreme religious groups want the country to bend to the rules of their religion. There is no official religion of the United States because we have the freedom to choose and practice our personal beliefs. As citizens of the United States we have freedom of religion and freedom from religion. The library is not to be reclaimed by the Catholic Church or any other religion. The library is a public space for all and it should stay that way.