Controversial proposals for Corpus Christi library will not proceed at this time

Proposed changes to how the city selects, moves or removes books from Corpus Christi’s public library shelves won’t move forward at this time — and the subcommittee formed to review and possibly make suggestions on the policies has been disbanded.

The proposals were not sent to Library Director Laura Garcia on Friday, when a procedural issue led to a deadlock in a vote by the nine-member library board that may have advanced recommended changes to the library’s collection development policy from a split subcommittee.

The Collection Development Policy describes criteria for which books are in the libraries – those that are added to circulation, moved to another section, or withdrawn entirely.

The four-member subcommittee created to review the policy had been immediately split — two of its members recommending no changes or any significant changes to the existing policy, and two members wanting significant revisions.

Among the recommendations of a subcommittee member had been to issue specially designated cards to minors that would prevent them from checking out books with certain sexual content.

It was described in an example of the proposed policy as including “obscenity, sexual conduct, sexual intercourse, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender difference.”

The change, if ultimately passed, would have been a significant departure from current library policy, which allows any cardholder to check out any book.

It was believed as of Wednesday that any recommendations — both to maintain or adjust current policy — would be sent to Garcia for review, if forwarding them to the library director was approved by a majority of the library board.

However, board members were informed Thursday that because there had been no consensus among subcommittee members, none of the recommendations would go through a subsequent review process by city staff — a development seen alternately as a victory by those who wanted no changes and a disappointment for those who did it.

It was good that “the decision was made not to proceed,” subcommittee and library board member Jennifer Anderson wrote in a message to the Caller-Times.

“Without consensus, I feel this was the only logical next step,” she wrote. “Honestly, as a group, I think we have more important work to do.”

The Library Board is advisory and has the ability to make recommendations related to library operations and policies, according to city ordinances. However, it is up to city staff to either accept or reject recommendations.

The debate

The debate about who is responsible for what minors access or borrow from public libraries has been going on for months.

Supporters of the restrictions have said some controls are necessary to protect minors from what they have described as sexually explicit content, and some advocate moving some books from the youth section to the adult section.

Resident Dana Posey, who addressed the board Friday, said youth must be protected.

Describing herself as “a voracious reader”, she had encountered what she said was sexually explicit content in a library when she was young.

“I’m 61 years old and I still remember how it made me feel – it didn’t make me feel good; it left me with an ugly feeling,” she said. “I was confused because I didn’t understand why it was there. “

Others have singled out efforts to redirect books to other parts of the library as a potential first step against censorship, and a move that would curb parents’ authority to make their own choices about what their teens or children read.

Some have also alleged that books including LGBTQIA+ topics have been specifically targeted at some of the library board members.

The dispute has drawn the public to both city council and library board meetings, with emotional and sometimes charged comments from stalwarts in both camps.

Some have strongly suggested that efforts are underway to ban books, while board members who have been advocates of moving some books have said the intent is not to ban them but to move some from the young adult to the adult section.

Resident Catherine Cox, speaking to the library board on Friday, referenced Ray Bradbury’s classic “Fahrenheit 451,” describing it as a dystopian novel where “books are all considered heretics.”

“There is something truly absurd about the zeal to ban books in our country and here in this community,” she said. “The situation would be comical if it weren’t so tragic.”

What the subcommittee said

The subcommittee and library board member Alice Upshaw Hawkins, who had recommended no changes to the policy, said after the meeting that no vote represented “a win.”

Referring to proposed upcoming budget cuts to the city’s libraries, she said it doesn’t make sense to “take up valuable time from library staff to take this to the next level … and burden them with something that is an acceptable document.”

She also referred to several recommendations from some of the other subcommittee members to eliminate certain verbiage from the fundraising development policy.

“To remove the word ‘democracy’ and to remove (the words) ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ is an affront to our political state,” Upshaw Hawkins said.

The subcommittee and library board member Joan Carrillo — who had approved some of the recommended changes — said it would be discussed with city officials if there was another way to move the recommendations forward.

It may also be reviewed next year, she said.

Carrillo had recommended that the proposed cards for minors would prohibit the loan of books with “obscenity, sexual behavior (and) sexual intercourse,” but allow the check-out of books with topics such as “sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender differences (unless they have obscene content. )

The subcommittee’s work wasn’t a total loss, Carrillo said, because parents are now more aware of some of the content of books in the young adult section.

Developments during Friday’s meeting were disappointing given the time volunteered, subcommittee and library board member Melinda de los Santos wrote in a message to the Caller-Times after the meeting.

She added that it was disappointing “to listen to the public continue to accuse us of banning books or of not being sympathetic to the LGBTQ community.”

“I have many gay friends and they have shared their concerns about the sexually explicit books in the smaller section,” she wrote. “So what this tells me is that the public is still not aware of the list of affected books in our libraries, nor does the protection of our children seem to be a high priority.”

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