The Saline County Quorum Court on Monday recommended that the county’s libraries “relocate materials that are not subject matter or age appropriate for children, due to their sexual content or imagery, to an area that is not accessible to children.”
A state law signed in March allows people to challenge library materials they consider “obscene” and makes librarians legally liable for disseminating such materials. The Saline County resolution says the two libraries, one in Benton and one in Bryant, should “proactively take steps” to ensure children cannot access certain content in light of the new law. Resolutions do not create policy but are meant to guide future policy decisions.
The 13-member, all-Republican quorum court passed the resolution with two votes against it after an hour and 20 minutes of public comment from Saline County residents. Fewer than 30 people spoke out of the 50 that signed up to speak, and several more people gathered on the lawn outside the county courthouse and watched the livestream of the meeting on their phones.
Supporters of the court’s resolution said content pertaining to racism, sex and the LGBTQ+ community is “indoctrination” that should not be accessible to anyone under 18 years of age. Opponents said that the content in question reflects the community and that trying to restrict access to it is censorship.
“Let the library board do its job,” said Bailey Morgan, a former Democratic candidate for the quorum court. “Let librarians do their jobs. Nobody’s handing out inappropriate content to your kids. I promise you, this is a non-issue.”
The quorum court would likely be responsible for the final say on whether to keep challenged materials on Saline County library shelves or “relocate” them under Act 372 of 2023, which will go into effect 90 days after the session officially ends in May.
Act 372 opens the door for school and public librarians to be prosecuted “for disseminating a writing, film, slide, drawing, or other visual reproduction that is claimed to be obscene.” Arkansas’ definition of obscenity is “that to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to prurient interest,” with prurient meaning overtly sexual.
A committee of five to seven people selected by school principals or head librarians will be charged with reviewing the “appropriateness” of content challenged under the new law. The committee would vote on whether to remove the material after hearing the complainant’s case in a public meeting. A complainant may appeal the committee’s decision if the majority votes no; appeals at public libraries would go to the county judge or the county quorum court for a final decision.
Employees of public or school libraries that “knowingly” distribute obscene material or inform others of how to obtain it would risk conviction of a Class D felony, the law states. Knowingly possessing obscene material would risk conviction of a Class A misdemeanor.
Act 372 did not pass the House Judiciary Committee until it had been amended to say books would be relocated, not removed, if elected officials find them to be “obscene.”
Garland County librarians Katie Allen (second from left) and Tiffany Hough (second from right) watch the livestream of the Saline County Quorum Court meeting on April 17, 2023. Hough’s children, Maggie (left) and Molly (right), brought protest signs to the county courthouse lawn. The quorum court adopted a resolution encouraging Saline County libraries to relocate books that might be inappropriate for children, and the resolution drew more spectators than could fit in the meeting room. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)
Representation vs. propaganda
Other states have seen similar conservative-led pushes for “inappropriate” content to be removed from libraries so children cannot access them. In late March, Missouri’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a budget that would cut funding from all libraries in the state, a response to pushback against a 2022 law that made it a Class A misdemeanor for librarians or teachers to provide “explicit sexual material” to a student.
A county library system in Texas nearly closed due to a lawsuit over its refusal to remove books, some of which are about systemic racism, but system administrators decided earlier this week to keep the libraries open.
Here in Arkansas, the Crawford County Quorum Court has heard public opposition to the inclusion of LGBTQ+ content in the county’s five library branches, and the Farmington School Board restricted two books to readers age 17 and older after a parent voiced concerns.
On Monday, Sarah Griffiths held up a sign that said “Censorship disguised as moral outrage is still censorship” on the Saline County Courthouse lawn. She lives in the county and is a children’s programmer at a library in Little Rock.
Griffiths said she has seen firsthand how much children appreciate seeing members of their own communities in the stories they are told.
“I’m old enough to remember when there weren’t people of color introduced in mainstream storytelling, and we have that now, and it’s a very good thing,” she said. “Everybody needs a hero that they can recognize, no matter what age you are.”
Retired high school librarian and English teacher Marcia Lanier said she did not want her grandchildren to “live in a bubble.” Her decades of education experience meant she knew all kinds of students, including some from other countries, some that were gay and some that had experienced abuse and violence.
“Many of these students came to me, especially when I was a librarian, and asked me to help them find a book about someone else who experienced similar situations,” Lanier said.
The quorum court’s resolution states that Saline County libraries “are visited by individuals of all ages, backgrounds and beliefs.” Relocating books would “alienate” some of these individuals, said Olivia McClure, who spoke against the measure.
“Many of the books that have been listed [by supporters of the resolution] … are considered political based on their nature and representation of a community that some people don’t agree with, and that is in fact censorship that you are promoting today,” McClure said.
Books representing a diverse range of communities should not be considered propaganda, as some supporters of the resolution said, because they are not “biased or misleading” or “used to promote a particular political cause or point of view,” McClure added.
She and Edith Baker both said several of the books that have been considered inappropriate for minors do not contain any sexual content and instead simply acknowledge the existence of LGBTQ+ people.
“I am a queer woman, and if I was old enough to experience homophobia, then children should be old enough to read about it,” Baker said.
Dr. Sam Taggart holds his Saline County Library card while speaking against a resolution proposed by Saline County Quorum Court members that would restrict children’s access to books that contain “sexual content or imagery." The court adopted the resolution. (John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate)
Dr. Sam Taggart holds his Saline County Library card while speaking against a resolution proposed by Saline County Quorum Court members that would restrict children’s access to books that contain “sexual content or imagery.” The court adopted the resolution. (John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate)
One book under conservative scrutiny is Bathe the Cat, a children’s book about a family doing chores. McClure pointed out that a rainbow flag in the illustration of the family’s refrigerator is the sole reason anyone has had a problem with the book.
Sam Taggart, a historian and retired physician, also spoke against the resolution and said people should only be allowed to make decisions about library content if they have library cards themselves. He said his family, teachers and librarians taught him the value of knowledge from a young age.
“These delightful people … taught me how to think, not what to think,” he said.
Child protection debate
Supporters of the resolution said it would increase parents’ ability to decide what their children read. Both sides agreed that parents have the right to know what their children are reading, but those against the resolution said it would infringe on parental rights instead of enhancing them.
“We can’t protect our children from every single dangerous idea,” said John Goff, a math teacher at Bryant Junior High School. “What can we do? We can be their parents.”
Goff added that the Bible has scenes of rape and other forms of violence in it that would likely come under fire if the same topics in other books were challenged.
Shannon Everett disputed this claim.
“I support this resolution that protects our children from being told their identity comes from anything but Jesus Christ,” he said.
Stephanie Duke said she is “not so proud” that her family donated the land where the library in Benton is located. She said she finds it difficult to go to bookstores with her grandchild, whom she said is a “voracious reader,” because so many books aimed at her grandchild’s age group are about “gayness, LGBT, transgender or anti-white” subject matter.
She held up a book she called “pornographic” — Sex: A Book for Teens: An Uncensored Guide to Your Body, Sex, and Safety by Nicol Hasler — that she said she found in the young adult section of the library.
Carl Hyel, who opposed the resolution, said he believed those in favor of it were sincere about wanting to protect children from harm.
“There are lots of experts that say knowing correct sexual education and correct anatomy terms is the best way to protect kids from abuse,” Hyel said.
However, Duke said she and other Saline County residents plan to challenge the Hasler book and others they consider “anti-Christian” and bring them before the quorum court under Act 372.
“It’s that serious to keep our rights as Christians,” Duke said, to which an audience member said “Amen.”
McClure said she had a different perspective as a Christian.
“I know that the first commandment from God is to love all [people], and when we understand who they are, we can actually do that,” she said.
Children are going to learn about the existence of LGBTQ+ people one way or another, said Grayson Hartz, a transgender teenager who works at a daycare. The children he supervises have accepted him and adjusted to his new name since he transitioned, he said.
“Most of the kids there completely understand that I went from being a girl to a boy,” Hartz said.
A crowd lines up to attend the Saline County Quorum Court meeting Monday evening at the Saline County Courthouse in Benton to discuss a resolution that would restrict children’s access to books that contain “sexual content or imagery”. (John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate)
A crowd lines up to attend the Saline County Quorum Court meeting Monday evening at the Saline County Courthouse in Benton to discuss a resolution that would restrict children’s access to books that contain “sexual content or imagery”. (John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate)
“Slippery slope”
Two of the four state legislators who sponsored Act 372 attended Monday’s quorum court meeting: Rep. Mary Bentley of Perryville, whose district includes part of Saline County, and Sen. Dan Sullivan of Jonesboro, which is more than two hours away from Saline County.
The public libraries in Craighead County, which includes Jonesboro, saw its funding cut in 2022 after protests over an LGBTQ+ book display and a transgender author’s visit to the library within the past couple of years.
Monday’s debate was the first step to Saline County’s libraries experiencing the same thing Craighead County’s libraries did, several opponents of the resolution said. Some, including Hyel, Fred McGraw and Dana Block, added that they did not believe any quorum court members intended to defund libraries now or in the future.
“I think you have good intentions, but my goodness, think about what you’re doing,” McGraw told the quorum court. “This is a slippery slope.”
Block is a mother of four and a children’s programmer in the Saline County library system. She said the library does not have “a secret adult section” where challenged books could be placed.
“We are not trying to indoctrinate your children,” Block said. “We are members of your community. We live here. Our children are being raised here. We go to church with you.”
Scott Gray disagreed and repeated comments he made in March when the House Judiciary Committee first heard Act 372. He said he did not believe taxpayers should fund the availability of sexual content from “leftist librarians,” a statement that made the audience laugh.
Gray was not the only one who claimed librarians have an agenda.
“It’s time, in my opinion, to not only look at the books that are in the libraries but to investigate the people that are placing them there,” Brian English said. “There are too many sexually explicit books available to our children for this to be an oversight or a mistake.”
Jon Newcomb speaks for a resolution before the Saline County Quorum Court that would restrict children’s access to books that contain “sexual content or imagery”. He holds a copy of “All Boys Aren't Blue,” which he claims is pornographic. The court adopted the resolution, which strongly recommends the county library board take "proactive" steps to keep such books out of the view of children. (John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate)
Jon Newcomb speaks for a resolution before the Saline County Quorum Court that would restrict children’s access to books that contain “sexual content or imagery”. He holds a copy of “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” which he claims is pornographic. The court adopted the resolution, which strongly recommends the county library board take “proactive” steps to keep such books out of the view of children. (John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate)
Jon Newcomb claimed getting children interested in sex is “the first rule of a communist revolution.” He was about to read a passage from All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto by George M. Johnson when Saline County Judge Matt Brumley told him not to read it.
County civil attorney Will Gruber said he agreed with Brumley that those attending or watching the meeting should not have to hear things that are “profane or obscene.” Newcomb and other supporters of the resolution said this proved their point.
“I’m all for the resolution, but in my opinion, it’s not enough,” Newcomb said. “I want this crap out.”
Quorum court discussion
Brumley said he supported the resolution and compared the availability of certain library content to the availability of cigarettes.
“Smoke ‘em up if you can buy them legally, but please don’t place them next to the Play-Doh at our local store,” he said.
Libraries have multiple sections of books aimed at minors, divided into different age groups, Saline County librarians Chelsea Simon and Jordan Sandlin both said. The children’s section is for children 7 and under, the juvenile section is for children between 8 and 12 years old, and the young adult section is for those 13 and up, Simon said.
Sandlin added that parents and guardians must sign library cards for children 12 and under and must be present with them in the library.
Justices of the Peace Carlton Billingsley of District 3 and Keith Keck of District 13 said the quorum court should have received input from local librarians in advance. They were the only members to vote against the resolution.
“If I’m going to a game, I want to make sure all the players are involved,” Keck said. “…We’ve got to do our job and do our due diligence.”
Three justices co-sponsored the resolution: Everette Hatcher of District 2, Jim Whitley of District 10 and Clint Chism of District 11.
Saline County District 10 Justice of the Peace Jim Whitley of Benton talks Monday about a resolution he sponsored that asks the county Library Board to restrict children’s access to books that contain “sexual content or imagery." The county Quorum Court adopted the resolution after a two-hour discussion. (John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate)
Saline County District 10 Justice of the Peace Jim Whitley of Benton talks Monday about a resolution he sponsored that asks the county Library Board to restrict children’s access to books that contain “sexual content or imagery.” The county Quorum Court adopted the resolution after a two-hour discussion. (John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate)
Chism said he was wary of the fact that “making rules leads to more rules,” and he acknowledged that what is appropriate for children at different ages is not up to him to decide, but he also said it mattered to him that anyone under 18 is legally considered a child.
He quoted a verse from the Gospel of Matthew: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.”
The court rejected an amendment Keck proposed to add a statement in the resolution that parents are responsible for their children’s use of libraries. Whitley said he would only support the amendment if it specified that parents must give permission for their children to check out certain content.
Gruber said this requirement “could go down the wrong road.” In 2003, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas decided the Cedarville School District violated the First Amendment by requiring signed permission slips from parents allowing their children to read the Harry Potter books.
Whitley was one of nine justices to vote against the amendment.
“If we can’t require parental permission in order for them to access these materials, it makes this resolution moot,” he said.
Justice Pat Bisbee of District 1 said he did not think he had “ever struggled more” on an issue before the court than whether to support the resolution. He used to be the court’s appointed liaison to the county libraries, and he has kept acting in this role even though it is no longer an official position, he said.
“I am always in support of the library,” Bisbee said. “As both a father and as a believing Christian, I strongly feel that the library needs to continue to strive to use common sense when placing books that may contain questionable content.”
