Cape Girardeau Public Library board hears objections to children's access to explicit materials

The Cape Girardeau Public Library's board of trustees heard comments from community members regarding children's access to explicit materials.

More than 50 people were in attendance during the regular meeting Thursday, Dec. 14, necessitating the meeting be moved to a larger conference room.

Adrienne Ross, a local author who lives in Jackson, addressed the board objecting to children's access to library materials with content she termed as "pornographic, hyper-sexualized and obscene".

Ross stated she and others have previously appealed to the library administrators and board members asking to have these materials removed from the areas specifically designated for children and teens.

She said she personally filled out the required forms of reconsideration for the books "Gender Queer" by Maia Kobabe and "This Book Is Gay" by Juno Dawson.

According to the minutes of the board meeting Sept. 7, Request for Reconsideration forms were received for "This Book is Gay" and "Gender Queer". The minutes stated these titles were reviewed by the Materials Selection Committee in September 2022 and, per policy, the decision of the committee -- that the titles do not need to be removed or moved to another collection -- stands for two years.

Ross said she has appealed to the library to move these books and others out of the sections for minors and asked they change its policy so that certain books may not be taken out without parental permission, no matter where they are in the library.

Tom Blattel, a Cape Girardeau resident, addressed the board and thanked the board and public for creating a space for everyone in the community to come together and learn about one another.

"By removing books about other people's life experiences, it silences those voices, and it violates the First Amendment," Blattel said. "I would encourage people who do want books moved or books banned, to monitor your children. Have the tough conversations with them. Even though sometimes we don't want to, those conversations are what help us all grow and learn from one another."

Martha Hamilton of Cape Girardeau listed a series of actions she and other "concerned citizens" would take if the board did not comply with their requests. She said they would pursue new criminal complaints and legal action against the library administrators and named board members, picket protest in front of the library and use local billboards and other signage to alert the public.

"This has nothing to do with gender bias or sexual preference," Hamilton said. "I don't care if you're gay, straight or trans. This is about sexualizing and grooming our children."

Ross asked for a response from the board within 14 days, saying "after which we will proceed if there is no response or if your response is not satisfactory."

"We will not let this go because the issue is too important, the law is too important and more than anything, children are too important," Ross said.

In response to the comments, board president Eric Redinger said he had read the book "Gender Queer". He said there was a picture in the book depicting oral sex with a "prosthetic" that he found "distasteful."

However, he said the book is in the Graphic Novel Adult Biography section, "not with the normal graphic novels, like the comic books."

"As a lifelong reader, I have certainly read novels by authors such as Stephen King which depict far worse sex acts by children," Redinger said. "But it's something that you're reading and imagining rather than looking at it in a picture."

Redinger encouraged those in attendance to check out the books in question and discern for themselves rather than react to what others are saying.

Katie Earnhart, library director, said the materials in the Cape Girardeau Public Library may be deemed inappropriate by some, but the library serves the entire community.

"We are in complete compliance with state law when it comes to our materials. Our staff and our board do a lot of work to ensure that we're staying in compliance," Earnhart said.