'All books are worth reading': Ottawa County continues to grapple with banned books
ZEELAND — A political war is being fought in Ottawa County. If there were a standout battle, it's over banned books.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the inherent danger of certain library books has been hotly debated across various West Michigan communities. In the fall of 2020, parents in Hamilton Community Schools were vocal enough in their complaints that the district implemented a new book review system to ensure titles are available to appropriate grade levels.
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Last August, the operating millage for Patmos Library in Jamestown Township was voted down over inclusion of books with LGBTQ+ characters and themes, as was a second attempt in November.
With the operating millage voted down, the library is slated to close permanently in January 2025. The library has said that, out of 67,000 materials in circulation, approximately 90 are LGBTQ-related. That accounts for 0.001 percent of the library’s offerings.
But the conversation didn't end there. In fact, it continued Monday, May 15, during a meeting of the Zeeland Public Schools Board of Education. During the meeting, the majority of 16 public speakers focused on the content of library books.
Four speakers shared concerns about sexual content and language. They said they didn’t want to ban books, but suggested implementing a rating system similar to movies and making parental consent necessary to access certain titles.
“Over the last few years, we've noticed some alarming trends," said Jen Baker before reading from a book. "One of them I’d like to speak on tonight is the explicit materials found in our high school libraries. We talked about movies, we talked about TV shows, they all have ratings."
Eight speakers lobbied against limits, highlighting current district policy.
“As a parent at ZPS, I know that if I have a personal objection to specific content or themes, I can work with the administration to ensure my children will not have access to that,” said Derek Muilenburg. “Asking for items to be removed from the entire school due to my personal objection is censorship and would infringe on the rights of other parents to make their own choices.”
Zeeland already considers items like content, appropriateness, accuracy, purpose and representation when selecting books.
But parent Christi Meppelink wants an opt-in system, rather than an opt-out.
“We want this type of content to not be readily available to students,” she said. “We are not advocating for any representations to be silenced, only protection for our children.”
Meppelink added “the devil wants to destroy the identity of our children” and said “parental rights are under attack and being extinguished.”
Ottawa County Deputy Health Officer Marcia Mansaray, who attended the meeting, disagreed.
“ZPS allows parents to opt their child out of experiences that don’t align with their families views," she said. "That is fully sufficient, so that a family’s worldview is respected without interfering with the educational needs of all children.
“Going further than that insults the wishes of other families and exhibits little regard for the expertise of you and other professional educators at ZPS who have consistently demonstrated your deep care of the students you are helping to prepare for the next level of school and the next level of life.”
Ottawa Impact-backed board members for Allendale Public Schools have also expressed concern about a website from the Lakeland Library Cooperative, available through the district's website.
Anna Hendricks and Liz Ramey said the library website allows for previews of books containing material they feel is inappropriate for children.
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The dispute has traveled down to Holland, too, where Councilman Quincy Byrd recently read excerpts from “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe, and argued the book is inappropriate for young children.
Byrd began his comments by asking fellow councilmembers if they have children in their family ages 8-14, then asked the council at what age they lost their virginity.
He went on to say he considers the book “pornographic."
Byrd read sections that discussed masturbation, sex toys and oral sex. After reading, he acknowledged council doesn’t have “direct control” over book titles.
“I know as a council this isn’t something that we have direct control over, but as leaders of this community, as leaders of this great city, we have to do something for our kids,” he said. “I can’t tell you what to do, but I can bring it to your attention.”
Byrd said he doesn't take issue with LGBTQ characters and themes, but rather the sexual nature of the material. In 2020, Byrd was the lone councilmember to vote against adding LGBTQ protections to the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance.
“I want to make it really, really clear that I know this book is associated with the LGBT community. That is not my issue,” Byrd said. “My issue is that kids, little kids, have access to this. To me, that is absolutely wrong. There’s no kid that should be able to have access to this.”
R. Aimee Chipman, owner of Holland Township's Bluestocking Bookshop, said she was "horrified" by the comments.
“I am horrified, however, about the message that’s being sent to our community,” Chipman said in a video posted to social media. “One private citizen gets up and challenges a book? Fine. It’s their opinion, they’re entitled to express it. But when our elected officials, who are supposed to represent everyone in their district, get involved in these calls for censorship and restriction? That’s when we should all be standing up to fight back.”
In a conversation with The Sentinel, Chipman said an elected official making those kinds of comments during a public meeting make her feel that official “is not out to protect my interest. That person is not in the seat for me, only those who want to restrict my freedoms.”
Bluestocking hosts a monthly book club called “This Book Club is Banned,” which reads exclusively banned and challenged books.
“For us, it’s important that all books are available to read for all people, because that’s how we learn about the world around us,” Chipman told The Sentinel.
“It’s how we learn things we’re not learning in school, things we’re not learning from families. All books are worth reading and anybody who says they don’t want to read a certain book doesn’t have to read it. It’s not just about the freedom to read, but the freedom to choose not to read.”
Chipman said that most of the top banned and challenged books this year, according to the American Library Association, deal with LGBTQ themes and issues of identity. She said these books are important because they teach empathy and encourage critical thinking.
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“The fact that so many of them deal with LGBTQ and issues of identity tells me these conversations are not being had, they’re being suppressed,” she said. “It's important for not just today’s youth, but for all of us, to be able to read so we’re looking at perspectives of our world that are not our own.”
— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @SentinelMitch.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: 'All books are worth reading': Ottawa County continues to grapple with banned books
