Will a Florida library have to label books with sexual and gender content? What to know
County leaders on Florida’s Gulf Coast have taken the first steps to require their public library system to label books for LGBTQ+ and sexual content, as well as require a parental consent form for young adult titles.
Here’s what to know about what’s happening with possible changes to Manatee County libraries:
Expanding an advisory board
County action: Led by Manatee County Commissioner Amanda Ballard, commissioners adopted a plan to expand an advisory board that will help determine what content is available in public libraries. County commissioners will also consider adding book genre labels and requiring parental consent forms for children.
Books: Ballard said she wants to label books that could be deemed controversial, such as LGBTQ stories, coming of age and young adult books. Consent forms would apply to kids under 16 who want to check out books on certain topics, including human sexuality and gender identity.
Background: In February, the Manatee County Commission had a public workshop meeting where commissioners laid out general ideas for how they would change the library system, such as expanding the number of books from conservative authors.
Impact on library acquisitions: Battling against accusations of censorship and fascism from several residents, commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to begin expanding the existing library advisory board and allowing members to weigh in on what content is added to the library collection. The modified advisory boardcould not veto an acquisition made by library staff, Ballard said. “If the board overwhelmingly doesn’t agree with purchasing items, the hope is that librarians would take that into consideration, but in accordance with free speech principles, the final decision would lie with library staff,” Ballard said.
Culture wars
Background: The move to change the library system comes amid a nationwide culture war against children being exposed to sexual content through literature. Books that reference LGBTQ+ orientations also have been targeted. “I am opposed to children being exposed to any type of sexually oriented materials,” Commissioner Vanessa Baugh wrote in an April 15 email to a resident. “Parents have more rights than any library regarding their children.”
State action: On Wednesday, state leaders enacted a similar policy, prohibiting Florida’s middle school and high school teachers from “intentionally” teaching students about sexual orientation or gender identity. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law banning those subjects in elementary schools last year.
Genre labels in Manatee libraries?
Opposition: While most board members had no problem throwing their support behind genre labels, the decision was met with some push-back from a colleague. Commissioner George Kruse argued that children are not exposed to sexual content in libraries. “You don’t have random little kids wandering around pulling porn off of our shelves. That’s just not how our library works,” said Kruse, who noted that the library’s policy doesn’t allow children under 12 to be left unattended. “It sounds like we may have more of a parenting problem than a library problem.”
Support: But other commissioners said they would support the new policy. “We have a problem morally if we don’t contain adult sexual orientation books away from the youth. I mean, come on. Let kids be kids for heaven’s sake,” Baugh said. Manatee Commissioner James Satcher compared the genre labels to movie ratings. “It’s an additional system so that books can be classified if children have access to it, you can be sure as a parent that you’re OK with your child having access to that,” Satcher said.
What’s next: Manatee officials didn’t take official action on adding genre labels to public library books. The topic is expected to come up for discussion at a future public meeting.
Parental consent for books
Permission form: Ballard also proposed a parental consent form that would require parents to give prior authorization before a child under the age of 16 can rent a book in any of these sections: young adult fiction, adult fiction, human sexuality, sexual techniques, sexual orientation and sexual hygiene.
Reaction: “Either a parent should be present with the child at the time of rental or the parent should sign a consent form allowing their child to access or rent those materials,” Ballard said.
Support: Commissioners didn’t take official action on a parental consent form, but several commissioners signaled their support. “I definitely agree with what Commissioner Ballard stated and the things she wants to implement. I think it’s going to be a great thing,” said Commissioner Jason Bearden. “I don’t want to ban any book,” added Commissioner Mike Rahn. “Libraries are a repository of knowledge that we all should be able to go to and all be able to use those facilities. My only concern about the libraries is access.”
Resident reaction: Several residents spoke out against the proposed library changes. “Growing up, I always had my head in a book. I was three or more grade levels ahead on my reading comprehension,” said Amanda Langworthy. “Limiting books based on age range can be discrimination on that portion of readers.” “When you talk about parent’s rights, you mean only some parents — the close-minded parents that think like you do,” David Daniels wrote in an email to commissioners. “You are using child protection to hide censorship and fascism.”
Other restrictions: Some said they favored the restrictions against child access to certain content, pointing to other age-based restrictions implemented by the government. “There are age restrictions for children for driving, drinking and entering sex shops,” said Deanna Brinkley.
What’s next: Manatee officials voted unanimously to expand the library advisory board. The County Attorney’s Office will present an updated ordinance to formalize the changes at an upcoming public meeting. The board is also expected to discuss library genre labels and parental consent forms at a later date.
