Fresno County finalizes plan for committee to screen kids’ books at its public libraries

A new committee of political appointees could be in place within the next few months to begin reviewing books for possible removal from children’s sections of public library branches in Fresno County, following final approval of the measure Tuesday by the county’s Board of Supervisors.

Supervisor Steve Brandau made changes to his “Parents Matter Act” after its initial passage on a 3-2 vote on Nov. 7. The amended version presented Tuesday includes features asked for by Supervisor Buddy Mendes as a condition of his support.

The act calls for the creation of a process to “identify and sequester age-inappropriate content currently available in the children’s sections of county libraries,” according to a staff analysis memo to the board. It also creates a parent/guardian review committee of 11 members to be appointed by supervisors and County Administrative Officer Paul Nerland to establish a community standards policy for library materials.

That committee would also be tasked with reviewing current books and materials, as well as new materials coming to libraries, to assess whether or not they contain material that is inappropriate for children.

Once bylaws for the committee are established – expected to happen within 90 days – and at least eight committee members have been appointed, the panel would begin to meet. The group would operate under California’s open-meeting law, the Ralph M. Brown Act, which requires public meetings and posting of agendas prior to meetings.

The changes added to the proposal since Nov. 7 include creating a list of any materials removed by the committee from children’s sections and posting it publicly for parents for public access; cutting the number of committee members from 15 to 11; and creating an appeals process of committee decisions over the removal of books or materials from children’s sections.

The amended proposal was approved by the same margin as earlier this month: “yes” votes from Brandau, Mendes and Supervisor Nathan Magsig, and “no” votes from Supervisors Brian Pacheco and Sal Quintero.

The vote followed more than a half-hour of impassioned public comment; all but one of the speakers opposed the measure.

“I represent hundreds of parents and grandparents who reached out to me over these past many months expressing their concern over this specific issue and have recently reached out with their support of the Parents Matter Act,” Clovis City Councilmember Diane Pearce told supervisors Tuesday.

“What’s so great about the Parents Matter Act is it is truly the common-sense solution to respect the rights of parents on both sides of this issue,” Pearce said. “The parents who want their children to have access to this material control that access. The parents who have concerns about their children’s access to this material also have that control because of the Parents Matter Act.”

Pearce acknowledged that the county library system already has in place a process through which people can file a complaint and ask that a book or material be reviewed. That process, she said, “works if you have a single item to express concern about.”

But, she added, “we’ve identified a more widespread issue and I think this … act allows for a more widespread solution to addressing controversial material and seeking its review.”

More than a dozen other speakers, however, criticized the act as “governmental overreach” and potentially an unconstitutional attempt at censorship.

Former Fresno County library director Karen Bosch Cobb, who supervised the system from 2003 to 2010, said the library’s policies have been crafted over time by professional librarians after careful study and research “to make sure we have materials that represent all members of our community, and that our collection represents a wide range of viewpoints reflecting a very diverse community.”

Bosch Cobb added that the ACLU of Northern California and several other freedom-to-read foundations weighed in with a letter opposing the act “calling out violations of the First Amendment, referring to a censorship regime” and hinting at the potential for a legal challenge.

Others questioned the ability of 11 politically appointed committee members to fairly assess library materials. Erica Leonard, a Fresno County resident who home-schooled her children, said she relied on libraries to help her through that effort.

Leonard noted that there are more than one million residents in Fresno County. “What do you see that could inspire confidence that 11 volunteers have what it takes to make parenting decisions for all of them?” she asked. “Every parent in this county deserves to have the freedom that I had as a home-schooling parent, and they also have the responsibility that I carried to protect my children in public spaces – freedom and responsibility both that this legislation takes away from all but 11.”

At the Nov. 7 meeting, Brandau had presented a stack of children’s books that he said contained examples of problematic material including sexually graphic images and questions of gender identify. “This is not a ban,” he said at that time, seeking to counter criticism of the proposal. “We’re not removing anything. Every one of these books is still going to be in the library. All we’re doing is taking some of these books with the sketchy material” and moving them out of the children’s section. “If a parent wants to use them as a resource, it’s still there to use as a resource.”

But on Tuesday, several people said the act was an attempt to limit access to content on gender identity because some find it controversial or uncomfortable. “The motive behind this is obvious – if we take the power outof the hands of college-educated, formally trained librarians and put it into the hands of a handful of parents to deem books age appropriate or inappropriate, then we can easily make sure that homophobic and bigoted ideas are instilled onto their children, thus reinforcing a homophobic and discriminatory society,” said Elise Higgs, who said she resides in Brandau’s District 2.

Clovis teacher Kim Fox-Christensen said she believes the act “has the fingerprints of fear and ignorance all over it.”

“It comes to us under the guise of protecting children but seeks to start a committee that would pick and choose which children are to be represented in the children’s section of Fresno County public libraries,” Fox-Kristensen added.

Clovis resident Annie Nguyen urged the supervisors to reject Brandau’s proposal. “It’s cowardly to try to silence perspectives or books that we don’t agree with, and that disagreement is coming from a place of lack of education,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking to see adults be so scared of children’s books.”