York County councilman takes aim at children’s library books with LGBTQ+ content
A York County Council member says it’s wrong how some books in the county’s public library system target children.
Councilman Tom Audette asked Monday night for a review of children’s books that include content on gender identity and sexuality. Audette wants council to address the issue in an upcoming workshop. That request comes after what Audette said is more than a year of concern from, and work with, his constituents.
“The number of people that have reached out to me on this issue has been absolutely astonishing,” Audette said.
Audette brought up the issue at the end of Monday’s meeting during a time set aside for non-agenda comments. Council members didn’t vote on anything, or have a proposal for any decision.
Audette said children and grandchildren across the county are impacted by books on gender identity or sexuality “that are targeting our kids in the York County library.” Audette referenced a petition he received from concerned parents.
Audette said he inventoried books and found 138 books that reference gender identity or sexuality for readers ages 2-17. County libraries have 416 copies of those books, Audette said. Audette said there are 517 such copies for readers of all ages, showing the great majority of books on those subjects are written for young readers.
“This is wrong,” Audette said. “This is wrong, and our kids should not be exposed to this.”
Audette only referenced one book on Monday night by name. He spoke of two children who discussed being a boy, girl, both or neither in “Pink, Blue and You!: Questions for Kids About Gender Stereotypes” by Elise Gravel and Mykaell Blais. A book aimed at children ages 4-8.
“I’ve got parents that are coming to me with kids and grandchildren that are extremely concerned about bringing their kids into the children’s section of the York County library because of this book content they’re seeing,” Audette said.
In more than a year working on the issue, Audette says it’s gotten worse.
“It has absolutely been increasing,” Audette said.
Audette said he’s spoke with library officials. He’s not asking for a ban on the books. Instead, he’d like them moved to the adult section. That way parents could choose whether they want children to access them, but children wouldn’t find them on their own. Audette said the books don’t belong in the children’s section.
“To me, this is unacceptable,” Audette said. “This should not be happening in our libraries.”
York County Library board chair Tamara Osborne offered a written statement on Tuesday. It reads:
“The York County Public Library is committed to our mission of providing free access to books and programs for all citizens of the county. Because it is publicly financed, the York County Library will attempt to meet as many of the informational, educational, recreational and cultural needs of York County residents as possible.”
The county library system has branches in Fort Mill, Lake Wylie, York and Clover in addition to its main branch in downtown Rock Hill.
A search of the library system’s content online for “gender identity” brings up 673 hits including 311 titles via SCLENDS, which combines available titles and copies from libraries statewide for users. Others are related to transgender people, sex role and related topics.
The same search for just the York County system generates 177 hits.
