Here are four books requested to be removed or restricted in Corpus Christi libraries

Within a four-month period, residents have sought to either remove or relocate a series of books in Corpus Christi’s libraries – the majority featuring either characters identifying as LGBTQIA+ or including LGBTQIA+-focused subjects.

The residents’ requests – along with the majority of Library Board members’ plans to form a subcommittee that would review and potentially suggest changes to the Corpus Christi Public Libraries’ book collection policies – is drawing attention.

In a Facebook message posted by Pride Corpus Christi, members urged advocates to go to the Tuesday meeting of the Library Board “to advocate for our First Amendment Rights and free access to information,” as well as to “show up in numbers to show how censorship spreads hate and not love.”

Three of the four books that have been requested for reconsideration remain on the shelves. A fourth, which a staff committee reviewed, has also remained on the shelf – but it’s a decision that the requestor is appealing, according to an email sent by city staff to the Caller-Times.

The meeting may set a precedent, both in the board’s recommendation on whether or not to remove sex education book “Doing it Right: Making Smart, Safe and Satisfying Choices about Sex,” by Bronwen Pardes, and also as the potential first steps to possible changes in the library’s offerings on its shelves or where on the shelves books may be located.

Voting on who will sit on the committee is slated for Tuesday’s meeting, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at La Retama Library, according to city officials.

In the past, some residents addressing the City Council have asserted that there are books located in the young adult section of the public libraries that include age-inappropriate, explicit depictions of sexual activity.

Several critics have said that relocating the books from the young adult section to the adult section – or possibly age-restricting the materials – is a solution to address concerns about access to mature content while avoiding censorship.  It’s no different than restricting access to certain video games and movies, proponents have contended.

Pushback against those ideas has included assertions that by relocating certain books or restricting access to certain books is inherently censorship, or alternatively, the early overtures that signal greater intentions to further restrict material.

Although the nine-member Library Board is considered advisory, several City Council members in the fall expressed interest in the board reviewing the book collection policies and making recommendations, following questions about content of some of the books in the young adults section of Corpus Christi Public Libraries.

Ultimately it would be up to the council as a whole to approve any changes based on the board’s prospective input.

Even if efforts to remove LGBTQIA+ books were accomplished, there remain resources online and at organizations like Coastal Bend Pride Center to support LGBTQIA+ youth, said Pride Corpus Christi President Jonathan Swindle.

It’s ineffective to remove and restrict books, he said, but added that it is still important to “go and counter it.” “At the end of the day I think the real issue there – it’s more so reducing the LGBTQI-plus youth from feeling like they belong,” Swindle said.

The four books

Corpus Christi Public Library policies state that books are selected, in part, by public interest, community significance, cost and reviews.

“Diversity is pursued by attempting to meet the needs of all ages, backgrounds, and educational levels, by providing as many subject fields as possible, and by providing alternative perspectives on unpopular or unorthodox as well as popular materials,” the documents state. “The collection represents various opinions and viewpoints on all issues of general concern and should broadly reflect the various ethnic and social groups in the City.”

Library staff have said the guardians of children are the ones who are responsible for deciding what their children may check out from the library.

A library staff committee reviewed the four books requested for reconsideration and determined that all meet the collection development policy and criteria, according to an email from city staff.

The email states that two were requested to be restricted by age for checkout – “Queer: A Graphic History,” located in the adult nonfiction section of the library, and “What if? Answers to Questions About What It Means to be Gay and Lesbian,” located in the young adult nonfiction section.

The library staff committee who reviewed the requests determined both would stay at their current locations, wrote Library Director Laura Garcia.

“Auntie Uncle: Drag Queen Hero,” which had been requested for removal, remained on shelves following a staff committee review, according to the email.

Appeals were not filed for any of the three, Garcia wrote. The requestors’ names were not disclosed.

Garcia wrote in her message that names of patrons who file reconsideration requests are not disclosed as part of a confidentiality policy.

The Caller-Times has submitted an open records request seeking the documents filed for reconsideration of the books, to include the names of the requestors.

An appeal was filed for the remaining book.

Shawn Flanagan, who requested the removal of the sex education book by Pardes, is appealing the library staff committee’s decision.

In part, the request for reconsideration stated that city staff should “remove this item from all sections of the library,” according to the email sent by library officials to the Caller-Times.

The appeal was filed after a Corpus Christi Public Libraries’ staff review determined that “the book meets several Collection Development Policy selection and criteria requirements” and it was not removed.

“Based on the recommendation of the reconsideration committee, the book will be moved to the adult nonfiction collection as the book covers topics that a wide range of ages will be interested in reading," the email states.

The appeal means the Library Board will make a recommendation on whether to agree with the staff’s opinion, or alternatively, recommend that the staff’s opinion be overruled.

Should the board disagree with the staff committee’s decision, the request would go to either the city manager or his designee, Garcia wrote.

The specific reasons for Flanagan’s request to remove the book were not immediately available. Flanagan did not respond to a written message sent by the Caller-Times on Saturday. A person who returned a voicemail message left by the Caller-Times on Saturday identified themselves as Flanagan’s wife, said they do not talk with the Caller-Times and hung up.

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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Books requested for restriction or removal at Corpus Christi libraries