Here's how the Corpus Christi Library Board became controversial

An upending of the city of Corpus Christi’s Library Board has left questions in its wake about what drove the changes and whether some of the new members in the lineup aim to restrict reading materials, particularly for young adults.

A board that has historically drawn little attention saw nearly two dozen applicants earlier this month, with the council’s majority decision ultimately appointing five new board members – rejecting reappointment of three serving members, and filling two vacancies.

Among the new appointees are two who are affiliated with organizations actively involved in book challenges – Moms for Liberty and County Citizens Defending Freedom – which, depending on who is asked, represents fulfilling community views lacking on the current board or alternatively, potentially poses a First Amendment threat.

The national Citizens Defending Freedom organization, in a blog posted on its website, credits itself with having “successfully influenced” appointments to the board following what the author describes as “heightened awareness of the American Library Association's (ALA) alleged extremist agenda and its impact on public libraries, particularly in Corpus Christi.”

The blog’s characterization is inaccurate, several councilmembers said after reviewing the blog post Friday.

“I think this National CDF group is misinformed,” City Councilman Everett Roy wrote in a message to the Caller-Times late Friday.

Although the new board lineup was approved by a split-council in mid-November, controversy emerged publicly last week, as at least 15 residents appeared before the council to weigh-in on the move – opponents objecting to the composition shift and demanding answers, and supporters of the new slate applauding the majority vote.

Debate, in part, centered on what commenters considered to be the bellwether of censorship and commenters who asserted responsibility should be assigned, in part, to libraries in how books are presented to and borrowed by young adults.

The Library Board acts in an advisory, not policy-making capacity.

While the board doesn’t choose books for collections, it does at times have some say over requests for books to be either relocated or removed.

That’s because the board is where removal or relocation decisions may be appealed, records show.

Specific books targeted

In recent weeks, residents have appeared before the City Council criticizing the placement of certain books in the public libraries’ young adult section, primarily citing sexual content.

Among the most vocal in raising concerns has been Shawn Flanagan – a former Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi track coach who has in the past been a part of a lobbying effort against Nueces County library classrooms being used to provide sexual health education courses for youth.

He offered earlier this month two examples of what he asserted were problematic books located in the young adult section of one of Corpus Christi public libraries: "Tricks" by Ellen Hopkins and "Doing it Right" by Bronwen Pardes.

"Doing it Right" focuses on sex education, according to the book publisher, while "Tricks" by Ellen Hopkins is a fictional novel that includes detailed depictions of human trafficking.

“There are books currently in the Corpus Christi library in the children’s sections that are explicitly written for children, designed to sexualize children,” said Flanagan on Tuesday, contending that he was not advocating for censorship.

“It is not censorship to age-restrict materials,” Flanagan said. “Anybody with common sense knows that some sexually explicit books might be great for adults but you don’t need them in children’s hands. Age-restricting certain materials that are currently in the library is adult supervision of children.”

There is reason to be concerned instead about attempts to wrongfully restrict material in the public libraries, some residents have said – some considering the ousting of three board members as signaling a forthcoming book-banning campaign.

Reading is freedom and guaranteed by the Constitution, said Vickie Natale, a Library Board member who was recently voted to be replaced.

Sensitive subjects – including sexual assault, human trafficking, gender identity and race relations – are all featured in music and on the internet, but sometimes only by an image or a mention “without context to develop an understanding of the sensitivity of the topic,” she told the council Tuesday.

“I believe that books are the one source that most typically provide context to a subject and help the reader develop understanding and empathy,” Natale said.

The last formal request to remove or relocate a book was filed about 20 years ago, said Library Director Laura Zavala Garcia, and no formal reconsideration requests for any books had been filed as of Tuesday.

Who was appointed

On the eve of Thanksgiving Day, the local chapter of the League of Women Voters issued a news release questioning the council’s decision to replace the three sitting board members – Natale, Pooja Bindingnavele and Candace Hart – earlier in the month.

The incumbents included a member with a biochemistry degree, a member with a decades-long history in higher education, and a longtime professional librarian, LWV representatives have said.

In the news release, the organization specifically named two of the new appointees: Dolores Rabon, who described herself in her application as retired, and Carrie Moore, who is employed as the education division leader of County Citizens Defending Freedom.

In the email, LWV representatives referenced Rabon’s application, which did not include professional, education or community activity information.

In response to a section asking applicants’ interest in serving on the Library Board, she had described herself as a concerned citizen.

Rabon could not be reached for comment on LWV’s news release.

The organization’s statement also noted Moore’s occupation, describing County Citizens Defending Freedom as a “highly controversial” organization.

The national organization has been described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as engaging in “anti-student inclusion activities” and having grown “out of opposition to public health regulations for COVID-19, opposes LGBTQ+ and racially inclusive school curriculum.”

Moore, who is also a member of Moms for Liberty, told the Caller-Times that concerns aired about her employment were unfounded.

She intends to work with the community, city and Library Board, said Moore, who is shown on her application as having earned a bachelor’s degree in paralegal studies.

“The whole thing is ridiculous,” she said. “We’re just regular parents who applied to be on the Library Board and we have no intention of banning any sorts of books."

She said they "just want age-appropriate material."

Moms for Liberty advocates “for parental rights in deciding what is appropriate for our children,” Moore wrote in a message to the Caller-Times.

“This should not be a divisive issue,” she wrote. “We need to unite to empower and protect kids.”

The image and name of another new appointee, Pat Craig, is shown on the website for the local chapter of Moms for Liberty as its treasurer.

In a message to the Caller-Times, she did not claim Moms for Liberty membership and declined comment in response to critical statements made in the council meeting.

Craig is listed in her application as a retired U.S. Air Force pilot with a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering and describes her interest in serving on Library Board as enjoying engagement within the city in a “way that is healthy and wise for our community.”

“Libraries provide a wonderful place for all ages to read, research and relax, and my intentions are to help maintain that atmosphere,” Craig wrote.

How the council voted

City Councilmen Everett Roy, Mike Pusley, Dan Suckley and Gil Hernandez voted in support of five new appointments, to include Craig and Moore.

Moore was additionally supported by City Councilman Michael Hunter, and Craig additionally supported by City Councilman Roland Barrera and Mayor Paulette Guajardo.

While rejecting reappointments – assuming members have been fulfilling their duties – isn’t unprecedented, it’s not common on the traditionally lower-profile boards.

Removal of three Library Board members, and appointment of five new members, was shocking and amounted to a “hostile takeover of our library,” said City Councilwoman Sylvia Campos.

She was one of four – including Guajardo, Barrera and City Councilman Jim Klein – who had voted in the minority to reappoint all three currently-serving Library Board members.

Campos, after reviewing the Citizens Defending Freedom blog post, wrote in a message to the Caller-Times that she was “concerned about this group and how they want to challenge our freedom to read.”

“It's hard to believe this issue has even come up,” she wrote. “I compare this to a woman's right to choose and how the conservative agenda has changed our laws. They have moved on now to our right to inform ourselves.”

Guajardo told the Caller-Times earlier in the week that there didn’t appear to be a reason to not reappoint the three serving members, while Klein and Barrera described their work on the board as good and the decision to replace serving members as disappointing.

The criticism within the community on how books in the library are being presented and borrowed by young adults factored directly into councilmembers’ decisions – either by their own concerns or by their constituents’ concerns, they said.

Although two books were recently highlighted by Flanagan, there are other books with graphic sexual content should not necessarily be accessed by minors, according to several councilmembers who voted to replace three serving members on the board.

Each – including Pusley, Hunter, Roy, Hernandez and Suckley – have said there is no interest in banning books.

Some generally spoke about their focus being in protecting children.

It was a difficult decision, but the move was responsive to the concerns of the community – voiced by residents from all walks of life – on some of the material available in the library, said Hunter, who had voted to replace two of the three members seeking reappointment.

“We’ve had people come up to us, talking about this, for a very long time,” Hunter said. “And it’s not just in public comment."

For Suckley, it was troubling to learn that there were potentially no rules or controls in place for minors to access material that he feels is inappropriate for a young adult age group, he said.

Hernandez said that ideally, he would want to see a rating system of some kind that wouldn’t remove books, but restrict them similarly to how ratings are used for movies and video games.

“We don’t let kids buy beer, we don’t let them buy guns,” he said. “I don’t understand the reasoning of why this became such a hot-button issue.”

A legislative bill that restricts booksellers from selling books to schools with what is determined to be sexually explicit content, while schools would be barred from purchasing books without sellers’ ratings is currently being deliberated by a federal appeals court.

There is not equivalent legislation related to public libraries.

Hernandez said he doesn’t expect the Library Board to read each book in the collection and be charged with rating them— but he also wants to see the Library Board address some of the concerns, and for the board to look into what systems may be possible to put into place that would limit minors’ access to explicit sexual material by age-appropriateness.

Communication with the current board hadn’t “been the best,” Roy said, adding that he didn’t perceive an openness to discussing library procedures.

Meeting with candidates who contact councilmembers can be part of what is taken into consideration when evaluating appointees, he told the Caller-Times.

Roy had addressed the question in part on Tuesday.

“Some people … aren’t that great at writing a resume, but they may be great in terms of speaking directly one-on-one with you,” he told the audience who attended the council meeting.

Specific to youth, he wants to see a “policy and procedure in place if they’re going to view certain materials.”

Several councilmembers who could be reached Friday said the national CDF's portrayal wasn't correct - some referencing the appointment process, and some speaking in respect to the interpretation of the library situation.

In a message to the Caller-Times, Suckley suggested that what was meant by "influence," was the weekslong public comments.

Barrera said he had not seen “any extremist liberal agenda in any of our libraries,” as described in the national CDF’s blog, but added that he hoped the council was not “being moved by rhetoric or ideology, when we should be making decisions based on facts.”

Some councilmembers contacted by the Caller-Times said they had not been aware of any appointees’ affiliation with Moms for Liberty when they were chosen for the board and several said they were not familiar with the organization.

Having ties to the organization does not necessarily present a problem for board service, some councilmembers said – they asserted it shouldn’t be viewed differently than appointees who are affiliated with other types of community groups.

What are the library's policies?

The council is anticipated to discuss library issues Tuesday.

The library’s standards follow the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, not the American Library Association standards, city officials have said.

Records show that by city policy, books in its public library collections meet a certain criteria, to include community relevance, enduring value, public interest, reviews and subject treatment relative to the intended audience, according to records.

However, there’s a process for requesting books be considered for removal or relocation.

Policy documents show that upon a formal reconsideration request, a committee is assigned to review the materials. The decision is issued by the library director and may be appealed to the Library Board, city records state.

The policy includes a provision stating that restricting access to the collection by a minor is “entirely within the purview of and is solely the responsibility of the minor’s parent or guardian.”

Because there are many views, not everyone will agree with all materials, but “diversity and inclusion is important in a well-balanced collection,” Garcia said.

“We want to serve the community in the best way that we can,” she said. “So we have to provide all viewpoints (regardless of even) our own personally.

CCPL Collection Development Policy 2023 by callertimes on Scribd

Library Board Appointment Applications by callertimes on Scribd

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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Corpus Christi Library Board controversy came after members reshuffled