Kirsten CrowCorpus Christi Caller Times
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the number of people who attended a Library Board meeting earlier this month. The number of people who spoke were nearly two dozen.
How decisions are made about what books are available to the city’s roughly 121,000 public library cardholders – the ones selected, weeded out or reconsidered – is under review by a committee amid continued controversy on the Library Board.
Representing four of the nine-member Library Board – a group that until recent months had been little noticed by the mainstream public – the newly formed subcommittee is anticipated to soon review the Corpus Christi Public Libraries’ Collection Development Policy.
The board gained attention in the fall when the City Council’s prevailing vote appointed a new five-member majority in the fall, including two members who have either been individually active in book challenges or associated with organizations active in book challenges.
The subcommittee’s establishment has alarmed some critics who have asserted it may potentially represent a step toward eventual attempts to ban some books in the public library – or usurp the autonomy of parents to decide which books their child or teen can read.
Supporters have welcomed the initiative and praised it as a potential opportunity to make recommendations on relocating certain books or restricting minors’ access to certain material considered by critics as sexually explicit or inappropriate for younger readers.
Although the Library Board is considered an advisory board and does not directly impact administrative decision-making, it still carries influence by making recommendations to library staff.
Several of the councilmembers who appointed five new members to the board in the fall have expressed concerns about the books described as inappropriate for minors – some suggesting access to certain materials should be restricted unless there is parental consent, or possibly crafting a book-ratings system.
It was unclear as of Thursday morning whether any of those topics would be explored by the subcommittee as part of its review.
Councilmembers, as well as board members, have said there is not interest in book-banning, but instead in ensuring minors are protected from materials they believe would be better-suited for adults.
Several board and subcommittee members told the Caller-Times this week in messages and interviews that the subcommittee was generally anticipated to review the policy and offer recommendations, although specifics hadn’t yet been determined. Several also declined comment.
The process by which the policy will be reviewed “will be up to the subcommittee to establish,” according to an email sent by city officials to the Caller-Times on Wednesday. “Once they have reviewed and have recommendations they would like considered, they can request a meeting with library staff to present their recommendations.”
Staff ultimately decides whether to adopt the recommendations.
Historically evaluated every two years by library staff – and potential recommendations made by the full advisory board – the last review was completed about a year ago, according to documents.
A subcommittee’s review of the policy would be “the first in the history of the library board,” according to the city's email.
The subcommittee is comprised equally of members appointed by the council in the fall and members appointed by the council at different times.
Jennifer Anderson, a community engagement librarian at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi who was appointed to the board in January, said Wednesday that she’d been involved with drafting, revising and approving other collection development policies.
Some of the board members “have expressed concern over some of the titles in our library’s collection,” Anderson said, adding that the subcommittee – which she will be serving on – is an opportunity to better understand how titles are selected.
“I’m familiar with the process and I understand the purpose of a policy,” she said. “And I’m hoping the other members of the subcommittee and the broader library board will have a better understanding of how this works.”
Controversy
Creating the subcommittee earlier this month saw divided support among board members in a meeting that drew a packed house and nearly two dozen residents who spoke before the board.
Some who addressed the nine members blasted the recent attempts by private citizens to either relocate, restrict access or remove certain books – three of which either featured characters who identified as LGBTQIA-plus or focused on LGBTQIA-plus subjects.
Others in the audience applauded discussions on what they said were efforts intended to protect children from sexually explicit material.
The three LGBTQIA-plus books that were confidentially requested by a resident for either removal, restriction or relocation remained on the shelves where they were already located after the library staff reviewed reconsideration.
The fourth book requested for reconsideration – a general sex education book called "Doing it Right: Making Smart, Safe and Satisfying Choices about Sex,” by Bronwen Pardes – was relocated from the young adults section to the adult nonfiction section following library staff review.
Shawn Flanagan, a retired Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi track coach who had requested the book be removed from the library entirely, appealed the decision of the library staff to the Library Board.
The Library Board sided with staff, unanimously voting to recommend their decision to keep the book but shift its location.
Although the board was not who had requested the books be removed, relocated or restricted – and also had supported the staff’s decisions to retain them – the type of books requestors had picked for reconsideration raised concerns for some who see it as a potentially targeted campaign of exclusion.
What is a collection development policy?
The Corpus Christi Public Libraries Collection Development Policy is a living document, city officials wrote in the email to the Caller-Times, and although reviews are scheduled for every two years, updates can be made sooner based on need.
Examples of past and pending changes made to the library’s collection development policy have included adjusting the types of media available, according to the city's emailed statement.
“For example, the policy was updated when we stopped purchasing VHS and cassette tape formats,” the email states. “Currently we are monitoring the Books on CD format, as their use has been declining as patrons move towards digital; however, because there is still some usage, we are purchasing and adding only to the Neyland collection. Once the format is discontinued, the policy will be updated.”
Generally, the development policy outlines criteria for how books are selected, reconsidered or “weeded,” meaning removal.
Among criteria for selection are “community relevance, enduring value, public interest, reviews and subject treatment relative to the intended audience," the policy states.
The weeding process, meanwhile, involves eliminating “outdated materials, materials no longer of interest or in demand, duplicates, and worn or mutilated items,” the policy states, and is an “an integral part of collection development,” according to the document.
The subcommittee
Among its duties, the nine-member board as a whole is intended to “investigate and recommend to the Council matters relating to library services,” according to city code.
Those include soliciting outside funds to support the library, gathering input from residents and offering recommendations to staff related to capital projects, services and “policies for the administration of library programs, use of facilities, and selection of library resources,” the code states.
Although the Library Board acts independently from the City Council, the council appoints the board members, who serve in two-year terms.
City Councilman Jim Klein said Tuesday that he had questions about a subcommittee being formed to review the library’s collection development policy.
“I tend to think that the vast majority of issues in government whether it’s local, state or national – most of those issues can be solved just through transparency,” he said. “To the extent of whether a subcommittee is going to help or hinder that transparency, I’m concerned about that.”
The subcommittee will be meeting for the policy review and then with the staff, Anderson said, and “any of the work that we do I think will be communicated back to the Library Board,” she said.
Library Board meetings are open to the public.
“I don’t feel that there is anything that we would be doing that we would not be willing to share,” Anderson said.
Victoria Holland – who has frequently spoken about libraries before the City Council, and last week, before the Library Board – said Wednesday she was encouraged board members were pursuing education on library policies.
Holland, who is executive director of County Citizens Defending Freedom, has endorsed relocating certain books from the young adult section to the adult section of the library, should the books include content she considers vulgar or “educationally unsuitable materials” for children.
She said she doesn’t have specific expectations for the subcommittee’s tasks.
“(The board) educating themselves thoroughly on all sorts of library policies – including this one – and forming their advisem*nts on it seems proactive and appropriate for what they’ve volunteered and assigned to do,” Holland said.
More: Here's how the Corpus Christi Library Board became controversial
More: The Library Board voted on a request to remove a book. Here's what they decided.
More: Here are four books requested to be removed or restricted in Corpus Christi libraries
