I listened to the Library Advisory Board meeting on March 15, at which they voted to refer a book to the city attorney for “review.” As Assemblyman Felix Rivera said, this action appears to be part of the culture wars being pushed in other states.
Library Advisory Board member Doug Weiman pushed the board to refer the book, “Let’s Talk About It” to the municipal attorney, since he asserted that the library having this book available to those under 18 was “breaking the law.”This claim is ridiculous. I am not a lawyer, but I can read. I skimmed the two laws cited: AS 11.41.455 and Muni code 8.50.010. How one would conclude that these laws apply to a book in a library is difficult to understand.
The state statute is about unlawful exploitation of a minor. It refers to exploiting a minor by permitting the minor to engage in various acts with the intention of producing a live presentation of film, etc. It applies to parents, guardians and people having care and custody of minors. Apparently it was intended to stop pornographers who exploit minors. I don’t see how this would apply to a librarian sitting at her desk and a minor looking at a book, do you? The muni law refers to performances and exhibitions harmful to minors. To my knowledge, no one has presented any evidence that minors were harmed by a book. Further, it applies to minors in a commercial setting. Commercial settings involve making a profit. Schools, offices and libraries are not commercial settings.
Weiman raised this issue on behalf of Jeffrey McDonald, who recently disrupted a School Board meeting. I wonder how long they searched the statutes to try to find a relevant law about a book that Mr. McDonald doesn’t approve of? If he really seriously thought the library broke the law by having this book, couldn’t he have talked to a lawyer himself instead of having the book referred to the municipal attorney at taxpayer expense?
The municipal librarian explained the process for reviewing materials that start with the person who objects completing a form, and the process was not followed. But the board voted 3 to 2 to bypass this process, despite the fact that there does not appear to be any urgency to this issue at all. Apparently this particular book was only for staff use and there was no complaint of any actual harm to a minor caused by the book.
Interestingly, one of the board members who voted to refer the book to legal was Deb Bronson, wife of Mayor Dave Bronson. The other two aye votes were board members appointed by Dave Bronson. Hopefully, Assembly member Chris Constant will be successful in looking into irregularities in the vote, since the three votes for the legal referral do not represent a majority. Obviously there are serious questions about the board’s action. I really hope we put an end to this culture wars attack on our library and let our professional library resolve this issue using the appropriate process.
— Joanne Kell
Anchorage
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