Books containing violence, underage drinking and drugs or sexually explicit content at the Alamance County libraries will be labeled with a parental guidance suggested sticker, if the Alamance County Commissioners vote to approve the label. The Alamance County Library Committee voted at its Feb. 11 meeting to bring the issue to the commissioners.
The label brought controversy after the committee considered labeling LGBTQ+ content in books, according to the minutes from the Nov. 12 meeting. After the request for the sticker was brought up, over 50 community members came to hear about the proposed policy at the next meeting Jan. 31. Twenty people spoke during the public comments section of the meeting, with only two speaking in favor of the sticker, according to the meeting minutes.
The majority of disagreements with the label cited the harm of targeting specific themes as it marks them as “wrong.” The American Library Association recommends against labeling books with LGBTQ+ themes as it can draw negative attention.
While Alamance Pride president Ken Smith wasn’t at the meeting himself, the organization posted about the meeting on Facebook, encouraging members of the community to learn about it.
“The continued stigmatization of people who are othered or perceived as others — I think that's the real harm,” Smith said. “And of course, the proverbial slippery slope. Where do you stop, from a First Amendment perspective? What's acceptable speech or language and what is and then who gets to determine who has access to what? Anyone could go into a library and that sort of situation and complain about virtually anything.”
Pamela Thompson, Alamance County commissioner and library committee liaison, said while she understands both sides of the issue, she would vote in support of this. As a liaison from the county commissioners to the library committee, she is not a voting member but attends meetings.
She said this whole issue began after a mom brought her child to the library and the child found a book featuring a bunny rabbit that discussed “different lifestyles.” The rabbit was having “feelings that he didn’t understand,” Thompson said.
“When her kid started reading it, or she started reading it, light bulb went off and she said, ‘This is not what I want my child to be reading.’” Thompson said. “And that was fine. I think she made a complaint, and she has every right, but the next step is how you handle it.”
Thompson said this is a difficult issue that has been made worse with increased politicization. She said while she is a strong supporter of freedom of speech, she wants to keep children safe and ensure that parents are empowered to protect their children.
“When you go in a place like a library or anywhere Barnes and Noble, anywhere, church, anywhere, if they don't have your opinion, your feathers get ruffled and you just don't like it, and you don't have to believe something, but you cannot be judgmental and critical of everybody else,” Thompson said. “Last I checked God has not been on vacation and asked me to sub for him for two weeks. That is not my job.”
Smith said there really is no issue as the age groups these books are targeting should be accompanied by a parent.
“They use the typical moral panic of the children to justify these things to cover up their own fears and shame and guilt,” Smith said. “The reality of the situation is, I can't think of one parent when you look at the age group that they're really trying to address. I don't know of one parent that wouldn't be already accompanying their children to the library and knowing what they're reading.”
Thompson agreed that parents should be accompanying their children to the library but is worried children could still find ways to get books without their parents knowing if they are placed in children’s sections throughout the library.
“I'm going to support children, and these stickers are a way to alert you that it may be too violent or too sexually inappropriate, whatever that looks like for a certain age,” Thompson said. “I'm going to support that because that is common sense, and parents need to be more involved with their children reading.”
The prospect of labeling LGBTQ+ themes comes after the Alamance County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted Cheryl Sandford to join the library committee in 2023 rather than an incumbent. Sandford criticized an LGBTQ+-themed book display at the May Memorial Library in 2022.
Chair of the committee Jessica Simmons was an advocate of labeling LGBTQ+ content with a rainbow sticker to raise awareness of books content as a whole, according to the meeting minutes.
Sandford, committee member Bonnie Whitaker and the Alamance Libraries Administrative Office did not respond to Elon News Network’s multiple requests for an interview. Thompson, who spoke on Whitaker’s leadership, said she is a important voice to have in this conversation, as Whitaker said at the Jan. 31 meeting she was in favor of the stickers to allow parent’s more discretion — yet Thompson said Whitaker is also very open about her own identity and is married to a woman.
Smith said the alarm about these themes in books comes from fear.
“The real truth is this is just another moral panic on behalf of a few who are living in some kind of fear themselves about things that maybe they can't understand and maybe even living with the some self imposed guilt,” Smith said. “I think it says more about the people who are advocating for labeling or trying to find information from people than anything else.”
People can fill out the parental discretion advised request form, where once the submission is received, the request is received by the library management team and racial equity team, according to the meeting minutes. Once the decision is made to add a sticker, the decision can not be appealed.
The form has three categories for reasons it should be labeled — “violence toward self or others,” “explicit description” and “underage drinking or drugs.” The form also asks for the page number of the content, as well as what the intended age and audience is.
In 2022, the Alamance-Burlington School System banned “Gender-Queer: A Memoir” By Maia Kobabe due to sexually explicit material. The graphic novel is about exploring gender identity, and it is one of the most banned books in the U.S., according to the American Library Association.
Smith said people can take action by supporting organizations like Alamance Pride and Transcend Alamance or contacting local and state government officials.
“In times like this, be willing to speak out. Be willing to show up and advocate and support,” Smith said. “When people have an opportunity to use their privilege to advocate for others, they should do it.”
Thompson also wants community members to go to meetings — not to antagonize others, but to express their opinions. She feels on a local level is where people can make a real difference, not on a federal one.
“It's right in your backyard,” Thompson said. “That's who you pay your taxes, and that's who takes your trash, and so that's who really affects you the most. And get involved.”