To those who say, “You don’t get to decide what other people’s kids read”:
First, our tax dollars fund the library. So we absolutely have a right to provide input on every aspect of the library. “Hand over your tax dollars and shut up” doesn’t sound very American or democratic, does it?
Second, the library board is a governmental agency (see Tex. Loc. Gov’t Code § 326.004(b)). Library board trustees are elected officials. Trustees set library policy and hire library staff. So:
working to influence policy → set by elected officials → who comprise a government agency
…is literally the definition of self-government—the central idea of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Third, the library is meant to serve all residents of the district.
Currently, due to library policy and purchasing choices made by library staff, some Salado parents won’t take their kids to the library anymore. They would love to, but are worried their kids may be exposed to something that will destroy their innocence.
Do they not get to have a say? Especially since they’re paying for a service that they can’t in good conscience use anymore (but wish they could)?
Fourth, protecting children from age-inappropriate content in the library has no bearing whatsoever on the choices parents make regarding the upbringing of their children.
Again, the library is a public space that is publicly funded. What you choose to allow your child to be exposed to is your business. But other Salado residents shouldn’t be forced to subsidize those choices if they believe that doing so could lead to their own children being harmed.
Remember, library policy determines which materials are available to all children in the library—not just those who have a more, shall we say, expansive view of what is age-appropriate.
Fifth, it is demonstrably, objectively true that children and teens are harmed, or face a greater likelihood of being harmed, when they are exposed to sexually explicit content or content promoting gender ideology (biology doesn’t determine sex; sex ≠ gender; gender is a spectrum; gender is fluid).
Since the prefrontal cortex in children and teens is not fully developed, rendering them less capable than adults of evaluating what is in their long-term best interest, adults have a responsibility to help guide them toward what is healthy and away from what is harmful.
That’s why there are minimum ages for buying tobacco, purchasing a firearm, driving a car, and a host of other activities. Ensuring a library’s collection is age-appropriate is no different.
In summary: Protecting kids from harmful material in a public library is nothing less than self-government, and substantially more. In fact, it’s a hill we’re willing to die on.
Comments are closed.