The Victoria Library Advisory Committee will meet at the library on Tuesday to again discuss library policy and which books are made available to whom.
The meeting will be held at 5:15 pm in the Bronte Room of the Library, 302 North Main Street, Victoria.
At the September 2nd meeting, the board agreed to enact a new library card that would limit the materials children can check out. At Tuesday’s meeting, the board is expected to discuss the library’s collection development policy.
Also on September 2, Board members stood before two books that received 44 questions and objections from local residents. Those books were “George” by Alex Gino (later transitioned to “Melissa” in print) about a boy who turned into a girl in a class production of “Charlotte’s Web” and wanted to play Charlotte. was renamed). Eric Devine’s “Past” deals with the murder of a pastor’s daughter and how a transgender boy who was a friend of the girl is harassed while trying to solve the case.
These two books and others on the 44 list were targeted by a vociferous group of residents and parents. All deal with LGBTQ issues. Residents wanted them removed from the Victoria Public Library or moved from the children’s and youth shelves to an area for adults.
Members of the public will provide comments during the public communications portion of the Victoria Public Library Advisory Board meeting held in the library’s Bronte Room on Wednesday.
One resident who spoke before the September 2 board meeting said the materials were not appropriate for children.
“This is ageless literature available to young people,” said Stan Ring. “The aim is to corrupt their lifestyle.”
At that meeting, board members said this week’s meeting should be used as a workshop to determine if the library’s collection development policy needs to be adjusted.
The policy states that a user’s selection of library materials is a personal matter. Parents or guardians are responsible for reading and viewing materials intended for children and youth. At the September 2nd meeting, members of the Advisory Board said the library was not set up as a material evaluation tool.
Victoria City Council’s previous move to turn the matter over to its Advisory Board follows a county board’s decision that unanimously backed a group seeking to remove books dealing with gay, lesbian or transgender issues from its libraries. followed. Last year, 21 of her 44 eligible books were re-evaluated by an advisory board.
Librarian Director Dana Williams-Capone listens to a summary of agenda items for review at the Victoria Public Libraries Advisory Committee meeting in the library’s Bronte Room on Wednesday.
One of the issues that plagued the Library Board members on September 2 was how to establish community standards that could serve a community of 70,000 residents. Each has a different opinion. When the board was asked to set standards for the community, members told Victoria city manager Jesús Garza that they could not do so.
The new library card is a restricted youth library card. A parent or legal guardian can apply for a restricted card for a child. A parent or guardian must be present at checkout and only items marked for minors may be checked out with a card.
Longtime journalist and local government correspondent George Coryell is fond of 1960s muscle cars and firearms.
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