West Bend City Council Fails to Reinstate Library Board Members
By Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal,05/20/2009
The four board members of Wisconsin’s West Bend Community Memorial Public Library who were likely to vote against moving sexually explicit YA books to the adult section won’t be reinstated—a move that the library's director finds disturbing.
In a vote of 5-2 (and one abstention), the city council this week decided not to rescind a recent motion to get rid of the board members, who the council says were taking too long to resolve a massive book challenge filed 
by local parents Jim and Ginny Maziarka.
"These were four very qualified people who collectively have a lot of experience on these issues," says library director Michael Tyree about the board members who were up for reappointment. "They were doing what they were supposed to do—wait for the Maziarkas to resubmit their reconsideration for library materials."
Back in February, the Maziarkas sought to ban 58 GLBT young adult titles that they felt were obscene or pornographic, but since filing that complaint they altered their position, Tyree says.
The Maziarkas have expanded their list of objectionable books to 82, which now include a range of titles with sexually explicit themes. And instead of outright banning them, the couple wants the books reclassified and moved to the adult section, where parental permission would be necessary to check the books out.
The couple, who describe themselves as coming from a largely "conservative and faith-based" community, is also asking the library to place warning labels on the books, as well as install Internet filters.
As a result of that change, Tyree says the library was advised by the city attorney to have the Maziarkas re-file their complaint. They have yet to do so—and instead, they’ve launched an online petition outlining their new demands.
"They’re very skillful at playing the political game," says Tyree, referring to the fact that the book challenge has ended up pitting city council members against library supporters—and has gained nationwide attention, with the American Library Association, the American Bookseller Foundation for Free Expression, the National Coalition Against Censorship, and the School of Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee weighing in their support for the library board members.At the same time, the Maziarkas have gained backing from Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, SafeLibraries.org, and Parents Against Bad Books in Schools.
"All this seems to lead toward the continued politicalization of the local library board, says Michael Zimmer, a faculty member at the School of Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, which issued the statement of support for the library's administration and board.
Although Tyree says he has the unilateral authority to decide against moving the books or labeling them, he’d prefer to wait for the library board to back him.
"If the [Maziarkas] aren’t pleased with my decision, it’ll end up in the board’s lap anyway," he explains, adding that this is a "cautionary tale that library boards, directors, and staff members should be aware of [because] what's happened here can occur in many communities throughout the country."
So far, 10 people have applied for the four library board positions, and the deadline for applications is June 2.
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| Submitted by: | Dan Kleinman (SafeLibraries@gmail.com) 6/7/2009 9:31:14 PM PT |
| Location: | Chatham, NJ |
| Occupation: | SafeLibraries.org - Are Children Safe in Public Libraries? |
ALA Gets It Right Again; American Libraries Magazine First to Get West Bend Story Straight -- that's the blog post I wrote discussing the contents of this School Library Journal article. Please see safelibraries.blogspot.com/2009/06/ala-gets-it-right-again-american.html wherein I congratulate Beverly Goldberg on an excellent article. I also show how the library director misled people in this SLJ article wherein the ALA article gets it right.
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