Payson Councilor Jim Ferris last week couldn’t convince the council to turn down a $250,000 library grant over his bid to censor a library book about sex.
The debate stirred such passions, it sparked a sometimes-personal debate about the Constitution, Freedom of Speech and morality when Ferris, on June 23, objected to approval of the consent agenda item.
The council ultimately approved the acceptance of $250,000 from the Gila County Library District. The money comes from property tax and provides for the eight libraries in the county.
Accepting this money includes an agreement the local library will adhere to the Library Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights requires libraries to provide books that represent all points of view.
And that’s what spurred Ferris’ debate about the 2015 book “Sex is a Funny Word.” The exchanges on the topic got passionate.
Ferris said the library should remain free to reject immoral books and challenged the morality of his fellow council members.
“My primary objection is the Library Bill of Rights and that it’s used to justify what is in the library,” said Ferris said. “That Bill of Rights has been used to justify all kinds of what I call abhorrent behavior of things going on in our library.”
The nation’s libraries have operated under the Library Bill of Rights since the 1930s, said head librarian Emily Linkey.
“That’s one of the things that makes libraries, libraries,” she said. “We’ve got things from both points of view. You will find books on both sides of the political spectrum, representing all sorts of families, representing the religious and irreligious. That’s what libraries do. The Library Bill of Rights that protects the one book, protects the other.”
She continued, “So, when I have parents or other interested community members who want to come and talk to me about why we have Bible stories in the library, for instance, saying that’s an issue of separation of church and state, asking, ‘Why does our public library have religious books in it?’ And I say, well, we’ve got books for everybody.”
But Ferris said the book was unacceptable.
“It describes things that are inappropriate,” he said. “I don’t think as a parent I need to have a government agency that I’m paying taxes to put material in a location that my child may come across. If some people feel that this is totally appropriate, then you have a different moral barometer than I do.”
This offended Councilor Jolynn Schinstock, who is also on the school board.
“I feel that what you are saying to me is that if I don’t agree with you on the Bill of Rights, that your morals and values are superior to mine ... and I just want you to know that although we may disagree, your values are not superior to mine, OK?”
The audience applauded after she finished her statement.
Resident Elizabeth Bayless Elkins accused Ferris of censorship.
“Saying that this Bill of Rights shouldn’t be a part of the agreement, is literally the next step to taking away our First Amendment rights and censoring people — and that’s not OK,” she said, also to applause.
Councilor Scott Nossek tried to pin down Ferris on exactly what about the Library Bill of Rights he disagreed with so passionately he was willing to close the library.
“What is in the Library Bill of Rights that is in conflict with the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution? That’s what I don’t understand,” Nossek asked Ferris.
“Well I didn’t say that. But we do have a right to decide what’s appropriate in the face of our children,” said Ferris.
No one disagreed.
The trouble over the book started about a month ago when an elderly male library patron filed a complaint that this book was in an inappropriate place for children.
Head librarian Emily Linkey agreed.
“It is written for children’s parents,” she said.
No one had checked out the book in six years. Realizing she did not have an appropriate home for it, Linkey moved the book to a newly created section with resources for parents.
The book by Canadian educator Cory Silverberg won the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-fiction and the ALA Notable Children’s Book award. The amazon.com description describes it as, “A comic book for kids that includes children and families of all makeups, orientations, and gender identities, ‘Sex Is a Funny Word’ is an essential resource about bodies, gender, and sexuality for children ages 8 to 10 as well as their parents and caregivers. Much more than the ‘facts of life’ or ‘the birds and the bees,’ ‘Sex Is a Funny Word’ opens up conversations between young people and their caregivers in a way that allows adults to convey their values and beliefs while providing information about boundaries, safety, and joy.”
Prior to the complaint, Linkey said the library did not have a parenting section. Now she has many books organized in this section to help parents negotiate raising a child.
Linkey explained the library already had controls over what children read in the library. Children younger than 9 may not roam the library without adult supervision. The final parental control comes from the child’s library card. A parent or guardian must approve library cards for their children under 18 and then have electronic access to monitor what their child has checked out — more ways to control the content children absorb than the internet and social media provides.
“As a parent, you should be watching what your kids are doing,” said Elkins. “So, you should know what they’re looking at and what they’re reading. If you’re not doing that, then that’s your fail and nobody else’s.”
The council then split the vote on the library five to Ferris’ one. Suzy Tubbs-Avakian had dropped off her Zoom connection to the meeting and so did not vote on this item.
(13) comments
amazing that for a few "free" taxpayer dollars how many people can be bought, what would be the comments if the "free" taxpayer dollars were spent for the library to distribute books of faith
So, everyone who commented on this book must have read it...right?
It is crazy that some people want to go back to the 1930s book burnings. All for a comic book for 8 to 10 year old. They are in for a huge shock when they find out all the things on the internet.
perhaps parents should not allow "children" access to those "things" on the internet
No publicity stunt just trying to protect the children from a nasty book displayed on a shelf over the coloring table . You can spin it any way you want but that book was written nasty with cartoons to indoctrinate children. I’ll protect them all day long . I pulled the book and they removed the bulk of those books which meant they had more and knew they were inappropriate in childrens hands . 🙏🇺🇸
Dave – You took a post from Elvia School board. Coordinated with your AZRA group/Fourforpayson and Jim Ferris and cooked up a campaign political stunt using our Public Facility “Town Hall”. It backfired badly and exposes you all as homophobes and willing to remove people’s rights. All you guys are dangerous bad news and a threat to democracy in Payson. You are a Political Special Interest Group.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100078653376178
May 11 th
A member of Hispanic outreach for AZRA .Rim Country Arizona Republican Assemblies.
Elvia School Board is with Elvia Botello Guerrero.
A mother who recently moved to our town of Payson just shared with me that these books are displayed at our library. As you can see, the sexualization of our children is integrated. God help us keep our little ones safe...
Following is the pictures of the book you falsely targeted as a political stunt. Sad and unlaw to use town hall are your groups campaign headquarters.
The photos tell the story.
Indoctrination? That’s what the Bible is for. If you think this book is appropriate, try reading your bibles.
This was simply a political stunt campaigning using the taxpayers facility Town Hall. Dave- Jim-Elvie-Doug-and Stephen all members of the Rim Country's AZRA cooked up this fake political stunt. I hope it backfired badly . Would you all please stop using our town hall as some kind of campaign headquarters. That's against the law. We the people have suffered enough of this false behavior.
"false behavior?" Isn't that a bit like false "fake profiles? You remember. Jack Hastings, Dennis Lawrey, Ned Lemon,Don Tea, Don Fair? Now THAT's what I would call 'false behavior"!
Were you the "elderly male patron" that complained about a book that hadn't been checked out in 6 years??🙄🙄🙄
When guilty- Paul's ad hominem is two things 1- Deflection to hide his misinformation and guilt. 2- Frustration because he is unable to CENSOR you like he does everywhere else. Jigs up buddy.
do you really want a backfire in Payson
I believe the root of the issue has less to do with censorship, and more to do with make sure material in the children's section age appropriate. I applaud the library's moving the book to a more suitable area, where parents can supervise a child's access to controveersial material that is, perhaps, more suited to teen aged minors.
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