SEE: https://www.massresistance.org/docs/gen4/23a/WY-Library-defends-obscene-books/index.html;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

After constant pressure from local MassResistance parents, County Commission had called a special meeting over the library book problem.

See the video below! Library staff uses absurd ALA talking points to bully and confuse officials.

January 31, 2023

This is a rare occasion to hear library officials defend their toxic actions!

In Gillette, Wyoming, the outrage by MassResistance parents over the graphic sexual and homosexual books for youth in their county public library has continued to grow. But now the parents and their public officials realize that the library staff defends all its actions – and won’t back down an inch. The staff sees no problem with horribly obscene material in the hands of children and refuses to make any “judgments” about it.

Background

For over a year, local Wyoming MassResistance parents and others have been pressuring the Campbell County Commission and the Library Board (which the Commission appoints) to force the library staff to remove the obscene sex books in the children’s and teen sections. Both boards were long dominated by hostile liberals, even in that “deep red” area, and progress was slow. But in 2022, the County Commission finally got a conservative majority, and in turn, they appointed a majority-conservative Library Board.

In October 2022 the new Library Board took the bold first step: cutting ties with the far-left American Library Association (ALA) and its Wyoming affiliate. As we’ve reported, the ALA trains library staff to collude with LGBT groups to suppress parents. The library staff was angry over losing this ALA “training” which they claim is necessary for “professional development.” But the Library Board was indicating that more changes were soon to come.

The County Commission calls a “reconciliation” meeting

On December 6, 2022, the Campbell County Commission called a special meeting of the Commission members, the Library Board members, the Library Director, and the library’s Children’s and Teen Director. The purpose of the meeting was to come to a resolution – and possible compromise – over the library books. The Commission Chairman truly wanted “to put this issue behind us.”

But that’s not what happened. The library staffers refused to budge. They fought back with a barrage of the ALA’s aggressive and well-crafted talking points. And they defended the pornography in a most despicable manner. (See video below.)

The Library Director speaks

The meeting began with some introductory comments by the Chairman and some Library Board members. Then the Library Director, Terri Lesley, came up to speak and answer questions.

She went right to her ALA playbook of talking points:

• She started by playing the victim. She accused a “group of people” (i.e., MassResistance parents) of “planning to come after the library … that’s how this thing started.”
• She said that removing any books, or even moving books within the library, “is a First Amendment violation – and that means that we could get sued.” She told the Commission that this lawsuit will be very expensive and that the county’s insurance probably won’t cover it. “And it’s a lawsuit the county can’t win,” she said. [This is simply a fear tactic, and patently false. In fact, the ALA and ACLU lawyers almost never win these cases because they clearly aren’t First Amendment violations.] And she added that she will personally refuse to violate the First Amendment.
• Another reason the books need to be there, she said, is that the library must “serve the entire community” [apparently including sexual deviants?] and that they’ve been “asked to provide books to meet everybody’s reading interest.”  [However, they refuse to include the book The Health Hazards of Homosexuality, which people in the community have asked the library to include.]
• She stated, “Nobody has presented any hard evidence that library books have harmed people in this community.” [But in fact, there is overwhelming medical evidence that pornography and obscene material causes lifelong psychological damage to children and teenagers. That’s why child obscenity laws exist.] Nevertheless, she said that “social issues” are what cause problems for children, not obscene books.
• Another reason that obscene children’s books should not be removed from the shelves: “If you don’t like the book, don’t check it out.”
• She railed about losing the ALA’s “professional training.” and said that the staff is very upset about it and that the action has created a “hostile work environment.”

Finally, the County Commission Chairman asked her if she agreed with a pro-LGBT activist’s statement, “Drawings or artwork depicting penises and vaginas are informational and not thought-provoking or arousing to kids.” She answered that she agrees with that. She went on to explain that the sexually graphic novels in the library are useful because they help kids “grasp a concept.”

The Children’s and Teens' Librarian speaks

Next, Darcy Acord, the Children’s and Teens Librarian, came up to speak. Her statements were even more disturbing.

She started by saying that when it comes to sexual issues, her job is to have a “variety of resources.”

When it comes to age level for books, she determines that by vocabulary, the difficulty level of reading, and the intended audience – not the content. She calls these “data points.” Also part of the data points is the “professional reviews” of the book. [Many of these books are “reviewed” by LGBT or Planned Parenthood groups, and have no credibility.]

She said the librarians do not look at whether a book is “appropriate” for a child or teenager. Just the opposite – she said they don’t believe in imposing any “values” when selecting children’s books.

The County Commission Chairman then asked her about a particular book in the teen section. He said that a large portion of that book included drawings and artwork of actual [homosexual] sex acts along with descriptions of a 14-year-old boy having a sexual experience with a 47-year-old man. He said, “That’s not informational. How can we agree that there’s an age group we don’t think it’s appropriate for?”

She answered that his question is about “opinion” and she needs to work with “data points.” She said she knows which book that is, and the reason it was in the library is that it passed the “objective parameters” that the library has for books for youth.

Another of the County Commissioners reminded her that obscenity doesn’t have absolute protection under the First Amendment. Since it’s the “obscene” books that get challenged in this library, how does the staff determine what’s “obscene” for books in the children’s and teen sections?

Her answer was bizarre. She said the term “obscene” isn’t objective. “We have to go back to objective data points.”  She reiterated that those data points include an intended audience, the age of the protagonist, professional reviews, etc. Thus, this book is about a 14-year-old – so it would go in the teen collection, she said. (You could see people’s jaws drop in the room.) She added that she refuses to give her personal definition of obscenity.

She didn’t stop there. She said, “It’s an individual’s or family’s right to read those books.” (In other words, child obscenity laws are a violation of children’s rights to read pornography.) She said that even though the books are available for children in the library, “nobody is forcing kids to read these books”.

Video

Here’s the video clip of their statements before the County Commission. See it for yourself:

The workshop ended with the Library Board Chairman saying that an entirely new collections policy (with completely different “data points”) is clearly needed to ensure that obscene books don’t enter the collection and that the library staff must remove books that do not comport with the new policy. This is clearly not what the library staff wants at all. It would also make it more difficult for any lawsuit. We’ll see what happens.

Final Reflections

This is basically how the flood of sickening sex books for children and teenagers gets into America’s libraries – and how public officials are intimidated into backing down.

Normal people don’t do this to children. Most folks don’t realize how innately perverted – and just plain evil – the people are who are running these libraries.

It’s disappointing that the Campbell County officials felt the need to “dialogue” and “negotiate” with the library staff over this. The Library Director and staff are employees of the county.

One point that’s rarely brought up is that these library staffers would be in prison if their states didn’t have a narrow exemption from their child obscenity laws for libraries and schools (which were written decades ago when people had common sense).

We have long asserted that bureaucratic “challenges” to obscene library books are not the proper approach. The books don’t bring themselves in. Bad people bring them in. Those people should be fired.

Mass Resistance will continue to be at the forefront of this fight across America!