Mount Pleasant parents raise concerns about sexual content of library books

Published 5:30 pm Wednesday, August 7, 2024

MOUNT PLEASANT — Three Mount Pleasant community members expressed concerns Tuesday about books containing graphic sexual content that are available for youth to read at the city’s public library.

Titus County residents David Ruff, David Mester and Kitty O’Rand attended the Mount Pleasant City Council meeting to ask for changes to the city library’s policies, joining parents across the nation who have campaigned against allowing children and teenagers to have access to books about a wide range of violent, sexual and race-related topics.

They also voiced objections to a room in the library for teenagers that they believed parents weren’t allowed to enter, though a former librarian said parents are, in fact, allowed to enter it.

The three community members spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting. Councilmembers aren’t allowed to respond to speakers, but Mayor Tracy Craig did so, telling the parents he understands their concerns.

Ruff read aloud portions of books from the city library that are rated for children ages 12 and older. The books contain profane language, discussions of pedophilia and vivid descriptions of sexual acts. Ruff said they were inappropriate for youth and shouldn’t be available to them.

“I implore you — pick up these books,” he told city councilmembers. “Read them, and then ask yourselves, you as a parent, would you let your kids read these? Would you let your kids be influenced by this when they’re already confused? I wouldn’t.”

Efforts to ban books in libraries across the nation have increased in the past three years, according to the American Library Association. About half of the thousands of books targeted by so-called “pressure groups” deal with LGBTQ+ topics and race-related topics.

Texas is among the states where book challenges have been the highest, according to the Children’s Defense Fund, a left-leaning advocacy organization. In 2023, state lawmakers passed House Bill 900, which would have required book sellers to rate their books based on sexual content. But in April, a federal appeals court blocked the main portion of the law from taking effect.

Like Ruff and others at Tuesday’s meeting, a chorus of parents across the nation and in East Texas have spoken during public meetings to raise awareness about library books.

Before he read passages from books during Tuesday’s meeting, Ruff said people in the audience who have small children and those who are offended by discussion of pedophilia should leave the room.

The first book he read was “Sadie,” an award-winning fiction novel by Courtney Summers that tells the story of a girl who tries to find her sister’s murderer.

“This book features child murder, child abuse, pedophilia, child neglect, attempted sexual assault, alcohol, alcoholism and drug addiction,” Ruff said before reading a section of the book that details part of a sexual encounter.

He then read a portion of the book “If I Was Your Girl” by Meredith Russo, the story of a transgender teenager who has a crush on a boy. The passage he read contained a homophobic slur and the ‘F’ word.

“Why are we allowing this type of material?” Ruff asked. “And they’re influencing these kids, taking away the nuclear family. Where … are the parents? Where … are the counselors in all this?”

Mester spoke next, saying he wouldn’t allow his children to enter the teenagers’ room at the library.

“I think it can be so easily that hate out of fear can seem to come from all this, and we can hate what we don’t know or we can almost hate because we want to protect our kids,” he said. “But hate will not fix this. Only love will.”

O’Rand, president of the Christian Home Educators of the Mt. Pleasant Area, said she appreciates the local librarians for how they’ve helped the group of homeschool students and educators.

“I’m not here out of anger — out of concern,” she said.

“Within our group, there has been concern about the books, and I felt that as the president, I should express some concern and say, ‘How do we go about being able to have a voice of what is in the library, and how do you change a policy?’” she asked. “How do you get families together, and is it something we can change, like, we vote on as a family?

“How do we get the books out of there the right way?”

Helen Thompson, who retired as the city’s librarian in January, said she addressed concerns about the room for teenagers while she was still a librarian. It was created to give teenagers privacy, she said.

“The teen policy is that the parents can come in and out. They just can’t go in there and set up their computer and stay,” Thompson said. “And one parent was concerned because, ‘I need to see what they’re doing.’ The wall is glass, and there are seats outside the wall.”

Thompson also talked with parents who both objected to and supported the library’s choice of books.

“Some of them applauded the library for saying, ‘You know, we realize that you have to have something for everybody, that the library represents the city. It doesn’t represent just the homeschool group or just the Buddhist or the Muslims or whatever. It’s a broad spectrum. It also does not represent what we believe,’” Thompson said.

Thompson said she encourages parents to know what types of books their children are reading, and she also said parents have a right to keep their children from reading certain books.

Craig directed residents to the city library board, saying they should voice their concerns there.

He said he hopes the board can “come to a decision that is that will make everyone happy.”