Big Changes For The Library Board
Thanks to Executive Committee member Brooklynn White for this write-up. This is an editorial piece and does not reflect the views or opinions of the Sumner County Democratic Party.
For those who have been following the arduous journey of pushing back against censorship in our libraries and the ongoing attempt for a power grab by a Conservative Christian subgroup of Sumner County, you will be pleased to know big changes have come.
Recap of the last few months
These last few months have been a whirlwind for the Sumner County Library Board:
From Riley Gaines being added to the library board after midnight at a County Commission meeting to the previous Chair, Joanna Daniels, hitting the end of her term and falling off, there has been a lot of action happening *to* the library board, and yet there has been very little action for our libraries!
Months have been spent discussing the same policy Joanna Daniels had put forth attempting to ban trans identities from the libraries with little success. Time has been spent discussing alternative solutions to the perceived problem that children could access explicit content. The board also discussed the Tre Hargett letter asking libraries to comb through their collections and conduct an “age appropriateness review,” and ultimately, the board affirmed what many of us already knew: Our library directors are already doing a great job ensuring the library collections are shelved in an appropriate manner and that the content in our libraries is safe for children.
So where are things now?
Most recently, the library board has reviewed the policies they already had in place and chose to add language stating the library directors can create a parent resource shelf in view of a library staff member, if possible. It is an optional measure that some of our libraries have already utilized successfully. The policy has no teeth and does not require any specific context to be moved, but it appeases those who had some kind of illusion that our library directors were not already equipped with the ability to keep books shelved in the most appropriate manner for their patrons and their libraries.
Only time will tell if any of the directors chose to use this as a way to segregate certain topics to a “special” area of the library, but as one of the anti-censorship allies pointed out, if the directors only moved LGBTQ+ books to a “resource shelf,” they would effectively be creating a pride shelf. I do not think any diverse books advocate would be mad to have a pride shelf.
New changes to leadership
One of the most promising changes to the Sumner County Library Board has been the shift in leadership. Since Joanna Daniels fell of the library board, the board has gone through multiple Chairs or stand-ins. All have been allies of Joanna willing to push her agenda and entertain puppeteering by her and her friends. But this year, two of board members who vote in favor of censorship will fall off the board. Erika Grammer attended her last meeting in May — her term ends in June, but there will be no June meeting. Pam Teller falls off later this year. Neither intend to throw their hat in the ring to sit on the board again.
With the changes in board members, a new leadership team was elected. Stacy Parker will serve as the Chair. She has long-term library experience and is the librarian at Station Camp Elementary. Paul McCoy will serve as the Vice Chair. He currently works for the Southern Festival of Books. The Secretary and Treasurer positions are still undecided, but they will be revisited at a future meeting.
Overall, things are looking positive for the libraries. Many of the board members who have been beating the censorship drum will no longer serve on the board. The leaders of our Sumner County Library Board have real experience with libraries and the freedom to read. And the most promising of all, several of the County Commission members who have repeatedly voted to put members on our board who have no notable qualities and aspire to ban books are either not running for election again or are running opposed.
What is the best way to continue to support our libraries going forward?
Show up to vote this August and make sure your friends and family do too. You can also put some skin in the game and volunteer with one of our candidates or donate to their campaign. We need to flip seats up and down the ballot to have representatives who care about real issues rather than stripping identities and representations from our community resources!
