By HOLLY GASKILL
A small crowd was yet again in attendance for the meeting of the Wells County Public Library board Tuesday night. This time around, the discussion followed the library’s membership in the American Library Association.
Ultimately, the board voted 6-1 to lapse their membership to the ALA, which was up for renewal this month. Board members John Stauffer, Deb Johnson, Dawn Ulfig, Dustin Brown, Matt Yergler, and Kim Gentis voted in favor of the motion; Steve Tabor opposed.
The ALA is a nonprofit organization that lobbies with the federal government on behalf of library funding, promotes libraries and library development, and offers resources to libraries. However, the ALA has recently been criticized for its appointment of Emily Drabinksi as president and its defense of books challenged by bans. In deciding to leave the ALA, both Montana and Texas state libraries cited a tweet from Drabinksi last year where she self-identified as a “Marxist lesbian.”
Library Director Sarah MacNeill told the Wells County Council on Sept. 5 that she had pulled the $600 membership fee from the library’s claims to a discussion item following recent actions by the ALA.
At the time, MacNeill discussed the matter as the organization violating First Amendment neutrality. She elaborated on this point Tuesday by referencing a recent webinar where the speaker, a committee chair of the intellectual freedom committee, allegedly advised librarians how to circumvent allowing certain groups’ use of library meeting rooms.
This, MacNeill emphasized, was what she took main issue with. “Anyone is allowed to use the library, anyone is allowed to use their rooms, and we shouldn’t try to find loopholes to block,” she said. “More than ‘are they pushing diversity and inclusion?’ is the fact that they’re violating their mission.”
MacNeill then referenced the board’s discussion before this, considering the removal of “Blazing Saddles” from the collection. The 1974 movie is a satire starring Gene Wilder and Cleaven Little and was nominated for three Academy Awards and two British Academy Film Awards. The film also includes multiple racial slurs and racist themes.
The library board did not vote to withdraw the content, citing that the movie was satire and was not available for minors to check out. Johnson connected the film to similar arguments of “To Kill a Mockingbird” — that the book is a “product of its time, but holds value in its message.”
MacNeill said she sees a similar argument in defense of many disputed books and thinks that advocacy should be a function of the ALA. It was the allusion to restricting some group’s use of the library — and a corresponding lack of response from the ALA — that has bothered her.
However, a conversation regarding book bans is inevitably intertwined with a conversation about LGBTQ materials. The ALA’s defense and promotion of these materials, Yergler said, represents a political agenda.
“We have a lot of children that come off the street into our library, and parents are trusting this institution to let their children come here and not be discipled or indoctrinated,” Yergler said.
County Council member Brandon Harnish opened public comment by claiming a “supermajority” of council members favored leaving the ALA.
“It is not appropriate for Wells County government institutions to maintain memberships in ideological organizations that push divisive political causes,” Harnish continued. “In my view, the only way for our library to maintain community trust is to pursue a general policy of value neutrality.”
Harnish also stood firmly against the ideologies associated with Drabinksi and her leadership.
Community members John Senac, Ted Claghorn, and Bob Johnson echoed these sentiments. Regarding book bans, Claghorn referenced a situation in which the South Bend Tribune did not allow an opinion column to include a quote from a disputed book in the content.
“I think it’s time people started thinking about — do you want to save this nation as a free nation and a Christian nation, or do you want to tear it apart by trying to give everybody what they want?” Johnson said.
Jason Habegger, manager of Adult Services, later chimed in that there is likely content in thousands of books that wouldn’t be considered appropriate for a newspaper audience.
John Huseman, however, disagreed with the arguments at hand. Huseman called the prevalent controversy about Drabinksi’s “Marxist lesbian” comment a dog whistle for the political right. He cautioned that the county not be so quick to fall in the same line as the Montanan and Texan libraries, who he said have not set good models in other regards. “If this is where you’re growing your information from and looking for guidance, I think you ought to broaden your view just a bit,” Huseman said.
Huseman continued to reference attempted bans that have targeted books like “Charlotte’s Web” or “Where’s Waldo” as examples of where these attempts to regulate libraries have gone too far. Referencing his personal experience with an LGBTQ family member, Huseman shared how having diverse resources available to a diverse public is valuable.
“Parents should have a right to control what their children read, but don’t think they have the right to control what everybody else’s children read,” Huseman said. “It implies that, as citizens, we’re not capable of how best to govern ourselves and determine what’s appropriate for our children … Brandon Harnish says he’s frustrated with their political agenda, but withdrawing our support from the ALA, which one of their functions is to fight these book bans — that’s a political statement in itself.”
Carla Castro and Rebecca Brown similarly noted the importance of allowing diverse viewpoints. They also, however, noted that should the association not serve the library financially, they would understand the board’s decision.
This is subsequently what the decision narrowed down to — does ALA membership bring value to the WCPL?
MacNeill advised that although the membership supports lobbying for funding, the library would not be prohibited from receiving funding if they were not members. As members, the library receives discounts for some materials and access to training and conferences. The library is also still a member of the Indiana Library Federation.
Community Relations Manager Emily Marshall added that the ALA coordinates a variety of community awareness campaigns, like September as Library Card Sign-Up Month. Should WCPL sever ties completely, Marshall noted, they would have to be careful of their endorsement of these ALA programs and materials.
Stauffer said that, like the summer reading program, the WCPL could continue to drive programs locally.
“I’m very encouraged by the fact that this whole discussion has moved away from Drabinski and her identity and has become more about what are the benefits, or lack of benefits, to the Wells County Public Library,” Brown said. “And I think that’s the right discussion to be having tonight.”
The board also approved amending employee policies mentioning ALA membership.
Other library updates were:
• The summer reading program for adults jumped in participation — 1.5 million pages were logged this summer, compared to just over 1 million last summer.
• Digital reminders for check-out receipts, hold updates, and due dates have been updated to be more engaging and clear. The library also hopes to coordinate these with lock pick-ups, which allow individuals to get books outside of library hours.
• The children’s book festival is on Oct. 7. The festival’s featured author is Shannon Anderson, an award-winning children’s book author, and Jill Gill as musical entertainment.
holly@news-banner.com
