By Shereen Siewert
A group calling itself ‘Citizens for Decency in our Library’ is asking the Marathon County Public Library in Wausau to instill a rating system to “help parents decide” whether materials are appropriate.
An ad placed in The City Pages in Wausau this week urges people to “come and stand up for the children at the library board meeting” set for Monday. The ad did not carry a disclaimer identifying the group, but The City Pages published a statement on the newspaper’s Facebook Page noting that the language was inadvertently left off the published version of the ad due to a production error. Who specifically is behind the group and paid for the ad is unclear, as the organization does not have a verifiable online presence and does not appear in a search of the Wisconsin Dept. of Financial Institutions database of corporate records.
Similar groups have cropped up nationwide as the debate over library material continues. A growing number of communities are seeing challenges to books and other content related to race, sex, gender and other subjects that some conservatives deem appropriate. Where book bans have failed, activists have attempted to dissolve libraries’ governing bodies, rewrite or delete censorship protections and, in the latest wave of efforts, instill rating systems at taxpayer expense.
In Wausau, the group’s ad says “parents want help” and says “ratings are good tools that equip parents quickly” without having to remove books from the library. The group claims that some books are considered “harmful material” to children under state law.
The Marathon County Public Library Board on Monday will hear an analysis of the legal implications of implementing such a system, which some analysts say could violate the First Amendment.
The American Library Association takes a strong position on the matter, and cautions that using a ratings system would violate the Library Bill of Rights. “Libraries should remain viewpoint-neutral, providing information that patrons seek about any rating system equitably, regardless of the group’s viewpoint,” the group’s official policies state.
Critics of the library’s current policy point to a variety of private organizations — including the Motion Picture Association of America, Parents Television Council, Entertainment Software Rating Board, TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board, and the Recording Industry Association of America — have developed rating systems as a means of advising parents concerning their opinions of the contents and suitability or appropriate age for use of certain books, films, recordings, television programs, websites, or other materials.
But Deborah Caldwell-Stone, from the Illinois Library Association Reporter, says ALA says movie rating systems are private, not public policy.
“None of these organizations are government agencies and as such their rating systems cannot be mandated or enforced by any government or agency, including a publicly funded library,” ALA materials state. “This applies with equal force to library policies and procedures that effectively deny minors equal and equitable access to library resources and services available to other users. A library can, however, make information concerning these rating systems available to library patrons.”
Further, library officials say these rating systems are devised by private groups using “subjective and changing criteria to advise people of suitability or content of materials.” That means, that under ALA policy, is the library’s responsibility to prevent the imposition or endorsement of private rating systems.
Several books have been at the center of recent controversies at the Marathon County Public Library. A library patron filed a complaint on April 26 regarding “Let’s Talk About it: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human,” by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan. Library Director Leah Giordano shared a committee’s response after a review – retaining the book on the MCPL’s shelves – on May 23.
“With regard to the book Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human’ by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan, it is the unanimous recommendation of this committee that the item be retained in the collection of the Marathon County Public Library,” the committee said, while also unanimously recommending the MCPL not implement a rating system for books.
The committee cautioned that, “to create or adopt a book rating system, as requested by the patron, could potentially lead to a violation of the First Amendment.”
Other books have also been the focus of scrutiny by some people who view them as pornographic or improper. Last year, the Library Board of Trustees endorsed a review committee’s decision to retain “Making a Baby” by Rachel Greener and Clare Owen and “You Be You! The Kids Guide to Gender, Sexuality and Family” by Jonathan Branfman and Julie Benbassat.
EveryLibrary, a national political action committee for libraries that tracks such challenges, said it has seen “dozens of new attacks” on libraries, their governing bodies and policies since the first of the year, according to The Washington Post. In some cases, the challengers are being assisted by growing national networks such as the parental rights group Moms for Liberty or spurred on by conservative public policy organizations like Heritage Action for America, the ALA has said.
The library board meets at noon on Monday at the Marathon County Public Library, 300 N. First St., Wausau. Public comment at the start of the meeting is allowed. People wishing to attend virtually can log or call into the meeting beginning five minutes prior to the start time using the following website: https://meet.goto.com/758330069 or by calling 866-899-4679. The access code for dialing in is 758-330-069.
