According to Jimmy Kelly, director of the Vinton Public Library, the controversy began with a complaint about the exhibition of a children’s book with information about the LGBTQ community.
“They want a balance where every book that talks about LGBTQ issues has a book that explains traditional gender expressions,” Kelly told CNN on Thursday.
However, former library director Janet McMahon, in an interview with CNN, upheld the decision to display books in the library’s collection, saying she had no “congressional opposition.”
“There is no agenda when buying a collection. It’s not my job. I know what my job is and there are guidelines for doing it. So politics influences the way I choose. I will not give you my collection. “
“There were a lot of people speaking out to defend people in the LGBT community,” Kelly said at a later meeting, but former librarian Lenny Greenley and her tentative who left in May. Complaints were still sacrificed to staff, including their successors. I left last Friday.
“We decided we needed to close without full-time staff,” Kelly said.
Greenlee told CNN that he was pleased that the story was in the spotlight, but refused to talk any further about his experience, saying he needed to move on.
The library has a complaint policy
According to McMahon, the library had a policy of allowing residents to complain about books in order to have them delete them. She states that no formal objection was filed. Instead, she says, the customer checked out five children’s books, including “Joey: The Story of Joe Biden,” and didn’t return them.
“A rethinking policy allows us to oppose the materials and programming that the library participates in. The library has this. It’s very common,” she added. “It protects library staff and protects the library board and those who are complaining. It’s a great process.”
According to Kelly, the content complaints followed last year’s complaints, with the library having a children’s book about Vice President Kamala Harris and one written by Mrs. Jill Biden, but a children’s book about former President Donald Trump. There was not. He said it led to McMahon’s resignation.
Since resigning last year, McMahon has become Dewitt’s librarian, about 90 miles away. She says the dispute that led to her decision to leave the Vinton community was unfortunate.
“I was very sad. I really liked working with the city director I was working with,” she said. “There were great staff and some people on the library bulletin board thought it was great, but it was just an atmosphere. Where we all choose a place that suits our personality and live in it. I choose a place where I work and work. I didn’t feel that life was so stressful. “
Mr. McMahon also said he had heard complaints that a book about former President Donald Trump was not on display.
“These are children’s books, picture books, and I did due diligence. Did anyone miss you? Did anyone write a nice book about the former president? The answer at that point is no. I don’t know if there’s anything. I don’t know now. “
Kelly said he and eight other members have agreed to volunteer at the library so that they can resume next week with limited schedules and offerings. Kelly said library officials are interviewing a new board member. Kelly hopes that public debate at public conferences will lead to better understanding, but he admitted that the future may still be difficult.
“It’s not a solved problem,” Kelly said. “It feels very much like it’s still on the surface.”
“Government agencies such as public schools and public community libraries disagree with some community members’ views of those materials,” Mark Stringer, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Iowa, said in a statement Tuesday. Society is free to read. “
Source: www.cnn.com
