Huntington Beach City Council Votes To Explore Restrictions On Children's Access To Controversial Library Books

The Huntington Beach City Council voted 4-3 early Wednesday morning to study ways to restrict children's access to public library materials containing sexually explicit content.

The original measure called for drafting an ordinance that would make sure children don't have access to materials deemed to include obscene or pornographic material, as determined by the city attorney.

However, the council ultimately passed a modified measure, which calls for a study session to discuss options for putting safeguards in place to prevent children from having access to material deemed obscene, inappropriate for their age, or of a sexual nature. That study session is supposed to take place in September.

The original measure also requested that the city manager look into parting ways with the American Library Association. However, it was revealed during Tuesday's meeting that the city is not a member of the association.

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The vote along party lines came after nearly six hours of public comment on the measure.

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Who's behind the measure?

Councilmember Gracey Van Der Mark put the proposal on this week's city council agenda. She's part of a staunchly conservative slate of candidates who won a majority of the city's council seats in last fall's election.

Van Der Mark has expressed concerns about books in the past on the public Facebook forum Informed Parents of California. In a post last week, Van Der Mark wrote that she wasn't proposing to ban books.

"We do not want to violate anyone’s freedom of speech or their right to any material, however, we need to find a way to put safeguards in place to protect our children from obscene and/or pornographic material," she wrote.

Concern from local library group

The organization Friends of the Huntington Beach Public Library has asked for people to write to city council members and speak up against the measure at this week's council meeting. On its website, the organization wrote:

"We firmly believe that individuals have the right to decide what books they choose to read for themselves and their families and that no individual has a right to decide what you are allowed to read. We fully and unequivocally support our professional librarians to manage the collection of materials available in our public libraries just as they have for more than 100 years."

Book challenges on the rise

The American Library Association has been vocal about its alarm over increasing efforts to censor library materials in recent years. It tallied a nearly 75% increase in book challenges last year compared to 2021.

"Any decision on whether to limit a young person’s access to materials is most appropriately made by their parents, who are best equipped to know and understand their child’s intellectual and emotional development," wrote Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom in recent comments to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform. "However, a parent does not have a right to restrict through government action what another parent’s child may choose to read, which would intrude on the other parent’s right to decide for their own child."

Several challenges to books have made headlines in Orange County this year. In January, the Orange Unified School District superintendent suspended access to a digital library after parents complained about several books available on the app that they said were inappropriate for young children.

And the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District Board of Trustees changed a policy earlier this year to require board approval for all novels before being piloted in classrooms.

What's the next step?

If the Huntington Beach City Council passes the measure, a proposed ordinance would come back to the council for a vote in August.