In Huntington Beach, A Move To Censor Children's Books With 'Sexual Content'

The Huntington Beach City Council passed a resolution early Wednesday stating that no city library will allow children access to books with any sexual content.

The resolution also calls for establishing a committee to review children's library books for sexual content and decide whether to approve books proposed for library acquisition.

The measure was passed by the council's conservative majority on a 4-3 vote after about five hours of public comment that started Tuesday evening, most of it in opposition.

Some likened the proposal to censorship by an authoritarian government.

"Talk about a nanny state," said former Huntington Beach Mayor Connie Boardman during the public comment period.

The city received nearly 550 emails about the proposal, about 95% of them in opposition.

Councilmember Gracey Van Der Mark, who sponsored the resolution, said it's meant to protect children from age-inappropriate content.

The Huntington Beach library system has received just five complaints about books in the past five years, according to a city council presentation.

The details

The resolution requires that all books with any sexual content be placed only on shelves designated for people 18 and older. It also requires minors have a parent or guardian's consent to check out those books.

[Read our earlier story about the book censorship measure.]

In addition, the resolution calls for establishing a "community parent/guardian review board" composed of up to three members appointed by each council member, for potentially 21 members total. The board will review children's books proposed for acquisition by the city library and existing library books flagged by review board members.

What supporters say

Van Der Mark argued against people who characterized the measure as a "book ban," saying books found to be inappropriate for children would be re-shelved in the adult section.

She also argued that community members on the review board will have as much right as librarians to accept or reject books for the public library.

"We should have a right as Huntington Beach residents to have a library that is reflective of our community," Van Der Mark told LAist earlier this week.

What opponents say 

Opponents countered that librarians are trained to curate books for a wide diversity of interests and viewpoints.

They called the measure censorship and said it violates people's First Amendment right to receive information. They also said the resolution's sweeping language could open the city up to litigation.

The ACLU Foundation of Southern California and First Amendment Coalition sent a joint letter to the Huntington Beach City Council opposing the measure on constitutional grounds, and saying that, if implemented literally, kids under 18 would need parental permission to access classics like Romeo and Juliet, The Great Gatsby and even the Bible.

Many residents said the measure was simply unnecessary.

"I'd like to point out that we already have a committee of parents to select books, it's called parents," said Lindsay Klick, a Huntington Beach resident who said she's a children's librarian elsewhere in Orange County.

"They don't have to give their child a library card. So they can be their own parental committee of one, selecting the materials for them, with them, at the library."