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Huntington Beach residents will vote on book censorship, library control in June
Librarians at the Huntington Beach Central Library review books in the children's section on Feb. 7, 2024.
(
Jill Replogle
/
LAist
)
The Huntington Beach City Council has set a special election for June 10 on two initiatives that could determine who controls the city’s public libraries.
One would repeal a controversial parent-guardian review board with the power to determine which children’s books are appropriate for the city’s public libraries. The other would ban privatization of Huntington Beach’s libraries in what could be the biggest test yet of the city's MAGA agenda.
What’s the backstory?
Huntington Beach's libraries have been a point of controversy since staunch conservatives took over city government and voted, in late 2023, to establish a board of local parents and guardians to review children’s books for public libraries and weed out ones they determine to have sexually inappropriate content. Opponents say that job should be left to professional librarians — and they mounted a petition drive to get the board repealed.
Public library advocates mounted a second petition drive after the City Council flirted last year with outsourcing library operations to a private company. Both initiatives qualified for the ballot in December.
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Lawsuit pending
Several Huntington Beach teens, backed by the ACLU and First Amendment Coalition, recently sued the city over the book review board and its new policy of prohibiting minors from accessing library books with sexual content. In a news conference this week, several City Council members decried the lawsuit and accused opponents of supporting kids’ access to pornography.
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