This SC county to keep LGBTQ themed books in children’s library after emotional meeting

For now, the books stay.

Greenville County Council, in a procedural vote, declined to tell the Greenville County Library to remove books dealing with LGBTQ topics from the children’s sections of its 12 locations.

The council voted 3-9 against suspending the rules to consider a resolution by Councilor Joe Dill that would have directed the library system to do so.

The council chambers were full; the comments from the public fierce, both for and against Dill’s resolution.

The entire 30 minutes reserved for public comment was taken up by the topic. Council chair Willie Meadows several times threatened to expel people for talking or clapping.

The Bible was brought up by both sides.

At one point, library board vice chair Sid Cates, a former Greenville Council councilor, was called out by a speaker for saying “barf” after another speaker identified himself as gay.

The books at issue, written for children, were called pornographic by one side and therapeutic by the other.

Ashley Snelgrove, a children’s librarian with the Greenville County library, spoke against the resolution, saying children under 11 are not allowed to be unsupervised in the library and the selection of books, especially regarding sexuality is “never taken lightly.”

Barbara Evans, a parent from Taylors, said, “I can’t even believe we’re having this conversation. Of course we shouldn’t have any sexual material in our children’s library.”

She added, “This is not about hate.”

Another woman said she was there representing “the most high God Jesus Christ” to say pornography harms adults and harms children even more.

Susan Ward, who said one of her sons is gay, said books on gay themes are important to help children find their place in the world.

“All of us worry about our children,” she said. “I worry because my child has been subjected to hate and discrimination.”

James Dodson, who said he is gay, said the library was his haven as a child and wondered when people would react to others with love and basic dignity.

“We’re not going away just because you hate us,” he said.

When it came time for the council members to weigh in, Councilor Butch Kirvin said, even before Dill could explain his resolution, that the library board should be allowed to do its work.

Dill responded his resolution was intended to support the library board.

Several members eschewed micromanaging the board, noting how many boards and commissions the county has.

Councilor Dan Tripp wondered why this issue was coming up now and asked Dill whether he pledged to people that he was “going out in a blaze of glory.” Dill was defeated in the Republican primary by newcomer Benton Blount, who faces no opposition in Tuesday’s election.

Dill denied saying that.

Tripp said he has two young children and feels that parents need to take responsibility for what their children see.

No specific book was mentioned by council members, but Ward, president of PFLAG Greenville, identified “Love, Violet” as “not hurting anyone.” The book is described by Library Journal as a story about first friendships and first crushes.

Councilor Lynn Ballard said he went to two branches to review the books in question. He said he did not see anything of concern and called the resolution unneeded. Choosing books is the purview of the library board.

Library Board vice chair Cates, who spoke during the public comment period, said he supported Dill’s resolution and promised the board would do its job. He said the board looked at 24 books Tuesday and would make recommendations about their fate. He declined to name any of the books

The issue was raised by the Greenville County Republican Party in September. Jeff Davis, chair of the Greenville County GOP, said at the time the party was not asking to ban the books, but to keep them out of reach of children, who could be “indoctrinated” by their contents.

He said the local GOP voted unanimously to ask that the materials be taken from children’s areas. Their concerns were heightened when the Greenville County Library System had a display of LGBTQ-themed books in several branches during Pride Month in June, he said.