Porn Or Library Book? Looks Can Be Deceiving.
By Joseph Yang |
Earlier this year on July 20th, a small group of moms and residents gathered together for the first time at the Chandler City Council meeting. They simply wanted to share their thoughts on some of the books in the Chandler Public Library system that they found while at the library with their kids.
One of the books brought by Chandler Unified School District candidate Carley Morgan was It’s Perfectly Normal, a picture book labeled “Juvenile”—meaning for kids. The book contains images of nude men, women, and children. It also explains in detail how sex happens including talking about “When the penis enters the vagina, the wall to the vagina stretches open and around the penis.” Carley’s son Riley, a 13-year-old also spoke about how no one wants to have these “awkward” conversations with their children before they are ready to. Parenting should always be in the hands of the parents and not the library.
Andrew Adams, the Chair of Republican Legislative District 14, also spoke saying his 1-year-old daughter was with him and if someone showed his daughter the images in these books, they would be dealing with him “personally.”
On the night of September 19, 2023, many concerned citizens, parents, and residents gathered together again to express their dismay for the books that were found in the juvenile section of the libraries.
Some of the same citizens at the previous council meeting came out yet again—this time to speak to a seven-person board appointed by the Mayor and Council called the Library Board. The President of the Board, Beth Brizel, a former City Council candidate, said “I have taken notes and will definitely discuss with library staff on the possibility of this.”
The citizens who spoke were loud and clear while talking to this board. The first speaker Aubrey Savela, who is with Turning Point Action, read from the book What’s Going on Down There? On page 116 of that book, what is especially concerning is a question that is prompted by a young man, “If I get my girlfriend pregnant can I make her get an abortion even if she doesn’t want to?” Should public libraries really be used to promote getting an abortion in such a way to innocent and unsuspecting minors?
Another speaker, Jenine Cortes, who is a mother of four and is also running to serve the Chandler Unified School District board, told the board that she used to “live in the library” with her kids when her oldest child was younger. But now, she fears bringing her children to the library because they might go to the wrong shelf and find pornographic materials.
These books not only contain graphic words, but they also include graphic illustrations: pictures of women bending over to see themselves in the mirror, a penis entering the anus, and many other graphic images that have no place in the juvenile section of a public library!
Carley and Andrew also discussed how they both sat down with the Library Manager named Rachele. They shared that they asked Rachele what kind of content filters there are on the library’s computers in the youth section. According to Carley and Andrew, Rachele replied that “there are none” because the library does not want to “restrict access of their patrons.” But this is highly concerning, especially given the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case United States v. American Library Association, which stated that libraries that implement software for content filtration is NOT a violation of the Constitution.
To wrap up the night, the Library Board watched footage of the City Council meeting which drove the parents’ points home again! Now, the board needs to make the right decision before its next meeting in November to ensure that kids don’t get unfettered access to pornography in public libraries.
Joseph Yang is a young community leader and grassroots activist. He currently runs a community organization and serves on the Chandler Police Review Panel. Joseph is the Founder of the East Valley Young Republicans and current assistant state advisor for the TeenAge Republicans. He hosts a show called “The Conservative Seoul Show” that you can find here.
