WARNING: This article will likely offend readers who oppose intellectual freedom and inclusive, science-backed education.
Huntington Beach city council members want to ban books claiming they are “porn.” There is no porn at the library in the children’s section. What are some books they have categorized as porn?
Let’s be clear: there is no pornography in these books! Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi teaches children about a natural bodily function with humor and honesty. Your One and Only Heart by award winning Dr. Rajani LaRocca explores anatomy in poetic, accessible terms. The Way We Work by David Macaulay explains the human body in ways that engage children without shame or sensationalism.
Yes on prop A & B would
- Eliminate the proposed Community Parent Guardian Review Board, which was intended to review and approve children’s and teen library materials based on community standards regarding sexual content. If you want to withhold information and education from your child. Do it. But not at the library. Build your own library. Do that there.
- Transfer the responsibility for selecting library materials to professional librarians, who would follow established policies emphasizing a diverse range of viewpoints and adherence to the First Amendment– You know… the people who went to college.
Some children are raised by single parents—fathers raising daughters, mothers raising sons—who rely on these books to fill gaps in their own understanding or comfort levels. These books offer scientifically sound, inclusive ways to help kids understand what is happening to their bodies. Removing them from reach doesn’t protect kids; it leaves them in the dark.
You think kids are going to ask their parents, “Mommy… What’s porn?” Oh, yes! They will… and they have! Thanks to political posters all over Huntington Beach, including in school zones.
Or perhaps it’s simply that they’re uncomfortable with boats. Yes… they want to ban books about boats.
Check out John Oliver for some boat porn:
Other books include:
- The children’s book Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi
- The general science book The Way We Work: Getting to Know the Amazing Human Body by David Macaulay
- Rajani LaRocca’s Your One and Only Heart, a nonfiction picture book that explains the scientific importance of the human heart to children in poetic and lyrical terms.
(ACLU)
Meanwhile, books with actual explicit content—like adult romance novels—remain openly available on spinning racks just steps away. If the concern is access to sexual content, then the city council should start there. But they won’t because this is not about protecting kids. It’s about controlling narratives.
Steamy romance books aren’t out in the open for anyone to grab and sit at any table to read. Oh, wait. They are. Adults can even take them to the children’s and teen section and just read them right there. They can even check them out. All you need is to be at least 13 years old and have a library card. Are these book Nazis going to stand at the door and check each book as they leave the library?
Are we going to move on to Danielle Steel after shoving all these boat books in the some dark corner in the basement of the library? Why aren’t we looking at these books first? Or are we just not going to bother with them? Rights and all, you know. It seems like that would be more of a priority. Why are we looking at books that educate children? There has been no good group in the past that has banned books. Please tell me a group that is generally good. The Nazis? The commies? The KGB? The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea? (To clarify… that’s North Korea)
If this is something that you’re going to do in our public library, why don’t we start with Fabio or Bared to You? At least put it behind the XXX curtains like those video rental places had in the 90s. Make sure it gives out a loud “ding dong” when someone sneaks in. Gotta make sure mommy’s a grown-up.
So the plan is to take the responsibility of selecting library books out of the hands of trained, experienced librarians—many with advanced degrees—and hand it over to someone who didn’t even finish high school because she got pregnant as a teenager. (No names, of course.)
We’re not quite there yet… but that’s clearly the direction we’re heading. For now, the books are just being hidden. Soon, librarians may have no authority at all over what stays on the shelves. Why rely on educated professionals when we can defer to a high school dropout to decide which books matter and which ones don’t?
Don’t tell me… “Oh, we’re just going to move the books into the basement or the adult section…” Have you been in that library’s basement? The adult section? Do they need to know how the science of the human body works, too? Well, they should. They can go into the kid’s section. No Shame!
This is just the beginning– when you start controlling the access to books, you start banning books, and that’s a slippery slope to idiotocracy.
Don’t ban boats. Don’t ban biology. And don’t let fear make fools of us all.
Note: I went ahead and submitted an episode idea to the creators of South Park.