The Daviess County Public Library Board on Wednesday appointed Kevin Dorth as its new chair and approved moving four books from the young adult section to the adult section. Board members also agreed to revisit both its public comment policy and the future of the young adult collection.
Newly installed board member Tim Kline made the motion to appoint Dorth. The motion was seconded by Kathi Mattas, who said her reasoning was that Dorth had been on the board the second longest of the current members. The motion passed 3-1. Rodney Ellis voted no, saying he was not opposed to Dorth but believed the role should go to Al Mattingly, who was absent.
After the meeting, Dorth said he was honored to serve and believed his selection was a practical choice.
“I think just logically, me being on the board for over two years, that was the call,” he said. On the difficult decisions before the board, he added, “We’re going to try to work with everybody, come up with a compromise.”
The board members present then voted 3-1 to relocate four books — Sex Plus, Queer, This Book Is Gay, and Flamer — after a patron appealed a review committee’s decision to keep them in the young adult section. Mattas moved to relocate the books based on “the sexually explicit” and “the ratings by the publishers,” saying she did not believe they belong in the section for children as young as 13.
Kline supported the move and offered a detailed explanation, saying he reviewed specific pages and believed the main issue was the broad age range of the young adult section.
“I just think as a general matter, we ought to rethink just what it means to be a young adult, because I don’t think a 13-year-old and an 18-year-old are anywhere close to the same boat,” he said, pointing to content he described as inappropriate for younger teens.
Ellis again opposed the action.
Following public comments, Library Director Erin Waller asked the board to review its public comment policy, saying staff had been unfairly characterized.
“I’m deeply offended at the accusation that the library staff is doing anything to intentionally harm children,” she said. “We need very, very clear guidance … to protect the staff.”
When the discussion turned to whether the young adult section should be dismantled entirely, Waller clarified she does not support removing it but would do what it took to protect staff.
“I’d support moving all the books out of that section … because I’d do anything to support my staff,” said Waller, who said in an interview after the meeting that she’s specifically referring to accusations made during public comments and is not aware of any employees being directly treated poorly by patrons.
Asked about the potential of removing the young adult section after the meeting, Dorth said the age range is a concern.
“My trepidation with these books [labeled young adults was the] huge age range — 13 to 18,” he said. “Until we narrow that down, I wasn’t comfortable having some books in that particular section.”
The board agreed to place both the public comment policy and the status of the young adult section on a future agenda.
