Maricopa County to expand parental-choice library pilot, move some juvenile health materials to adult stacks
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Summary
County manager presented expansion of a parental-choice pilot that lets parents block specific book titles, and staff said juvenile sexual-health books will be relocated out of children's sections; no formal vote was required.
Maricopa County officials on Tuesday said they will expand a parental-choice pilot launched in Queen Creek to all 14 county library branches and move certain juvenile sexual-health materials out of the children’s stacks to adult-only sections.
The update came during a presentation from County Manager Jen Bukorski, who told the Board of Supervisors that the Queen Creek pilot — launched May 1 — allows parents to identify specific book titles they “do not want their child to access” and for staff to block checkout of those titles in both physical and digital formats. Bukorski said the county will extend the pilot to every county branch and is relocating a category described in the presentation as juvenile sexual-health books from the juvenile section into an adult-oriented section this week.
Bukorski said the county is also exploring software that would allow parents to restrict entire categories of materials, benchmarking practices against other jurisdictions, and developing an unattended-minors policy used by many libraries nationwide. The manager noted Queen Creek staff continue to educate patrons about the pilot and that, as of the presentation, there were “no registrations” yet for the opt-in program.
Board members framed the effort as parental oversight rather than a ban. Vice Chair Kate Brophy McGee said: "This isn't this does not constitute book banning. This is the allowing for parental oversight in the activities their child participates in." Supervisor Debbie Lesko told the board she had been made aware by constituents of “explicit” materials in children's sections and said the county consulted counsel to avoid First Amendment violations.
The manager provided context about the county system: 14 branches, approximately 144,000 active cardholders, about 585,000 physical items in the system and roughly 3.4 million circulations in fiscal 2024. Bukorski said the Anthem branch will move into a new building and become fully county owned and funded in spring 2026, and staff noted the county’s summer reading program served about 97,000 readers last season and was on pace to exceed 100,000 this year.
Public commenters pressed the board to act more quickly and referenced state law in arguing that sexually explicit materials must not be available to children; speakers asked what enforcement steps the county would take if municipal partners did not adopt similar practices at libraries where the county provides operations. Bukorski and county staff said Queen Creek officials had been involved in developing the pilot and that staff would consult with other municipal partners as the county expands the program.
No formal motion or vote on library policy was recorded during the presentation. County staff said they expect to return with another update in September and that additional policy work — including software solutions and an unattended-minors policy — remains under development.
