Board hears plan to expand parental‑choice pilot and move certain juvenile health titles out of children’s sections

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors received an update from county staff on a parental‑choice pilot program at the Queen Creek Library that allows parents to identify specific titles they do not want their children to access. County staff said the pilot launched May 1 and that library staff are educating patrons about the option.

County manager (presented on the record) told the board the county system has 14 branches, with library ownership and funding varying by location: some libraries are municipally owned with the county funding operations; others are county owned and funded. The county reported 144,000 active library cardholders, roughly 585,000 physical items in circulation that generated about 3.4 million checkouts in fiscal year 2024. The summer reading program had approximately 97,000 participants last year and is on pace to exceed 100,000 this year.

Under board direction and after consultation with legal counsel, staff said next steps include expanding the parental‑choice pilot systemwide, relocating a category described in staff remarks as "juvenile sexual‑health books" out of the juvenile/children’s section into an adults‑only section this week, benchmarking other jurisdictions, exploring software that could permit parents to restrict entire categories of materials, and developing an unattended‑minors policy. Staff said the Anthem branch will move into a new building in spring 2026 and become fully county‑owned and -funded.

Supervisor Debbie Lesko and others said they had received constituent complaints about sexually explicit material in children’s sections and expressed support for steps that give parents affirmative choices without violating free‑speech protections. Lesko said county counsel had been consulted to avoid First Amendment violations. Supervisor Mark Stewart called the relocation and pilot measures “common sense” and emphasized the libraries’ mission to serve families.

Vice Chair Kate Brophy McGee said the effort is about parental oversight rather than book banning and urged an "opt‑in" approach that would require parents to affirmatively consent to full access for their children rather than defaulting to unrestricted access.

Supervisor Gardo (who represented concerns about municipal ownership) asked whether county staff had consulted the city councils for municipalities that own local library buildings but contract with the county to run operations. County staff said Queen Creek council had been involved in developing the pilot and that staff would consult with other cities and towns as the county expands the program.

Public commenters told the board they believed state law already prohibits pornographic sexualized material in libraries and urged the county to enforce existing statutes. Staff and supervisors noted that legal questions about permissible restrictions are being reviewed by counsel and that staff would return to the board with updates in September.

Staff characterized the pilot as an effort to balance parental choice, child protection, and free‑speech rights, and recommended further policy work, software evaluation and intergovernmental consultation before any countywide roll‑out.

Why it matters: Libraries serve broad age ranges and are high‑traffic public institutions; the board’s policy direction will affect how parents and children access materials across multiple jurisdictions and could prompt changes in collection location, software controls and unattended‑minor rules.