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Resident reads petition seeking restricted access to sexually explicit material at county-area libraries
Summary
A resident representing Purple for Parents United told the council she submitted 519 petitions asking library boards to place sexually explicit material in restricted sections for minors, and disputed claims that petitions included improper or out-of-district signatures.
Cindy Hajicek, executive director of Purple for Parents United, addressed the council during the Aug. 21 public-comment period to present a petition asking library boards to restrict minors' access to books with graphic sexual content or content the petition described as claiming gender is independent of biological sex.
Hajicek read the petition text to the council and said the group collected 573 petitions in total and had 519 valid petitions for the jurisdictions that received them. She disputed three assertions that had circulated in local discussion: that children signed petitions without parental permission, that out-of-district signatures invalidated the petition, and that a deceased person's name appeared on a petition. Hajicek said children who signed were permitted to do so by parents; she said five signatures were mistakenly submitted from outside the district and that the group corrected the error; and she said the library board president refused to provide proof of any alleged deceased signer.
Hajicek said the petition "doesn't require book banning or censorship. It just means keeping these books in an area that minors can only access if they are accompanied by a parent or guardian." She urged the council and local library boards to consider the petition's wording and the number of signatures presented.
Ending: The petition was presented as public comment; councilors did not take formal action on library policy during the Aug. 21 meeting.
