Residents urge review of teen-library collections; council hears multiple graphic readings and accusations of outside influence

A lengthy general-public-input block at the Sioux Falls City Council meeting on Dec. 10 was dominated by residents raising concerns about sexually explicit or age-inappropriate material in the teen sections of local libraries and schools.

Several speakers read or summarized graphic passages from titles they said were shelved in teen collections. Michelle Clement read an explicit excerpt from Jesse Andrews’ Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl (she was cut off by the meeting’s three-minute speaker limit) and said the passage was in the library's teen section. Shandra Isaacson and others read passages from other titles they said are shelved in teen or high-school collections and described their distress and discomfort with those placements. Amy Bruner and other speakers told the council they do not expect such content in sections targeted at younger readers and urged the city and school officials to reclassify explicit materials into adult sections or otherwise mark material clearly for parental awareness.

Several speakers framed the issue as part of broader cultural concerns. One speaker cited academic work (naming a paper title and its author) and asked what oversight exists to ensure library collections reflect "the values of our community and not an outside agenda." Others explicitly linked library-content concerns to the mayor's recent public comments and to statewide legislative attention. A number of speakers requested clearer age-grading or labeling of library materials and suggested the school board be engaged; multiple commenters said they were not asking the council to ban books but to increase oversight and classification.

Council members did not debate policy or take action during the meeting; the public comment period ended after speakers used their three-minute allotments. The mayor noted public input is a one-way dialogue and the council does not respond during the comment period. The issue is likely to reappear in public forums and before local boards that govern library and school materials.

Representative quotes (from public comment): "I'm not asking you to pick winners and losers. I'm here so you and the public are aware of what our tax dollars support," and "All of the books that were read here tonight were in the teen section of the Sioux Land Library and there's a lot more concerned citizens out here and we don't have time for it all."