What you need to know
On Aug. 13, League City City Council voted 6-2 to postpone the discussion of The Community Standards Review Advisory Committee’s vote to move “Big Wig” by Jonathan Hillman to a higher shelf in Helen Hall Library and only allow adults to check the book out.
Council members Chad Tressler and Tom Crews voted against postponing the discussion and vote.
The background
The Community Standards Review Advisory Committee was created in February 2023 to review Helen Hall Library books that residents flag as potentially offensive or inappropriate and determine whether they should be removed or reshelved.
On July 31, the committee voted to reshelve and restrict Big Wig to those with adult library cards only.
Any resident of League City may request reconsideration of the classification and location of materials in Helen Hall Library, according to the library materials reconsideration policy.
The committee's review of the book was triggered when a League City resident flagged it to the committee, according to minutes from the July 31 meeting.
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The picture book depicts a young boy who “dresses in drag to compete in a neighborhood costume competition,” according to the book’s Simon and Schuster description.
The book also includes an image of a boy sitting in front of a mirror and trying on a wig with text saying, “This wig belongs to B.B. Bedazzle, the most fabulous queen by far.”
Diving in deeper
Luann Shupp and Laura Teatsworth were the only two of the committee’s six voting members who were present to vote at the July 31 meeting. Shupp voted to reshelve the book, and Teatsworth voted against moving the book, with the committee’s chair, Todd Kinsey, casting a tiebreaking vote to move the book.
Under the proposed changes, the book would be reshelved from the library’s children’s section to the parenting section and placed on a taller shelf, city Librarian Meredith Layton said.
Patrons with an adult library card would still be able to check out the book for themselves or their child, Layton said.
Helen Hall Library distributes cards with different access levels for children, teens and adults. Once a child reaches age 12 or a minor reaches age 18, they are eligible to access the library’s teen and adult sections, respectively, Layton said.
If a parent decides they want to give their child access to the other sections, they can do so, Layton said.
What they said
Some League City residents, such as Will Pate, who spoke at the Aug. 13 meeting, spoke against reshelving Big Wig, arguing that the book did not depict “obscenity.”
“I don’t see anything in this book that appears to be harmful to minors in any way, nothing that definitely meets the definition of obscenity,” Pate said. “Nowhere in the book, hopefully you all read it, does it use the word drag.”
League City resident Eloísa Pérez-Lozano said she felt people who didn’t like the contents of the book should not have the power to restrict access to the book to children or decide what books other parents can check out for their children.
Kinsey, who voted to reshelve the book, said he read interviews with the author that he felt indicated Hillman was attempting to open a discussion about sexuality among young children, though not specific sexual practices.
“In my opinion, kids aren’t ready for that until well into their teens,” Kinsey said before adding that he felt, ultimately, it should be up to the parent if they want to come to the library and ask for the book.
Shupp agreed with Kinsey and said she was more concerned with what she felt were harmful subliminal messages in the book.
“In my opinion, I find it inappropriate because of the fact that it has underlying messages and subtle things that are giving off the wrong ideas to these kids,” Shupp said.
What’s next?
City Council has not yet determined when it will consider approving or rejecting the committee’s recommendation to reshelve the book. In the meantime, the book will remain in the children’s section until City Council reaches a decision, Layton said.
