Montgomery County Commissioners Court met July 11 to address dozens of concerned citizen requests regarding certain library book materials that are allowed on the shelves within the county's library system.

What's happening?

After a 90-minute executive session, Montgomery County commissioners made three separate motions on the topic.

• Commissioners Court gave Purchasing Director Gilbert Jalomo the authority to expand the county's book vendor list to gain access to more conservative book themes.
• Library Director Rhea Young was asked to group books by genre within the children's section, and label and restrict access to sexually explicit books for those under 18 years of age.
• The court also made a motion to give a "full vote of confidence" in new Library Director Rhea Young.
• All three motions apply to all seven libraries in the Montgomery County Memorial Library System.

Quote of note: “While we may not agree on exactly what types of materials should be in the library, all of us agree that the decisions that we make is what we are trying to do in the best interest, in this case, for our children," Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack said. "Accessibility to information and where these books should be located is very important."

Taking a step back

Within Montgomery County, Conroe ISD has been engaged in conversations regarding appropriate library material for the past several years with citizen participation. According to various Community Impact reports, the school district has made recent changes to its own library system including:

• Instituting a library book review committee
• Restricting board members from serving on the library book review committee
• Removing certain titles with sexually explicit content

Explained

Several citizens in Montgomery County made statements during the citizen participation portion of Commissioners Court to voice their opinions in favor of restricting access and adding more conservative titles.

Lisa Palmer said she was offended by the lack of conservative books in the library.

"We're a conservative county," she said. "This is not that hard. We are supposed to protect our kids. This woke agenda is not to make people feel good; this is really an agenda to sexualize our kids at a young age. We have laws that say you can't smoke a cigarette until you are 21 years old because you don't know the effects it will have on you in the future. But you are going to let these kids be exposed to books?"

Another viewpoint

Some citizens also advocated in favor of keeping LGBTQ+ titles accessible to all ages, including Teresa Kennedy, owner of Village Books in The Woodlands.

"Young people deserve to see themselves reflected in the books they read," she said. "They deserve to see that there is hope at a time in their lives when they feel there is none. Moreover, reading books that feature people in situations that young people have little direct experience with in their own lives can foster empathy, tolerance and connection, which in turn will make them better community members, better leaders and better elected officials."