Atheist Magazine Stirs a Ruckus : Library Board Appointment Takes Controversial Twist

An otherwise ho-hum decision--whom to appoint to a city library’s board of trustees--has taken a controversial twist here, where discussion of the issue is commingled with talk of censorship, good taste and Christian-versus-atheist values.

At its last meeting, the Escondido Library Board of Trustees--with one vacancy--deadlocked 2 to 2 on whether to accept a free subscription to American Atheist magazine.

On Wednesday, the City Council is to appoint the fifth member to the board. And one of the candidates is the atheist who offered the magazine to the library in the first place.

Word of his candidacy has piqued unusual interest over the operation of the library--and prompted no fewer than eight other people to seek appointment to the volunteer post.

For their part, City Council members say they are not particularly bothered by the introduction of the magazine to the library. “I’m a great believer in the First Amendment. If the atheists or any old group of folks want to have their magazine in the library, they have that right,” Mayor Jim Rady said. Councilman Doug Best said, “The library should accept the magazine and let the people decide if they want to read it or not.”

But the final decision on which books or magazines are accepted at the library rests with the library board, although the City Council appointment may not necessarily settle the issue. One library board member who originally voted to accept the atheist publication is now considering rejecting the magazine, while two others who originally voted to reject the magazine are now considering accepting it.

The problem, as one trustee said, is that the board is wary of rejecting the magazine for all the right reasons and being accused of doing it for all the wrong reasons.

“Every new magazine and book that comes into the library has to be catalogued and stacked and space has to be found for it,” trustee Carol Kane said. “If there hasn’t been a demand for it--and there hasn’t been for this one--then why should we take the time and space to handle it?”

Asking Why

But on the other hand, she conceded: “I’ve been contacted by several people and told that (rejecting the magazine) smacked of censorship. I don’t want to be tarred with the brush of censorship, so now I’m thinking maybe we should be more open-minded. If someone wants to read something that might add to their education, why should we prohibit it?”

Kane originally objected to having American Atheist sitting on the shelves of the Escondido Library, but she may now change her mind.

So may trustee Virgil Bergman, who also originally voted against the magazine. “It’s not too well put-together as a magazine. It’s not terribly well written and the articles in it are not indexed, so why should we have to mess around with it?” he asked. “But on the other hand, what’s the harm? This magazine is already in a lot of libraries.”

One trustee standing fast is Jeanne Linthicum. “I’m against it because I’m a Christian and we don’t need that type of material in our library. . . . There are better things to read,” she said.

Head Librarian Graham Humphrey has recommended that the board of trustees reject the magazine because even a complimentary magazine costs the city money in staff time for cataloguing and handling. “We don’t accept gifts just because they’re free,” he said, “but because they fit into our general philosophy and meet our standards.”

Atheist Steve Thorne, who sparked the brouhaha, accused Humphrey of “making excuses” in order to rationalize how the magazine should be be accepted.

“The library is a storehouse of ideas and a forum for those ideas. We should let those ideas be expressed, even if they are not necessarily those of two or three persons on the board of trustees,” said Thorne, president of the San Diego chapter of Madalyn Murray O’Hair’s Society of Separationists.

He said he is seeking appointment to the library board as a way of getting involved in civic affairs, regardless of the controversy over American Atheist.

The library board is scheduled to take up the subscription question again on Feb. 12.