Community members divided over book appeals for Newport Beach libraries

Under a recently instituted practice, the Newport Beach Board of Library trustees is poised to hear public appeals this month on two children’s books — “Melissa,” by Alex Gino, and “Prince & Knight,” by Daniel Haack.

Board members will deliberate on whether or not to uphold a decision made by the city’s library director after community members requested an evaluation of both books in September. As part of a collection development policy, community members are able to request evaluation of resources if they have concerns about certain titles. That request then goes to library staff before it makes its way to the desk of the city’s library services director, Melissa Hartson.

“With that, the existing development policy states that any unresolved concerns after receiving the director’s decision can then be brought before the board for a final decision. Patrons did inquire with the board about how this stage of the process within our policy works, and the board formalized an appeals application and process in January of this year,” Hartson said.

The board will hear the first appeal under this process on April 15. Twelve titles have been submitted to date, and eight of them are children’s books.

The last time a decision on a book was appealed was in 2004, according to Hartson, with the 2002 novel “Gossip Girl,” by Cecily von Ziegesar.

“Melissa,” previously published as “George,” was published in 2015 and is about the titular, transgender fourth-grader, Melissa, navigating a world that perceives her only as a boy named George. The book was considered by the American Library Assn. in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 to be one of the most challenged in circulation because of “LGBTQIA+ content, conflicting with a religious viewpoint, and not reflecting ‘the values of our community.’”

“Prince & Knight,” a children’s picture book published in 2018, tells a story about a young prince who falls in love with a knight after the two of them battle a dragon that threatens their kingdom. It also was one of the most challenged books identified by the American Library Assn. in 2019 for its depiction of a gay marriage, LGBTQ+ content and is considered “a deliberate attempt to indoctrinate young children” in addition to conflicting with a religious viewpoint.

Requests for the books’ revaluations submitted to the city in September state similar reasons.

One person who asked for the reevaluation of “Melissa” stated the requester “[doesn’t] feel transgenderism is an appropriate subject for my children.”

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Another states, “Why are you teaching our kids about transgenderism?” while others noted the book talks about genitalia, hormones and maintained it is not age-appropriate. More than 10 requests from the public to reevaluate that same title were submitted in September alone.

One request was submitted on “Prince & Knight,” with the requester stating the book “promotes a homosexual relationship to pre-K and kindergarten children. This is not age appropriate!”

Both books remained on the shelves as of Tuesday. Community members remain divided on what the outcome of the appeals on these two books could mean for the future of the Newport Beach Public Library.

Resident Karin Bates said more and more families have been seeing inappropriate books, which has led to an increase of these appeals, though the process has always existed. Bates said that, ideally, she’d like to see a policy that clearly spells out what age-appropriate means for books to appear on public shelves.

Bates said both of her children are now teenagers, but she’s heard from friends. Those books, she said, picked up by her friends’ children, were inappropriate because of their content for their age groups, pointing to “It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health” by Robie Harris, which includes information on puberty for preadolescent children, and “Push” by Sapphire, which deals with familial rape and sexual abuse.

“There is a transparent agenda taking place, and grooming of children is happening. Grooming is the process of normalizing inappropriate behavior between minors and adults so that sexual assault or abuse can take place,” Bates said. “This book is not appropriate for anyone under 18 years old. Just like one has to be 18 to watch a rated-R movie, one should have to be 18 to read some of the books on the library’s shelves.

“We are not book banners, nor are we looking to ban any books from publication. We are simply asking them to move the books to another section of the library. The children’s or young adult’s sections are not the place for many of these books. Anyone who wants to check these books out may still request them or go to another section of the library to find them.”

Former Mayor Rush Hill, in a comment submitted to the board for its March meeting, agreed that children should be reading age-appropriate books in that section of the Newport Beach Public Library.

“Let the liberals focus their attacks on the sanctuary cities. I would suggest that our City Council remove from the library board any board member that feels our underage children need to be shoved into ideas that are being preached by the extreme left,” Hill wrote.

But others, like parent Cindy Parker, an emergency room physician, say such perspectives open the door to ignorance.

Parker said she read “Prince & Knight” and saw it simply as a story about love between two men. She said there is nothing sexually explicit or pornographic about the book. She said having access to books that depict people different from one another is a way for people to better educate themselves. It leads to greater understanding of others, she said.

“[People] are so convinced that these books should not be available because these books don’t align with their personal beliefs. But we can’t pull books and resources just because they make people uncomfortable or don’t align with their sociopolitical opinions,” Parker said. “I don’t think we should be hiding racism or bigotry. I think not having access to books on these topics just promotes it. If you can’t learn about it, and it’s handled as though it’s this big, secret and silent thing that you only hear about from your parents and their views, then of course you’re going to fear it.

“That leads to terrible things. It leads to people not being tolerant of each other, and what we need right now is a lot more kindness and compassion in our society.”

Parker said if it was a matter of excluding pornography from children’s books, then concerned parties should be reviewing books that are actually pornographic as opposed to “Prince & Knight,” which touches on relationships that occur in real life.

Discussions should be happening at home between parents and children, she maintains. She noted that much scarier information is on the internet that most children, once they’re around 7 or 8, can access at any time.

“The best way to educate your kids is talk to them and have a good relationship with them, discuss these topics and have an open mind,” Parker said.

Parent Julie Nance said she cried when her daughter transitioned at age 11 because of the years she felt she’d lost with her prior to that change.

“I cried tears of grief for a lost childhood and for part of my own lost motherhood. I ached to go back in time and love that little girl that was never seen. Never acknowledged. To go back to that time where a little girl was masquerading as a boy, aching to be seen, known and loved. I wonder what could have happened if that child could have been read to [from] a book like ‘Melissa,’” Nance said in a text Wednesday. “Maybe I could have met [my daughter] sooner. Had a few less lost years. To lose a book like ‘Melissa’ is to lose a childhood, a motherhood and parenthood.”

Nance said that if people were willing to force societal constructs on their children, they ought to educate themselves on what they are. She said she was thankful for books like “Melissa” and wished that there were more of them.

The public hearings on the two titles will occur at the Board of Library Trustees’ meeting on April 15 in the City Council Chambers. Closed session will begin at 3:30 p.m. with the regular meeting starting at 4:30 p.m.