In June, 2023, protesters from Greendale and outside Greendale pushed their way past the library board director to disrupt a long-standing teen/tween Pride craft event organized by youth services and disparage and intimidate the young people who were there. The library board was not immediately supportive of this program, and has been considering requiring parental permission or cancelling the event altogether in the future. This is one of PAGE’s responses:
Dear Library Board Members,
As you evaluate the library’s programming policies today, I implore you to continue offering the long-standing Pride craft event in the future.
There are many reasons why this programming is so important for LGBTQ+ kids and allies, including the fact that studies show suicide rates among LGBTQ+ kids are signficantly lower in communities which have these sorts of visible, official offerings to express support for all kids and make sure that all kids feel like they are welcomed and supported. It is a good stewardship of resources as well as caring for the kids statistically most in need to continue to host this program. We cannot send the message in programs OR in library displays that LGBTQ+ issues should be removed or hidden because of the personal or religious opinions of the library board members.
The library’s mission is literally to “transform lives and strengthen our community by creating a safe, welcoming, and inclusive home for information, learning, inspiration, and connection.” Discontinuing the Pride craft event or eliminating displays of LGBTQ+ books would be a clear violation of your mission. In terms of values, the library pledges to provide “equal access,” which means expanding programming for all Greendalers, including LGBTQ+ Greendalers. These events are not just important for people who are already familiar with LGBTQ+ issues, however it will help young people socialize and learn from one another. The library’s values of learning and curiosity similarly require that you provide visible and accessible ways for all community members to be inspired through greater curiosity and engage in life-long learning.
I would also direct your attention to the current policy 3-Unattended children (
https://cms4files.revize.com/…/3-Unattended%20children.pdf ), which already addresses the issues that you have brought up and renders the safety arguments raised in your discussions of permission slips moot. The library already requires children to have “contact information to be able to reach a caregiver immediately if need arises” if they are 8 or older, and if they are younger than 8 then a caregiver is already required to remain with them in the library at all times. Programs are more supervised than regular library usage, not less, so unless you require caregivers to sign a permission slip for kids under 18 to enter the library at all, the safety argument is not relevant to programming like the Pride craft event.
A caregiver who does not want their child to attend a certain event is more than welcome to keep their child at home or otherwise supervised to ensure that they do not attend the yearly Pride craft event. A caregiver who genuinely wants to be involved in what their child chooses to learn about is more than capable of reading the widely publicized upcoming events and making that decision. Parental rights are best served by parents staying informed and taking an active parenting role in their children’s lives. The library is not like a school where students are required to attend…there is nothing compulsory about the library programming and we cannot limit opportunities for kids just because some caregivers don’t want to supervise their children to ensure that they don’t attend infrequent programs that the parents object to.
