Trouble in the City of Refuge

At Central College, I learned Pella has two Hebrew definitions; “City of Refuge,” and “Marvel of God.” But neither of these definitions captures the storm raging in this small, college, town around book banning. This time It’s not about books in the public-school curriculum or library. This storm rages about books in the public library.

The Pella storm began in 2021 before the Iowa Legislature passed Senate File 496 stating, “School libraries may only contain age-appropriate books free of any description or visual descriptions of a sex act as defined by the Iowa Code.”

This storm was sparked when a parent complained the public library had “Gender Queer”: a memoir by Maia Kobabe, on the adult shelves. It’s an award-winning gender identifying autobiography.

But It’s not just about this book. Like Senate File 496, It’s about censoring ideas a few people find offensive.

In November 2021, the book was challenged by community members. The Pella library board met, reviewed the material, and unanimously voted to keep the book in the adult section of the library.

A group of citizens in December took the complaint one step further and appealed to the City Council. During that meeting, John Butler, one of those appealing the decision said, “If I got my way, I’d get rid of the book and all the rated R videos, or at least control access.”

Maria Strickler, librarian also spoke and said, “This is about meeting the needs of the entire community as a public library, and that is what I and my staff and the library board are committed to do.”

But it wasn’t the end. It was the beginning.

Under the Pella City Code Chapter 22, “The Board of Trustees is responsible for the library which includes policy and collection of materials. The Council’s primary role with the library is to only appoint the board members and approve financial allocations.” The citizens who appealed to the City Council forced a citywide vote for Nov. 7.

If voters approve the change, the library board will no longer have exclusive control of library affairs. The board could continue to adopt policies, but those policies would be subject to change by the city council.

Those wanting a “yes” vote have invoked Dominie Hendrix Scholte, a minister, and founder of Pella. One flyer says, “Dominie would want a Yes vote to save our kids.”

Those wanting a “no” vote mailed fliers saying, “The library board doesn’t have an agenda. There’s no taxation without representation since the library board is appointed by the city council. Our library functions like the other 500 public libraries in the state.”

Here’s why allowing a city council to overrule the library board is a bad idea:

• Local boards work because they are comprised of people who love the library and are familiar with the collection and understand the process for adoption and appeal.

• During the next legislative session, GOP law makers may use this local controversy to go a step further by forcing this change statewide and destroying library board local control.

• Senate File 496 is vague and has school officials scrambling on how to comply. Public libraries will have the same problem if legislators meddle.

•Once book banning starts, it’s difficult to stop.

•Public libraries are to serve the whole community. For that reason, there are adult sections and children’s sections. Librarians are trained on what’s “age appropriate.” Politicians are not.

Let’s keep our public libraries refuges for learning. Those banning ideas have never been on the right side of history, and they’re wrong now.

Bruce Lear lives of Sioux City taught for 11 years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association Regional Director for 27 years until retiring. BruceLear2419@gmail.com