Commissioners of a Texas county voted Tuesday to restrict children’s access to sexually explicit content within several local libraries after community pushback, according to the Courier of Montgomery County.
Montgomery County commissioners passed two motions, one of which requires its seven libraries to label and restrict sexually explicit content to patrons 18 years and older, according to the Courier of Montgomery County. The second motion passed gave the Montgomery County purchasing director the authority to expand the libraries’ vendors to buy more books that feature conservative values. (RELATED: Keynote Speaker At National Library Association Conference Says ‘Explicit’ Books Can Be ‘Really Valuable’ To Students)
“While we may not agree on exactly what types of materials should be in the library, I think all of us agree the decisions we make are in the best interest, in this case, our children and what they should have access and what they shouldn’t have access to,” James Noack, a county commissioner, told the outlet.
A third motion passed by the commissioners gave a “vote of full confidence” to the new county library director, the Courier of Montgomery County reported.
The motions followed months of pushback from residents over age-inappropriate content on LGBTQ topics within the local libraries, the Courier of Montgomery County reported. One resident flagged more than 100 books found in the county libraries that address “alternate gender ideologies,” alleging that none discuss traditional views on gender.
A person walks through the Rice University Library on April 26, 2022 in Houston, Texas. A group of local residents are suing Llano County in federal court for the County’s removal and censorship of library books addressing racism and LGBTQ issues. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
“Access to information and where these materials are located is very important,” Noack told the outlet. “We know there is a lack of conservative style themes to counterbalance the books brought to our attention.”
Public and school libraries throughout the country have come under fire as educators, lawmakers and parents argue about what content should be available to students; the Montana State Library Commission voted Tuesday to leave the nation’s largest library association over concern about its “Marxist lesbian” president. In Virginia, a town board decided to partially restrict a public library’s funding after sexually explicit content was found available in the kid’s section.
Montgomery County commissioners did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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