The Huntington Beach Public Library has denied five requests in as many years to have books in its collection removed, according to library records, with the majority of materials concerning LGBTQ themes.
One 2020 request involving now Councilmember Gracey Van Der Mark asking to remove “Gender Queer,” a graphic memoir that deals with gender identity and sexuality, ended with library officials choosing to move the book to the adult section, but refusing to outright remove it.
“As with any book that deals with a difficult subject, there is the potential for extreme and strong reactions to what is included in a book,” now-retired Library Director Stephanie Beverage wrote in a letter sent to Van Der Mark, who had yet to be elected to the council. “That does not mean the book is without merit or needs to be removed from the collection.”
The American Library Association says “Gender Queer” was the most challenged book in 2022.
Other books patrons requested to be evaluated for removal included “This Day in June,” a picture book about a family attending a Pride parade; “Anne Frank: Her life in Words and Pictures;” “Open: An Uncensored Memoir of Love, Liberation, and Non-monogamy;” and “The Hips on the Drag Queen go Swish, Swish, Swish.”
Last month, Van Der Mark lead the majority of the Huntington Beach City Council in asking city staffers to find new ways to make it harder for children to access sexually explicit books in the city’s five library branches.
During her presentation at that June 20 meeting, Van Der Mark said she had filed a complaint for “Gender Queer” to be removed.
“I didn’t think having images of two young people performing oral sex was appropriate,” Van Der Mark said then. “It was a battle. I did go through the process currently in place right now — not without being treated pretty disrespectfully by the former librarian.”
In a phone interview, Beverage said once a material evaluation form is filled…
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