Monroe County officials want library to move LGBTQ books or lose money. Community responds

A Monroe County commissioner says he wants to defund the Monroe County Library if it doesn’t move LGBTQ+ themed books out of its children and young adult sections, and the issue prompted about 100 people to show up at the county’s commission meeting last week.

District 3 Commissioner John Ambrose told The Telegraph he is willing to defund the public library in early 2025 if the books aren’t moved by the time new county chairman-elect Alan Gibbs takes office, who supports the notion.

“I’m hoping they’ll move them, but if they don’t, I’m prepared to do what’s necessary, and I won’t change my mind,” Ambrose said over the phone. “All I’m asking is that they take any book that is not age appropriate, and get it out of the kids section.”

District 2 Commissioner Eddie Rowland, who requested that the library discussion be added to the Aug. 20 agenda, underlined the importance of community input in moving LGBTQ+ literature from the library’s children’s and young adult sections to the adult section, according to the county’s board commission’s summarized post of the meeting.

The meeting followed concerns about county officials’ past threats to defund the public library if relocation changes were not made. Rowland said the discussions have been going on since October 2023.

Ambrose said that if the books are not in the right section by Jan. 1, the county officials will temporarily close the library, reorganize the material and convert the building into a private library.

Marisha Crowder, assistant branch manager at the Monroe County Library, said it’s heartbreaking that the library could potentially be closed in less than five months.

“I think as a public library, it is necessary for us to carry these books. Libraries serve the community that includes many demographics,” Crowder said in an email. “It is important that all members of society, including members of the LGBTQIA+ community, be able to come to the library and find a book that relates to them emotionally, mentally, physically, etc.”

Crowder highlighted some of the LGBTQ+ themed books in the children’s department, including “A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo” by Marlon Bundo and Jill Twiss, “My Most Excellent Year” by Steve Kluger and “The Best Man” by Richard Peck.

Based on community feedback, Rowland said he believes about 10 to 15% of Monroe County residents want all LGBTQ+ books removed from the library and are willing to support the library’s funding elimination in an effort to do so, while about 60 to 70% are in favor of moving the controversial books to an alternate location that is not accessible to young children.

Rowland said he doesn’t want to lose the library as a community service, but “if there is a lawful comprise to move those books to their own section, then I think that would be a good idea to do.”

Twenty Monroe residents made public comments to the board on Aug. 20.

Darren Latch questioned “how Christians can defend the presence of the books,” according to the online post from the commission. Latch also claimed having the books available for youth is a form of grooming and could be risky for the county if deemed pornographic.

Monroe resident Libby Robinson said homosexual children exist in Monroe County and that the library should be open to people of all belief systems, citing the suggested relocation as discriminatory.

County Attorney Natalie Sundeen said the disagreement is not unique to Monroe County. It’s happening in jurisdictions across Georgia. She also warned the commissioners not to discriminate against protected classes.

Ambrose told The Telegraph that it is not his intention to ban access to LGBTQ+ books from public libraries.

“I’m not trying to monitor what books the library can and can’t have. I think they can have any books they want, as long as they’re in the proper location,” he said. “I have nothing against the LGBTQ community. I’ve got friends like that. That’s their prerogative, but don’t put books where children can get to them.”

Crowder said that the library carries both adult and youth books with LGBTQ+ themes. The library identifies the books with a rainbow sticker.

Ambrose alleges the library staff has been removing the stickers in the past few weeks, but he raised concerns about whether they’re doing that to hide them.

The cost of pulling funding

Alan Gibbs said it’s time for the Board of Commissioners to take action on the controversial books remaining in the library’s children’s section, according to the board’s Facebook post.

Gibbs said LGBTQ+ books don’t match the beliefs of most Monroe County citizens, and he wants to consider dropping the library’s federal and state funding in order to have Monroe County exclusively fund the library.

District 1 Commissioner Lamarcus Davis said defunding the library is not simple and would impact the state and federal funding of the other eight counties that are part of the Flint River Regional Library, according to the Facebook post.

Davis said it would also cost Monroe County $750,000 per year for a number of years to reenter the regional library system in the future if it exits the Flint River system.

Rowland said the board has to find out what can lawfully be done regarding library closure and the books’ relocation. If the board can lawfully move the books to another location, then it has to determine who can qualify if a book is age-appropriate, pornographic or if it just has LGBTQ overtones, he added.

Crowder said the closure of the library would have a huge impact on the community.

“We are the only library in Monroe County,” she said. “The library isn’t just a place to check out books, we also provide computers and Wi-Fi for patrons to be able to apply for jobs and do schoolwork. If they close us down, patrons lose access to these resources.”

The Monroe County Library opened in 1922 with the aid of the Forsyth Woman’s Club.