Editorial: Huntington Beach will let neighbors censor neighbors’ reading choices. That’s wrong
LA TimesFrom now on a panel of 21 appointed residents will screen all new books for sexual content headed for the children’s and teen’s sections of the Huntington Beach Public Library, as well as reviewing the ones already on the shelves. Some books may be transferred from the children’s or teen section to the adult section and parents can approve an all-access library card for their kids to use those materials without a parent present. But what’s most troubling about this new system, approved by the City Council Oct. 17, is that this panel of book judges, who may have no expertise in literature or librarianship, will have the power to block the library from buying new books they deem inappropriate. Van Der Mark says the panel will use the same resources — book review catalogs and so forth — that the librarians use, since even the experts can’t possibly read that many books each month.
History of this topic
Huntington Beach Public Library begins children’s book recataloging process
LA Times
Huntington Beach to use parent review board to vet children’s books for public library, City Council decrees
LA Times
Letters to the Editor: Hey, Huntington Beach book banners, kids find a way to look at what they want
LA Times
Huntington Beach will seek to stop children from accessing library books city deems obscene or pornographic
LA Times
Huntington Beach seeks to stop children from accessing library books the city deems obscene or pornographic
LA Times
School system pulls 2 books with graphic sex from libraries
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