Letters to the Editor: Will far-right censorship tarnish Huntington Beach’s award-winning library?

To the editor: Not one parent has formally challenged a book at Huntington Beach Public Library in 2023, library card registration has soared, and the summer reading program has expanded by 120%. (“Huntington Beach will let neighbors censor neighbors’ reading choices. That’s wrong,” editorial, Oct. 30)

But Mayor Pro Tem Gracey Van Der Mark and her conservative colleagues on the Huntington Beach City Council think our library needs a complete overhaul, with a parent review board comprising 21 politician-appointed members. Books with the slightest reference to sex may be moved from the young adult or teen section to the adult section.

Our award-winning public library is being tarnished because of four people who are more interested in promoting an ultra-far-right political agenda than meeting the needs of 200,000 residents.

Carol Daus, Huntington Beach

The writer is a board member of Friends of the Huntington Beach Public Library.

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To the editor: “Book bans” make the news frequently, so it’s no surprise that your editorial board would jump on the “banned” wagon.

Media literacy classes are popping up in our high schools because teaching critical reading skills is vital. Your editorial discussing Huntington Beach’s review board should be required reading in those classes — as a classic example of straw-man construction and demolition, very appropriate for an article published in the Halloween print edition.

We are told the review board is an example of a book ban — immediately followed by admission that “no books currently sitting on the city’s library shelves will be removed.” What the review board is tasked with doing is more accurately called “curation,” isn’t it?

The Times fails to quote the U.S. Supreme Court’s full Miller test, which was set in a 1973 ruling. It said the review process should involve “applying contemporary community standards.” What better way to do that than by establishing a review board of community members?

Your straw man’s pants are on fire.

Todd Maddison, Oceanside

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To the editor: As a long-term resident, parent, former teacher, former city board member and avid reader in Huntington Beach, I am outraged by the City Council majority’s meddling with our excellent library system.

I agree with The Times’ editorial board — this is wrong. You don’t need to read between the lines to realize this local government action is not only authoritarian but anti-intellectual.

We got trouble, right here in Surf City.

Tim Geddes, Huntington Beach

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To the editor: Fear and loathing of books? Who would have thought that the country that espouses freedom of expression is now the country of repression?

Jared Sloan, Silver Lake