Episode 38: Library Update 📚 (the Republican’s Long Game)

York County Council Republicans have been playing a long game with the county library system. They didn’t have much choice, but a culture war battle that started in 2022 is finally about to be completed. Or maybe blocked.

YouTube Video

In 2022, Councilman Tom Audette started making noise about a list of children’s books in the library that addressed LGBTQ topics. He didn’t invent the issue—it had been a hot potato in right-wing circles for a while in other areas of the state and nation. Back then, behind the scenes, he was reported to be floating the idea of banning some of those books—removing them from the library completely. As the question became more public in 2023, he and cohorts realized that banning the books was a bridge too far. They proposed moving the books to the adult section, a “reasonable” solution that meant children… even older teenagers… wouldn’t come across them.

Podcast Audio. Play here, or subscribe in your podcast app (not available on Spotify)

The library board said ‘no’. The books would stay where they belonged.

The County Council—a seven-member group with six Republicans and one Democrat—didn’t think it would be wise to appear to micromanage the Library Board. The strategy was to replace the Board. Step one was to get rid of the three At-Large positions. Another Board member was ejected because district lines had been redrawn, and she was now outside the District she had represented. The Council passed a policy that meant that she would be immediately removed, rather than be allowed to complete her term.

Other terms expired, and some members left early as they felt pressured to go. By this year, the Library Board reflected the County Council’s makup: six conservatives and one progressive. And it was now dominated by political appointees with an agenda, rather then people dedicted to the full range of library functions.

And the issue that started it all—the proposal to move LGBTQ books from the children’s section to the adult section—has been proposed and will be voted on at the Board’s August 14 meeting. If it passes, the SC ACLU is threatening a lawsuit. They are currently suing Greenville County over that county’s ‘move the books’ policy, which was a template for the York County proposal.

Opposition arose

We covered some of it across several episodes of YCDP TV back in 2023. A group called Support YCL was formed, and members attended Library Board and committee meetings, making public comments, recording the meetings on video, and submitting FOIA requests for emails and official documents. Conservative groups like Moms for Liberty were also attending, and Library Board meetings—which had never had a public audience—bacame a battleground. The new Board looked for ways to muzzle the opponent’s voices and hide their own policy discussions.

In this episode, three Support YCL members—Lacey, Laura and Stephanie—join host Gary Pearce to review the history, discuss where things stand today, and talk about what they’d like to see in the future.

And we take a look at a book (not in the library at this time) aimed at indoctrinating young kids into thinking “the right way”.