Voters in in small Iowa city decide not to give their City Council more control over library books
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PELLA, Iowa – Voters in a small Iowa city narrowly decided not to support giving their City Council reported Wednesday. Only 87 votes separated the two sides in the unofficial tally.
The measure got on the ballot in the central Iowa town of about 10,000 people about two years after some community members tried to persuade the appointed library board to ban or restrict access to Maia Kobabe’s LGBTQ+ memoir “Gender Queer.” But the board decided to keep that book in the adult section of the library.
Attempts to ban books have continued at a
Supporters had argued that having the City Council in charge would give taxpayers more say in how the library’s budget is spent and would have kept material they consider pornographic and harmful away from children.
A group of residents asked the library board in late 2021 to either remove “Gender Queer” or put it behind the checkout counter where kids can’t get it.
They objected to the illustrated memoir’s depiction of the author’s real-life journey with sexuality and gender that includes frank sexual images.