The library always has occupied a special place in my heart from the time I was young. Its hallways were passages into history and its shelves filled me with visions I could never have dreamed of. Afternoons of every season were spent there. It was more than books; it also was a community. You can imagine my concern then, when my sister came home wielding a book filled with pornographic images. Closer inspection showed that our library is full of adult-themed sexual books masquerading as children’s literature.

I could not believe my eyes. “What Makes a Baby” by Cory Silverburg uses cartoons to explain sexual reproduction and labor and delivery to children. Now, pull “Nick and Charlie: A Heartstopper Novella” by Alice Oseman off the shelf for graphic images of two teenage boys passionately kissing in bed. “The Legend of Jamie Roberts, Volume 1” by Kelci D. Crawford depicts two naked men dancing while “This is Our Rainbow” by Katherine Locke and Nicole Molleby describes coming of age as queer. Reading such material is disturbing for many and begs the question: What is freedom in the library? Does it include the freedom to pander pornography to children?

During the past year, members of our county have debated over First Amendment rights within the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County. Ultimately, we, the Concerned Library Patrons of PLSJ, believe the library is to books as the election polls are to U.S. citizens — open to all religions and all opinions. Under the First Amendment, the library should open minds to controversial opinions. However, children’s minds are not adult minds.

How are children different? Well, to start they are cognitively limited. Try teaching physics to a 12-year-old or even harder, to a 6-year-old. Will they understand the complexities of quantum mechanics?

How about trigonometry or calculus? From the cradle, we offer books based on age because it is what they can understand. Is promoting LGBTQ+ literature to children or teenagers any different? Because children are developing and limited in their life experience, topics such as sex are difficult for them to fully comprehend especially at an early age. As a consequence, most parents decide when their children will learn about sex in addition to hundreds of other choices they make on behalf of their child–what’s for breakfast for example. In short, kids are not free to do as they please. There are limits to a child’s liberty. No child, should, as my siblings sadly have, pick up a book that makes them begin to fantasize sexual topics without parental consent.

In addition, the history of American sexual ethics and their enshrinement in law is clear about one thing — sex is controversial. From the prostitute who views her body as a business to the family who fails to provide their teenagers with basic awareness of reproduction, everyone has a different view on sex. Even more so, it is intimately connected with a person’s psychology, politics and physical makeup causing it to be one of the most personally sensitive and therefore important topics related to the human person.

Although we do not agree with much of the current American Library Association agenda, its Code of Ethics is important to note here. The code states, “We do not advance private interests at the expense of library users, colleagues or our employing institutions.”

And, “We distinguish between our personal convictions and professional duties and do not allow our personal beliefs to interfere with fair representation of the aims of our institutions or the provision of access to their information resources.” According to the ALA, “personal convictions” and “private interests” belong to people not libraries. Sex may be a political football, but the 20 yard line should be in our homes, not the children’s section in the library downtown.

Finally, as with all political issues, the sides should at least be equally represented in public spaces. The litmus test of a library’s equality is its collection of books, also known as a repository. According to the PLSJ Collection Development policy, “The public library is unique among institutions as an unbiased repository for the recorded expression of thought.”

To date, the PLSJ library system has more than 50 pro-LGBTQ+-related books in the children’s, juvenile and young adult sections and only six offering the perspective of traditional gender identity. Those six books were only bought once requested by a concerned patron in July. Another on its way is “Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters” by Abigail Schrier. It’s well worth a read.

Now, let us consider the titles I mentioned at the beginning of this article alone, and the copies available through the system. “What Makes a Baby” — seven copies. “This is Our Rainbow” –seven copies. “Nick and Charlie: A Heartstopper Novella” — three copies. “The Legend of Jamie Roberts, Volume 1” — two copies.

Based on these numbers, would anyone be willing to attest that we have the “unbiased repository” that the policy calls for?

Therefore, members of the Concerned Library Patrons of PLSJ have three objectives:

• The transfer of LGBTQ+ and sex education literature from the children’s, juvenile, and young adult sections to its proper place in the adult section of the library.

• The elimination of LGBTQ+ displays from the children’s, juvenile and young adult sections

• An unbiased repository within the PLSJ library system.

In conclusion, though some may claim we are out to ban books, that could not be farther from the truth.

The library is the place where dangerous and apolitical books alike should find room on the shelves. But, just as one would not hand a 2-year-old a plate of cookies for breakfast, the library should not be in the business of pandering pornography to minors. Keep sex and LGBTQ+ books on the shelf, but keep them in the adult section with other politically charged topics.

What do we want? We want children to have free access to books suitable for their age. We want a library that passes impartial judgment on political ideas.

(McKenna, a resident of Steubenville, is a member of the Concerned Library Patrons of the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County.)