On Jan. 18, the Mat-Su Borough’s Challenged Materials Review Committee will convene to discuss whether to remove or restrict two highly explicit books that are targeted to minors and currently in circulation in the library system.
The committee is comprised of two Mat-Su librarians, two members from the Mat-Su Library Advisory Board, and Parks, Recreation & Library Services Manager Hugh Leslie.
Books under a current challenge include “Red Hood” and “Identical.” Both will be discussed at the upcoming meeting, which is open to the public.
“Red Hood” has stirred controversy throughout the Mat-Su and across the nation due to its violent content and explicitly graphic descriptions of detailed sex acts between teenagers. In addition to the borough libraries’ challenge, the book is also being contested in Mat-Su schools, and has sparked heated public meetings due to its placement in the youth section of the Wasilla Public Library.
“One twin sister is sexually abused by her alcoholic father, while the other twin wishes she were the one he abused,” the review states.
“Identical” is features multiple sex scenes – trading sex for drugs, masochistic sex and a manipulative and abusive sexual encounter between a father and his own daughter.
The non-partisan Common Sense Media’s book review warns that the book features “mature subjects, including incest.”
“One twin sister is sexually abused by her alcoholic father, while the other twin wishes she were the one he abused,” the review states. “To cope, the teens engage in dangerous behaviors, including cutting, trading sex for drugs, binge eating, bulimia, drug use (pot and hashish), and sadomasochistic sex. One twin tries to commit suicide. Parents are physically and emotionally abusive, and deliberately ignore signs of abuse.”
Both titles were challenged by a Mat-Su library user. Patrons who wish to challenge a library book can submit a written Request for Reconsideration to the Recreational and Library Services Manager. The manager then involves the librarian responsible and requests a written report on their discussions with the patron within 30 working days. Based on the report, a Challenged Materials Review Committee will convene. The committee is tasked with evaluating the material and allowing the patron and librarian to make oral presentations. The committee’s final decision is then communicated to the patron within 10 business days. If the patron disagrees, they can request a reconsideration from the Community Development Director Eric Phillips, who will make a final decision considering all provided documentation.
TAKING ACTION
— The upcoming Challenged Materials Review Committee is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 18, at 10 a.m. in the Mat-Su Borough Assembly Chambers (350 E. Dahlia Ave, Palmer). To follow the proceeding via Zoom, use meeting ID: 21770944433 and passcode: H5LGB8. For additional information about the meeting, call (907) 861-7801 and ask for the borough clerk’s office.
— To contact the Mat-Su Borough’s Recreational and Library Services Manager Hugh Leslie, call (907)861-7868 or email hugh.leslie@matsugov.us.
— To contact Mat-Su Borough Community Development Director Eric Phillips, call (907) 861-8634 or click here for more contact options.
35 Comments
Amazing how this discussion about these sick books never ends. The perverts push harder and harder to destroy our children’s minds. God bless the children.
Agree
Who in their right mind would ever agree to making such a discussing book.
Because almost 96% of the staff at Mat Su libraries all think it’s acceptable to put this trash in the kids section instead of in the bin where it belongs.
Agree! I have hardly ever taken my kids to the library because it has turned into such a trash heap. Either the books have no educational value or they have themes that belong in the trash not on the shelves. I buy books instead and have my own library at home for my kids because if our culture keeps going down the sewer the books I buy will end up being banned and truth will be hard to find.
Yah it’s also amazing that dunleavy’s AG;s letter of instruction made zero impact! Pretending to be conservative in the world we live in ,is entertaining us to death!
Love the disingenuous and manipulative picture Joel used. The girl reading that book is like what, 8-10 years old.l? The books in question are YOUNG ADULT FICTION. That means its intended for 15+ year old young adults, most of which are already sexually active at that age. The book Identical has been around for 15 years already and is about 16 year old kids. It sounds like heavy content, but it hasn’t been a problem for 15 years! Why are you guys freaking out about it now? Its clearly not violating any laws. Its an age-appropriate fiction.
Wrong. According to the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, Young Adult books are those aimed at kids aged 12 to 18 years.
The Wasilla Public Library says these books are rated for 14-17 year olds. There is a range that libraries use. Its different for different areas and different libraries. its a library…if a parent signed the permission slip, then they consented to letting their kids checkout books.
This freak out is completely dumb. If you want to control what books your child reads, then you don’t sign the permission slip, and you need to be with your child to check out books for them. Its as simple as that. Trying to control what everyone else is allowed to read tramples on their First Amendment rights. Thats not my opinion. That is what the Supreme Court ruled on a case covering this exact same issue.
Uh. Nope. Go to the Wasilla library. They are sitting there for my eight year old to pick up at any point. Luckily my kids don’t go there unsupervised and we review all their books. Many kids are dropped off. Many parents are too busy iphoning to notice what their kids are reading.
Your comment is disingenuous.
Librarians will check out any book to ANY age child, even a book they know contains illegal obscene content.
This includes distributing the now-six books specified as violations of Alaska Statute 11.61.128 by the Mat-Su School Board Library Citizens’s Advisory Committee. Several librarians are on record stating exactly that.
None of the books are in violation of any laws.
Disagreeing with their content does not make them criminal.
The advisory committee was stacked with evangelicals who joined specifically to try and ban these books. They are not representative of the general community, and their OPINION that the content makes them uncomfortable therefore must somehow be illegal holds no legal weight.
Jacquelyn; why are you bothering to waste time proving to idiots, SA, luckylu, and Clark? Efforts completely wasted! Please address Treg Taylor for his stupid incompetent upholding the law you continue to quote! I am ! This battle will only be won if we collectively address the right targets! Treg Taylor is the bullseye! Dunleavy simply needs to be booted out! GETTR done!
Gotta say it again, but biblical Lot’s daughters seduced him, and both became pregnant. This is the very definition of incest.
And how about sexual violence? Let’s turn to the Bible again, this time from Revelation 2:22–23.
“Beware, I am throwing her on a bed, and those who commit adultery with her I am throwing into great distress, unless they repent of her doings; and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve.”
Also, the concept of “hypocrisy” is mentioned a total of 119 times in the New Testament and 12,034 times in mainstream media reporting on Republicans since January 20 2017.
Technically they drugged him first to get him drunk, so its not just incest, but rape as well.
But he did offer to let a town full of adult men gang-rape them when they were children. So…maybe they weren’t taught great morals?
Humans can be wicked. Bible also makes that clear.
The obvious solution to books in public libraries that you don’t want to read is quite simple: don’t read them. Don’t check them out. If you don’t want your teenagers to read them, don’t let them check them out. Follow them closely when/if you take them to the library, and grab the books from their hands if they attempt to sneak a peek at a book you don’t want them to read. For minors to obtain library cards, their parent/guardian has to sign an agreement taking full responsibility for their behavior inside the library, including agreeing to approve what they check out and/or what they read while in the library. If your child accesses a library book that is against your standards as a parent/guardian, it’s your own fault. Not the library’s fault.
SA, if your fault-blaming is correct and it is the parent’s fault; I think that there are two options to consider. First, since a majority of parents don’t want their children’s minds destroyed by satanic material and we pay the taxes to keep the libraries open, then the demonic people need to open their own library using their own funds. Or, the second choice is that the taxpayers be given the option to quit funding the demonic libraries and we quit using them. Fault-blame all you want. It does not change the fact that what you are pushing for is demonic and only serves your demon god. Creator of ALL Creation, please bless the children and protect them.
FoH: if parents do not want their teens to have access to “demonic libraries” or “satanic material”, the solution is quite obvious: Parents can simply refuse to allow their teens to get a public library card. They can simply refuse to allow them to even enter the public library so that they won’t be tempted to sneak a peek at the books a parent does not want their own teen to read. However, no parent has the legal or moral right to deny OTHER PEOPLE’S TEENS to access books in a public library. All Americans have the absolute freedom to read material that is legal to be in public libraries that is granted to them by the First Amendment to the US Constitution. No amount of saber rattling at “demons” or “satanic librarians” is going to revoke that right.
Thankyouthankyouthankyou Mom and Dad for showing me a path away from supernatural beliefs and a hatred of science, reason and logic.
SA, there is only a small group like you that want our children to read your demonic literature. I am not sure when or how a small group of people like you and Lucy and Clark became so entitled that everyone should like and pay for your sick ways. Those are publicly-funded libraries. Like I said, there are two options. First, since a majority of parents don’t want their children’s minds destroyed by satanic material and we pay the taxes to keep the libraries open, then the demonic people need to open their own library using their own funds. Or, the second choice is that the taxpayers be given the option to quit funding the demonic libraries and we quit using them. Fault-blame all you want. It does not change the fact that what you are pushing for is demonic and only serves your demon god. Creator of ALL Creation, please bless the children and protect them.
SA- I’m still praying for you every day. Every day. I’m praying for you to do your job in a more responsible manner. I am praying for you to recognize that most of us parents are responsible and do review or filter the garbage from the library. I am praying for you to do your job that we, the taxpayers, pay your salary for. Outside of those obvious things, I’m praying for you and that God will change the hardened way you are looking at things to better satisfy the needs of your community. I am praying for you.
Many librarians seem to be intent on making trash available to young minds. These books are obviously pornography and should be kept out of any library. If kids want to read such trash, they’ll find a way.
None of the 56 or however many books they ‘examined’ are pornography. Not in the general sense, nor in the legal sense. They are educational books and literary books. Which is exactly why the Police guys told the screaming parents there was no case here.
The issue is not pornography. The issue is obscenity. Supreme Court ruling Miller vs California 1973 is very specific. Obscenity is Not protected under the First Amendment. Legally, obscenity is defined as: “… anything that meets the criteria of the Miller test, which may include visual depictions, spoken word, or written text.” USC18 1470.
There is also the ruling Reno vs ACLU, 521 U.S. 844 (1998), which states: “Obscenity is not protected under the First Amendment rights to free speech.”
Steve–none of the books that are causing such hysteria in the Mat-Su Borough public library system nor the ones currently removed from circulation from the Mat-Su Borough School District libraries meet the legal definition of obscenity in that they fail to meet all three prongs of the so-called Miller Test as decided by the US Supreme Court. You might find the history of the Miller Test, ad its antecedents, interesting to read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_test
For Steve and Jacqueline-
None of these books pass the Miller test for obscenity. Not even close. The library advisory council has absolutely no idea how to apply Miller. The actual lawyers and AGs do understand though. Which is why this homophobic crusade is dead in its tracks. The books will be returned to the libraries, and thanks to all the publicity you gave them, more people than ever will want to read them!
Press the AG Treg Taylor again and watch his irritation with those who desire the law to be upheld! Turn up the heat!
M. Cool, you’re praying for SA. There are two outcomes, one s/he will change based on your religious pleadings, or two, s/he won’t. How will you know if you succeeded, and if you didn’t, why?
The libraries all require parents to sign off on their children’s library cards. In other words the PARENTS have 100% control over what their kids are allowed to view. Step up and be a parent, it is not up to the librarians to police what your child reads. Do you really want the GOVERNMENT to control what your child can read? Second, despite Ms. Ivie (Goforth’s pen name) claims, none of the books violate the Miller/Ginsberg test. For the record, Ms. Ivie/Goforth writes sexually explicit romance novels (look them up on Amazon under Jackie Ivie, there’s like 50 sex novels, talk about hypocrisy!), I have one here called “Once Upon a Knight”…… If the books she claims are “obscene” and violate any laws, why hasn’t the District Attorney locked up all the Borough/City Librarians? Why aren’t there 1,000’s of librarians locked up nationwide for having similar books on the shelf? Because they are not illegal in any state of violate any federal law! Why hasn’t Ms. Goforth/Ivie asked the Attorney General or the local DA for a definitive answer if the books are obscene by definition of the law or to process charges against the Borough or the Cities? Because she KNOWS that they will not EVER prosecute anyone for these books because they are perfectly legal. She refuses to have this answered because it would take the “obscene” argument away and she would just be complaining that she doesn’t like a book. Despite her not liking a book, she does not speak for my kids, or yours, or anyone else for that matter. I as a parent will decide what my children read and I applaud all libraries for having a diverse collection for all walks of people!
Jackie Ivie books are written for, marketed, and shelved for adult readers. They always have been. The issue is obscene content distributed to young teens. But thank you for mentioning my published works. I sell copies every time somebody does that.
As you know there is nothing, with the exception of a parent’s permission that prohibits “kids” from checking out your “books”. Nothing from having them exposed to your “topics”. Quote from your book “Once Upon a Knight”, “While the only thing that mattered in her world was enshrouded between her legs, slightly twitching, making her beg”….. and you have the audacity to protest any other reading material? I saw the video on Politidic, “unhinged” is how I view many of the people in the audience. Some really need to seek attention from a qualified medical professional.
Hello again Dave Natura. Yes. The only thing keeping a young teen from checking out my book is that they are placed with the other adult books in the (boring) adult section. Since the issue is specifically about violating sexual content in YOUNG ADULT targeted books – that are shelved in their own section – your comments are beyond disingenuous. I need a different word. That one is getting overused, and therefore, boring. Thank you
This meeting was streamed live today. They seem to like using fascist tactics to silence their opponents, not even posting meeting times until the last minute so people can’t speak out. The people show only got to speak to one member of the committee because the rest ran away. Total clown show just like the current administration.
Thank you for mentioning the live stream. Here is a link to the live stream that has been recorded. It is 1hr27min long.
https://rumble.com/v47sngf-matsu-school-board-challenged-books.html
The moral degenerates who defend the lewd and obscene writings/drawings in the challenged books are not worthy of the publics’ trust and should not be allowed to teach, direct or influence children.