Should Libraries answer more directly to the voters? Rep. Jamie Gragg thinks so and has introduced a bill to make that possible.
I was able to observe and participate as a journalist and a citizen by giving testimony in favor of this bill, along with courageous local giants.
Introduction/Context
House Rep. Jamie Gragg introduced HB2648 into committee. This bill would allow library districts, whether county or municipal, to opt-in to elect their own Library School Board Members. The bill has many supporters and many detractors.
Three individuals arrived to support the bill being voted on in Committee. 70 written testimonies were submitted in favor of the bill.
One lobbyist, Randy Scherr, arrived late to oppose the bill and was still given a chance to speak first. Only 4 were libraries, 1 was a lobbyists, and only 1 was a person’s written testimony were submitted in opposition of the bill.
Room Description
The basement room had green walls and chairs. The temperature was warm. A camera was set up to record the proceedings. The Republicans occupied the top two rows of seats, with a mix of middle-aged and older members plus one younger person. The Democrats sat in the front row, except for one member who held a position on the Government Efficiency and Downsizing Committee and was seated separately.
The seating segregated the two parties on opposite sides of the aisle. This room had likely hosted many hearings and debates over the years between the opposing viewpoints.
Committee Members
Rep. Jim Murphy (R) Chair
Rep. Dean Van Schoiack (R) Vice-Chair
Rep. Gretchen Bangert (D) Ranking Minority Member
Rep. Ben Baker (R)
Rep. Mitch Boggs (R)
Rep. Michael Burton (D)
Rep. Darin Chappell (R)
Rep. Doug Clemens (D)
Rep. Michael Davis (R)
Rep. Tony Lovasco (R)
Rep. Chantelle Nickson-Clark (D)
Rep. Louis Riggs (R)
Rep. Jim Schulte (R)
Rep. Adam Schwadron (R)
Testimony/Discussion
Rep. Gragg introduced the bill. Everything here is very formal. It is hard to read people in this room. Is it because they have learned a poker face? Is it because they have become inured against arguments and comments from the public?
I did notice Rep. Clemens looked through my submitted testimony before I spoke. He scanned it and then he put it down. Other members scanned it also.
Rep. Clemens is well spoken and intelligent. But…
Rep. Gragg presented the bill—Started with a joke about Daylight Savings.
HB2648 is something that has been growing in the state with the shadows of Covid and parents found out more that is going on in Schools and Libraries. Parents are noticing our libraries aren’t reflecting our forefathers and values in our communities.
With the enlightenment of what they saw in the library, they learned that the library boards are appointed within and they don’t have any say in what is going on in the library.
This bill is lengthy to deal with different libraries and different sizes, based on how each operates. It gives the option to become an elected board.
Dem is telling about how great books are in STL county. She is praising the library. The library board won’t allow it to work in their county. Their library board is not going to run for it. She is such a lousy person. She is talking down to Rep. Gragg because she’s from STL and he’s from a small district that she’s not even sure she knows where it is.
Rep. Gragg is arguing that each district should be given the option to vote their boards and the people should have the ultimate decision making.
Bangert keeps pointing out how big STL is compared to how small Rep. Gragg’s library is. The election is run and the costs are distributed and broken up by the entities.
Murphy understands the concern and says the community college board is elected in STL county. Would they not know anything about how it is on the board?
Rep. Gragg—An area that doesn’t know who is on their board might not choose to have a board.
Rep. Lavaso—suggested that we have this go up as a ballot issue rather than a bill.
Rep. Burton—Is there anything you have seen to bring this bill forward.
Rep. Gragg—I started to see issues when I ran for this office. I heard problems about the library boards. He shares about the CCL library board not allowing free speech at the board.
Burton—Are you concerned about Drag Queen Story Hour.
Rep. Gragg—I have never mentioned that to you.
Burton—Accusing special interests and dark money from out of state money to control our libraries?
Rep. Gragg—
Burton—People go to the library to get history. He then attacks Right-wingers wanting to ban To Kill a Mockingbird, The Color Purple,
There is nothing here to control out of state money in the bill.
This bill would allow dark money. [This went on for some time and took up a few minutes with Rep. Murphy asking him to stay on topic.]
Rep. Murphy—Do you take dark money? [He then cuts Rep. Burton’s mic.]
Rep. Clemens—Here is my thing, we are supposed to be slow moving so we don’t become reactionary. I have office hours every other week in my library. It has books, computers and printers. I can come in to do office hours. I don’t see a problem causing us to uproot the whole system. Public hearings are a tradition in this company. We have Robert Rules of Order. We can remove their appointment if they won’t follow democratic rules. I don’t want to tear apart our system
Rep. Gragg—Your library might be fantastic. My library is pretty good. Unfortunately, they were self-appointed and the three year term was rolled over again and again. I am referencing things that have happened by the state. There is nothing to allow the citizens to have a say in the library.
Rep. Clemens—Libraries are the fabric of the country. We had those things before the formation of the company.
Rep. Gragg—Do you agree that things can go south.
Rep. Clemens—Where have things gone so south we have to take the whole system and flip it.
Rep. Gragg—As we know, the power is the citizens of our state.
Rep. Clemens—We know what downticking is on the ballot. The president is not the most important election. They don’t even bother voting for the people below the state rep. When we have an appointed board, when I hire an employee they know their stuff and they are straight-laced and boring.
Rep. Gragg—I trust librarians as much as I trust politicians.
Rep. Clemens—I think people should have a voice and people shouldn't exercise it.
Rep. Gragg—I think that is a separate problem.
Rep. Clemens—We had a bill we messed up my freshman year that we had to fix this past week.
Rep. Gragg—Sometimes there has been a consistent problem that we only just picked up recently.
Rep. Clemens—I do think the philosophy is worth challenging. I challenge us to look at the problem more systematically. Local control is the thing. The people responsible for the appointments should be talked to if there are problems with the library board. We have a system in place and I think this bill is a misplaced effort for us.
Rep. Gragg—This is worth fighting for, even if it is burdensome.
Rep. Nickson-Clark—Very quickly, I’m just hearing your testimony. It is contradictory, when you said you don’t trust the politician. My constituents have voiced their concerns and emails have been sent. They are complaining about the costs of $541K.
Rep. Gragg—That number is a little high. Read that real quick here.
Rep. Nickson-Clark—Thank you for that clarification. Why couldn’t the elected candidates apply for the same application process? This is giving each district all the options. It’s putting the power of the library board back in the hands of the citizens. What if the candidate still doesn’t reflect their community.
Rep. Gragg—3 year terms and term-limits.
Rep. Nickson-Clark—I’m a firm believer that public comments should be warranted. Have you looked at the by-laws? Are we making this bill for one situation?
Rep. Gragg—That was challenged and rectified.
Rep. Nickson-Clark—The STL library doesn’t support this bill. I am on record for saying I can’t support the bill.
Rep. Gragg—If they are that passionate about their libraries, I disagree and they would.
Rep. Nickson-Clark—Would you throw a temper tantrum if you vote for someone and then you don’t like it?
Rep. Gragg—That sounds like what isms?
Rep. Chappell—This bill doesn’t have a one-size fits all mentality. This bill gives the local districts the option on how to proceed. Is there anything that isn’t local control?
Rep. Gragg—No.
Rep. Van Schoiack—You have different systems in the bill.
Rep. Gragg—We are treating each bill differently because I can’t expect each library district to be the same and it breaks it down by budget and size and type of county or municipalities.
Randy Scherr (MLA Rep)—I’ve never seen the opposition testify first. I first want to mention that we support the first two sections in the bill. We are dealing with money. We are concerned with the rest of the bill and the cost. I want to address the inconsistency and misrepresentation.
Page 24, subsection…That affects 52 libraries which would be mandated to have library board elections.
I would not condone the district that restricted
The library boards are not appointed from within. [That’s not true in many cases.] They may get their ideas and thoughts from within.
The library boards don’t raise taxes. The citizens do.
A significant number of the library districts went to their county clerk to get information about the cost. 30 or 40 libraries responded that it would be in the millions of dollars. Libraries would face substantial costs.
The Library Board would not be required to pay the costs. It is going to be split among the costs.
Rep. Lovasco—I’m curious what solution would work to defray the costs. Is that your primary objection?
Randy Scherr—Locally we’re doing great. Our members [libraries only] would prefer an appointment process by the county. Have a public hearing on the appointees to the board. Make it public. We’re finding a lot of municipalities and counties happy. [They were forced to do this by public outcry.]. It doesn’t cost anything and it is efficient and I think we get apolitical board members.
Rep. Van Schoiack—If we were to do this, St. Joseph is larger and could outvote Andrew county and then it wouldn’t be representative of the entire district.
Chappell—There are 52 districts above $250K that will be mandated to have elections.
Mary Hernandez de Carl’s Testimony
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to express my support for HB 2648. As a citizen of Christian County, I have personally experienced how difficult it is to hold library board trustee members accountable for failure to fulfill their role. In Christian County, like in many other counties in Missouri, our commissioners follow Missouri State Statute 182.050 and appoint library trustee members to the county library board. Up until last year, the presiding commissioner would simply rubber stamp the recommendation made to him by the other library board trustees and executive director. This resulted in Christian County having a self- appointing, self-perpetuating board, where library board trustee seats were given to people who were not properly vetted by the County Commissioners to ensure they would properly advocate for the will of the citizens they represent. These library trustee appointments had the potential to turn into lifetime appointments. There was a policy in place where according to the library executive director, trustees did not have to reapply for reappointment at the end of their term.
Currently, Christian County has board trustees who fall short of their roles and responsibilities with no recourse or remedy to this problem. This is especially concerning seeing as to how many of our state’s libraries receive large amounts of tax revenue from the community it serves. In Christian County, Library receives $3.1M of its $4.1M budget from the taxpayer. This library is funded by the people and should do its best to serve the people, but this isn’t the case.
According to Missouri Public Library Trustee Manual produced by the Missouri Secretary of State Library, one of the roles of the library board of trustees is to conduct analyses of the community and its needs, and implement responses to those needs; as well as to build board policies and procedures to work together effectively on behalf of the community. For over a year now, the Christian County library board meetings have been packed with concerned citizens advocating for the development of an age-appropriate materials selection policy for minors as is required by Jay Ashcroft’s Library Certification Requirement for the Protection of Minors Rule. Despite the concerned citizens coming to the library with a solutions-based approach, we have been shut out and have a board that refuses to listen to the will of the people. We have a board who refuses to conduct market research and work with citizens of Christian County to define what our community deems is age appropriate for minors.
Currently, a library is the place where the most socially controversial conversations take place. This is why the seats of these critical library board trustee members need to be democratically elected to ensure they reflect the will of the people. In the future, should HB 2648 become law, if there is a library board trustee who is unwilling to listen to their community’s concerns, they can be voted out. Right now, all we can do is wait up to four years and hope such person is not reappointed to their seat by county commissioners.
Aileena Keen’s Testimony
Thank you for allowing me the chance to speak today. I have lived in Missouri my entire life, and this is my first time coming to Jefferson City. That is how important this issue is to me. I am here today in support of HB 2648. I am a mother of three beautiful children whom I have had the privilege of raising for the past 15 years in Christian County, Missouri.
I first learned about age-inappropriate and sexual content in the children’s and young adult sections of the Christian County Library several years ago, but I was not brave enough to speak up about it until about 9 months ago.
When I discovered how terribly graphic the children’s library content was and how it was being placed like land mines around our community library, I was brought to tears, and I was barely able to hold my composure to address our library board.
Naively, I was convinced that if I just explained to them how horrific this content was and how I don’t feel safe to bring my children in our library anymore, that they would hear me out and act. But they didn’t.
Over the following months, I have been determined to bring ideas, solutions, suggestions, research, and questions to the board. I have shared my concerns that our library is not a welcoming environment for all children anymore, and the board has yet to make any real effort to address public concerns.
I have suggested labeling and relocating these books into the adult section, but I do not support banning books like many been accused of. I know that there is a common sense solution that will make everyone happy, but my pleas for help and suggestions have fallen on deaf ears.
Until last summer, the Christian County Library board functioned much like I believe most Missouri Libraries function - unanswerable to the public. The board functioned as a self-appointing board from within, leading to no accountability to the voters.
To add to the accountability issue, Library leadership takes directives from the supposed experts who usually include the American Library Association who have openly embraced Marxism, the Missouri Library Association who follows the ALA guidelines closely, and the publishers. Tax payer input and accountability are missing from this list of trusted experts!
Our library’s operating budget is roughly $4 million, and for years this library has been operated by a group of seemingly unelected ideologues whose overall values do not represent the values of taxpayers of Christian County whom they are supposed to be serving.
When called into question, these unelected board members have attempted to quell dissent. The board attempted to silence applause at one meeting before public comment began. They threatened to immediately adjourn the meeting if we made any noise. We had been nothing but respectful in our interactions with the board, so we were blindsided and confused at this attempt to silence dissent. Thankfully, Representative Jamie Gragg intervened to remind the board that our first amendment rights must be upheld, and they have since backed off of this stance.
There has to be a course correction. It is disenfranchisement to give a $4 million operating budget to a Library whose board ignores the wishes of citizens, defers judgment to non governmental organizations that align with radical ideologies, alienates citizens who do not feel safe bringing their children to the library anymore, and attempts to silence dissent.
This is not just a Christian County problem. We unfortunately are at the helm of the issue, but controversy could be coming to your county or district’s public library as well (if it isn’t already there) when parents begin to notice radically inappropriate material age-targeted for children in your county libraries. All taxpayers deserve to have input into how they want their library run, and what they want their library collections to look like. Christian County will not look like Clay county. Webster County will not look like St. Louis County. Nor should it.
Christian County has been fortunate enough to have bold commissioners in office who have taken the authority to appoint 2 new board members in place of the self-appointing board system. But not every county has been so fortunate, and all Missourians deserve to elect their library board members. This is a plea to add accountability into a broken system. I urge you to support HB 2648.
David Rice’s Testimony (My time was cut short and I was not allowed to give my full comments. To see my full comments, go to this article.)
Dehumanizing the Citizens as Mere Dollars
Perhaps most concerningly, the evidence shows the core of the issue is the library's outright disrespect, dehumanization, and disregard for the citizens and taxpayers who fund its operations.
In callous internal comments, one staff member stated that each taxed family only contributes around $40 to the library's budget–she was complaining about using taxpayer money to buy books that were conservative. This shockingly dismissive statement reduces the entire community to mere tiny fractions of a percentage point in their $4 million budget.
To the library's leadership, the very citizens they are meant to serve are just numbers on a spreadsheet–sources of revenue to be endlessly bled of tax dollars in pursuit of their ideological indoctrination campaigns and endless budget growth. The humans making up the community are an afterthought whose voices, values, and rights as parents are increasingly irrelevant.
This fiscal dehumanization is reflected in their policy actions of censoring community values from the library collection, forcing obscene sexual content on children, and labeling mainstream parents as threats to be silenced rather than partners to be engaged. The public has been reduced to walking ATMs from which to extract ever-more tax funds to fuel the ambitions and agenda of an unaccountable, activist Library Directorate in almost every community across the state–this is not solely a Christian County problem.
Conclusion
This conflict between the community and the library doesn’t have to exist and is inflated and encouraged by Library staff and the Non Governmental Organizations like the American Library Association and the Missouri Library Association. They are hostile agencies attempting large-scale radicalization of every community now that they have co-opted Librarians and the institutions which defer degrees. Karl Marx would be amazed at the allegiances the ALA and the MLA have developed–Librarians are the banner bearers for Marxism in every community.Â
The ALA’s purpose is to defeat critics–they don’t care about the First Amendment. They make up scares about book bans and will call you or anyone who supports common sense names. They don’t respect your office–they fear you if they can’t control you. They don’t respect the law–they fear it will not be expanded to include their radical ideas. They don’t respect the community–they want to silence us.Â
In Camden County, they had to go through a painful process. They had to take back their County Commissioners, then their library board. When the Library had a chance to work with them, their Director quit. Does this have to be the process across the state? Each county having a long, ever-expanding public fight against a handful of radical staff members? This is going on across the state–including in Cape Girardeau.Â
What does this infighting do to the community long-term? How will this affect the state five years from now? Ten years? This Committee has a common sense solution to an ongoing power struggle between hundreds, sometimes thousands, of community members and a tiny board and the staff behind them? No one is foolish enough to think this bill will be a magic pill that solves all the issues.Â
However, HB2648 is an important step forward in resolving the ALA and MLA-driven conflict in so many of Missouri’s counties.Â