A large gathering at Tuesday night’s meeting brought supporters and critics of new language for the Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries’ Strategic Plan, with some saying it will be easier for the libraries to protect children while others say it will lead to censorship
Paul Valencia
Clark County Today
A standing room only crowd gathered Tuesday night at the monthly meeting of the Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries Board of Trustees, with many people stepping up during public comment to discuss the new language in the board’s Vision, Mission, Values, and Priority Statements for its Strategic Plan.
Those on the right of the political aisle showed up to thank and praise the trustees who last month voted to soften language on its strategic plan statements. Those speakers also appreciated that the board agreed to adapt procedures regarding intellectual freedom, and therefore, in their opinion, protect children.
Many more from the left gathered to show their disappointment in the trustees for “removing equity” from the mission statement and describing the intellectual freedom caveat as “censorship.”
The meeting took place in a conference room at Cascade Park Community Library in east Vancouver.
Some on the right wore T-shirts stating “Keep the library safe for our children.”
Many on the left brought signs, requesting to “Build a Better Board.”
Gary Wilson, who is an elected school board member with Evergreen Public Schools, spoke during public comment.
He noted that while adults should have access to all materials in the library, “when it comes to children, we should protect them.”
He said 6-year-olds cannot go to a movie theater and walk into an R-rated movie on their own.
“Someone has to be the adult in the room and help guide them,” Wilson said. “Likewise, (children) shouldn’t be able to access similar content here in the library without parents or guardians approving that.”
He held up a stack of papers, noting that he has close to 5,000 signatures from Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries residents who are “in favor of protecting our children in our libraries.”
(Interestingly, he brought those signatures to the Clark County Council on Wednesday. More on that exchange below.)
To the trustees who agreed last month to make changes, Wilson said: “I appreciate you stepping back, looking at the strategic plan, and protecting the children.”
Jamie Bair spoke on behalf of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, local 307L.
She said the board adopted language that had not been shared or reviewed by the public, and that the board removed equity and equitable access from the library’s mission, vision, and values “despite overwhelming public support to retain that language.”
“They also reframed intellectual freedom through the lens of parental rights, undermining a core public library principle. … These actions have raised serious concerns across Southwest Washington.”
Among the changes, the plan went from “we champion equitable access to literacy and lifelong learning …” to replacing equitable access with “we champion fair and inclusive access to literacy …”
Mary Williams abruptly resigned from the board of trustees in protest after January’s meeting.
The board, which is supposed to have seven trustees, now has two vacancies. When all positions are filled, the board has three Clark County at-large representatives, two from Vancouver, one from Skamania County, and one from Klickitat County.
Wilson told Clark County Today he is concerned that the Clark County trustees who did vote to protect children could be in danger of losing their spots on the board of trustees. They were recommended to the board by the Clark County Council.
He visited the Clark County Council on Wednesday during Council Time to talk during public comment. He presented the 5,000 signatures from people who want “to protect children from inappropriate programs and material for their age group in the library.”
Wilson said there are books in the library system that he described as pornographic, and those items should not be available to children.
“The vast majority of your constituents care about protecting the children in the county,” Wilson said. “Please do the same. Do not attempt to remove our Clark County library (trustees).”
Later in Council Time, the council did make a request to have members of the Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries give an update to the councilors on the libraries as well as the process for modifying the language in the mission statements.
“I thought it would be worthwhile for the council to understand what our role is and how things unfolded,” Clark County Chair Sue Marshall said. “It would be good to get an update.”
At Tuesday’s FVRL meeting, there was a display of passionate arguments on both sides of the issue.
While on two occasions, some on the left literally laughed at comments made from those on the right, there was no swearing and no threatening language that could be heard by this reporter. It was nothing like what has been witnessed recently at Clark County Council meetings.
In fact, long after public comment, both sides applauded presenters who were giving updates on the successes throughout the Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries. That included an update on the strong attendance numbers and interactions at the Cascade Park Regional Library.
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