Library board overrules staff, removes sexually explicit books from teen section

WARNING: The following article contains descriptions of sexually explicit content.

The board of trustees for a major South Carolina public library system has voted to overrule library staff and move four books critics say contain sexually explicit content and promote LGBT ideology from the children’s and teen sections to the adult section. 

At the York County Library (YCL) board meeting on Oct. 8, the board approved “reconsideration requests” for four books available to children or teenagers. The requests sought to move the books from the juvenile or teen sections to the adult section.

The first book, 19 Love Songs by David Levithan, was the subject of a reconsideration request from a patron concerned about its “sexual content contrary to collection development guidelines for YCL’s teen collection.” Passages identified as problematic were read aloud at the meeting.

One passage describes a scene in which “suddenly the clothes are coming off, the need is overpowering, belts are undone, pants are shed and the kisses are real.” The excerpt refers to “two men who are in love with each other and their kisses are real.” Elsewhere, a character says, “Let’s get those pants off of you.”

A library staff committee that reviewed the book found that “the title is appropriately placed and recommended that it remain available in the teen section.” The board voted 6-1 to overrule the committee.

The second book, The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, features a passage asking: “Why should we wait for marriage? What if we want to smoke weed? Is masturbation a sin?” Another passage in the book contains dialogue stating: “That’s a lot of body for someone as small as you to handle. I think she needs a man a little bigger. When I see his smirk and his handcuffing his crotch, I break from Twin’s grip.” 

“I press my lips to his. His mouth is soft against mine. Gently, he bites my bottom lip and then his tongue slides in my mouth. It’s messier than I thought it would be. He must notice because his tongue slows down,” reads an additional passage.

Another excerpt from the book features a character discussing how “I don’t want to stop kissing,” adding ‘We didn’t until his hands moved under my shirt and I jumped at the chill.”

The character also suggested that “maybe I jumped at something else” such as “guilt” or “how fast we’re moving” while concluding that “it’s confusing to know you shouldn’t be doing something that might go too far but still wanting to do it anyway.” Another passage outlines what happens when a guy “bumps” another character resulting in “both of his hands palming and squeezing my a—.” 

An additional excerpt describes a scene where “naked skin runs against mine” and kisses are directed at “my neck and ear,” “fingers touch my breast and I stop breathing.” 

The final scene singled out from The Poet X shows how characters are “lying on the couch” and “on top” of each other, with one character talking about how “his kisses feel so good” and “I also feel him pressed against me,” specifically “the part of him that’s hard.” The character describes how “his hand brushes my thigh and then moves up” before discussing how she stopped his hand as he was “breathing hard, kissing me hard, still bumping up against me hard.”

A library staff committee concluded that the book’s content did not justify moving it from the teen section to the adult section, but the board voted 5-2 to overrule that recommendation.

The third book, When Aidan Becomes a Brother by Kyle Lukoff, features a very young girl who cuts off her pigtails and deliberately stains or damages her clothes in protest of her sex.

A staff committee recommended that the book remain in the juvenile section, but a majority of the board voted to overrule the recommendation and move it to the adult section.

The fourth book, Sold by Patricia McCormick, contains a passage discussing a scene where a character’s teeth “dig into my lower lip” while “he fumbles with his pants, forces my legs apart, and I can feel him pushing between my thighs.” The character details how “I gasp for air and kick and squirm” before “he thrusts his tongue into my mouth.” Another passage from the book documents a character discussing another “squeezing my breast with his hand like someone shopping for a melon” as she tries “to push him away.” 

“Then he is on top of me and something hot and insistent is in between my legs. He grunts and struggles trying to fit himself inside me. With a sudden thrust, I am torn into. ‘Oh yes,’ he says panting,” another passage states. Subsequent passages feature the character describing herself as “torn and bleeding where the men have been” in addition to praying “to the gods to make the burning and aching and bleeding stop” and regretting that she was unable to “rinse the men” from her body. 

Additional passages in the book feature a character vowing to “grind chilis” and put them in another’s “private parts” and depict a character stepping on another’s head. A committee of library staff determined that the book should not be relocated from the teen section to the adult section but the board voted 6-1 to overrule that recommendation. 

A staff committee recommended moving a fifth book, People Kill People by Ellen Hopkins, from the teen section to the adult section, and the board unanimously upheld the recommendation.