Library board to discuss book displays

By John Labriola - The Citrus County Library Advisory Board (LAB), with two newly appointed members, will be revisiting the issue of book displays when it meets on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 9 a.m. at the Lecanto Government Building.

LAB member Rhys Campbell, the author of an unsuccessful motion in October to have a temporary display of books by the late Charlie Kirk, has placed the discussion item on the agenda.

"There is viewpoint discrimination taking place when it comes to displays within the library,” Campbell wrote in his agenda item. "The LAB needs to discuss and advise the correct course of action that should be taken to provide all angles and points of views to be freely expressed and displayed for the local community.” 

The item was prompted by this month's Black History Month book displays in Citrus libraries. 

Campbell's motion for a Charlie Kirk book display, which was viciously attacked by hateful leftists who mobbed the LAB meeting, was ultimately rejected by library board members because they said it was "political." But the Black History Month displays now in the libraries are brimming with left-wing political content, Campbell said.

"When it comes to Black History month, we have a display at multiple libraries that promote critical race theory, agendas (i.e. BLM, violent revolution, and anti-police rhetoric), and not a single mention of a Republican/Conservative who is black," he wrote. 

Library staff has since added a few books to the displays to partially address Campbell's concerns, including a book by Ben Carson at the Lakes Region Library in Inverness, but a number of the materials that remain on display clearly represent far-left viewpoints.

The Central Ridge Library's Black History Month display includes the book "We Refuse:  A Forceful History of Black Resistance" by Kellie Carter Jackson, which glorifies rioting against "white supremacy" and "structural racism," leftist code words used to justify violence against the police. 

The Homosassa Library has a display including "America on Fire: The Untold History of Police Violence and Black Rebellion Since the 1960s" by Elizabeth Hinton, which also glorifies violent riots as "rebellions" and vilifies the police, and  "Fight of the Century" praising 100 years of far-left ACLU court victories (including the notorious Roe v. Wade).

Campbell's legitimate concerns are again drawing the left's ire. He and other members of the LAB, as well as the County Commission and Library Governing Body, are receiving angry emails from LGBT activists and other leftists attacking Campbell and demanding he be removed from the library board for daring to disagree.

"Bringing this item forward...is disrespectful to the Advisory Board, the Board of County Commissioners, and the professional library staff who have already addressed this matter in good faith," an anonymous leftist wrote, adding that the issue does not deserve "further oxygen." 

In fact, the county is still in the process of updating the library system's book display policy and could benefit from the LAB's discussion. In December, county commissioners advanced a proposal by Commissioner Jeff Kinnard to combine the library's existing policy with his own draft, which states displays should focus on "promoting literacy, lifelong learning and cultural enrichment," not contain "sexual or sexuality related material" and not reflect "political, religious, or partisan advocacy," issues highlighted in Campbell's agenda item. A final draft of the display policy has not yet been returned to the commission for review.

This will be the LAB's first meeting since county leaders appointed James Pirotta and Terry Morriston to fill two vacancies on the board earlier this month.

The meeting will take place at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24, in Room 166 of the Lecanto Government Building, 3600 W. Sovereign Path, Lecanto, FL 34461.

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