Conservative temper tantrum as board members storm out of library advisory board meeting
Tonight's Anchorage Library Advisory Board (LAB) meeting witnessed a dramatic exit as two of its "conservative" members made a hasty departure.
The catalyst for the abrupt exit of Board members Dennis Dupras and Doug Weimann was Assistant Municipal Attorney Jessica Willoughby's explanation regarding an amended ordinance by the Anchorage Assembly. The amendment significantly curtails the Board's power and authority, effectively relegating the Library Advisory Board to a purely...wait for it...advisory role.
Conservative members of LAB displayed evident frustration tonight, realizing that, as volunteers and political appointees of anti-LGBTQ demagogue Dave Bronson, their authority to override the decisions of highly qualified librarians with master's degrees in library science had been rescinded by the Anchorage Assembly four weeks ago - thus clarifying the Board's advisory role.
For months, the most conservative members of the Library Advisory Board and Bronson's former chief of staff, Sami Graham, have schemed to either ban or relocate the book 'Let's Talk About It,' from the Anchorage Public Library (APL), claiming that the book likely violated municipal code and state statute.
The book has been referred to as being pornographic by some so-called "concerned parents," pro-censorship advocates, far-right MAGA Republicans, and Anchorage School Board member Dave Donley — but is accurately described as being a teen's guide to sex and relationships by the book's publisher and is highly rated and recommended by trusted and respected reviewers.
At tonight's meeting, Weimann abandoned his post at the Board's table, dramatically relocating himself to the audience section, proclaiming it to be an act of protest. The non-librarian denigrated 'Let's Talk About It' as nothing more than explicit and obscene material, asserting that the book damages children. Weimann also assailed the library's director, Virginia McClure, effectively accusing the Bronson appointee of having an agenda and wresting power from the Board.
Last year Book Riot reported that Dennis Dupras had posted queerphobic and all lives/blue lives matter material on his Facebook account and that Weimann had right-wing affiliations.
Board member First Lady Deborah Bronson said the book urged children to engage in conversations with their favorite adult film stars and skillfully transitioned her argument against the book into the issue of human trafficking, 'concerned' that teens might be led to visit pornographic websites that exploit trafficking victims. Bronson made no mention of the need for parents to exercise their own "parental rights" to ensure their children only read library materials and visit websites they believe align with their own values.
Worth noting is that in June 2009, Deborah Bronson gave public testimony in which she fear-mongered over concerns that allowing drag queens to use certain public restrooms would endanger her children.
Board member Alice Qannik Glenn said she had read 'Let's Talk About It' and didn't see an issue with its content, supporting library director McClure's position that the book is correctly categorized.
A Bit of History
On March 5, Weimann shared a Fox News article on his Facebook account that targeted Polaris K-12 public school librarian Rachel Gregory for privately defending 'This is Gay,' a book Fox News described as being pornographic.
A day later, responding to a comment left in response to the same Facebook post, Weimann stated that his daughter knew both of the adult employees at Polaris K-12 "that committed the crimes."
The post was later deleted or made private after I exposed it.
On February 15, Weimann sent an email to LAB’s members stating that he’d been approached by a parent, now believed to have been Sami Graham, asking him about the library’s process for selecting and displaying books at APL and the Anchorage School District.
On March 15, alarmed by the image in 'Let's Talk About It' which depicted a cartoon anus and scrotum, Weimann pressured LAB's members to vote to refer 'Let's Talk About It' to the Anchorage municipal attorney for legal review, a request that was later denied.
On March 21, 2023, Graham filed a challenge against 'Let's Talk About It.' A committee of three librarians was convened to consider her censorship request and found that while not to everyone's taste, the book is appropriate for ages 14-18, depending on a teen's maturity.
"The library's Collection Management policy is applied equally to materials for children. The library believes that individuals may reject for themselves and their children and only their children materials that they find unsuitable. The responsibility for the reading, viewing, and listening choices of minors rests with their parents or legal guardians," wrote APL's Ad Hoc Review Committee.
Graham appealed the Ad Hoc Review Committees' findings to Library Director Virginia McClure.
On April 28, 2023, Graham sent a letter to the Library Advisory Board requesting an expedited appeal of McClure and the Committee's determination that 'Let's Talk About It' should not be banned or re-categorized. In her letter, Graham painted the educational teen book as violating AMC 8.50.040 D and accused the book's authors of targeting minor children.
"It is clearly directed at minors under the age of 18, as displayed on the cover of the book, The Teens Guide to Sex, Relationships and Being a Human," Graham wrote – using nonsensical right-wing rhetoric as an attempt to parallel the teen book to pornography.
It seems likely that conservative political allies of the mayor, none of whom have a degree in library science, have been working in lockstep to ban or relocate 'Let's Talk About It' from the public library — a right-wing effort aimed at circumventing the determinations of dedicated and qualified librarians including the library's director. And now, they are BIG mad that the Anchorage Assembly clarified that the Library Advisory Board's role is just that...advisory.
The silver lining to today's events is that the mayor's political allies will no longer have the opportunity to exploit book-related fear-mongering, effectively...hopefully...extinguishing the flame of right-wing culture wars at the public library.
Anchorage Assembly member Anna Brawley said on social media that the objections of some LAB members and their allies were political. Brawley said they were angry because their efforts to turn the public library into a political battleground weren't legal.
"Advisory boards don't have powers. They advise," she wrote.
It's unclear if Dupras and Weimann intend to resign their positions on the Board, but one thing is certain - you truly see a person's character when their power is taken away.
You can watch the entire spectacle below.
