ST. CHARLES COUNTY — After a year of controversy over a St. Charles County library system’s policies, a state legislator has introduced a bill to make library boards across Missouri elected instead of appointed.
“It’s pretty clear folks are very upset about the content of libraries and the way things are selected and rejected†for library shelves, said Rep. Tony Lovasco, R-O’Fallon, referring to books with sexual references.
“The best way to go is to give the people a voice in how these decisions are made.â€
Under his measure, board members in county and city library districts — and hybrid agencies such as the St. Charles City-County District — would be chosen for two-year terms in November elections.
Now they’re appointed by mayors, county executives and, in outlying areas, county commissions.
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Lovasco’s bill drew support Tuesday from Jane Puszkar, a conservative member of the Francis Howell School Board who has been among critics of the library district’s policies.
However, Randy Scherr, the Missouri Library Association’s longtime Jefferson City lobbyist, said association members are concerned that libraries would have to pay a share of election costs.
He also said he doesn’t understand why libraries should be singled out among various other appointed governmental boards that also have the authority to levy taxes.
“We think it’s going to be costly and it’s going to turn everything political,†Scherr said.
Cody Croan, the library association’s legislative chairman, added that it may be difficult to get people “with the time and funding ability†to run for elected library posts in smaller districts.
Puszkar said, “I believe that the electorate is paying attention and knows what would be best.†She added that under the bill, “people would have more of a say.â€
In neighboring Illinois, some library boards are elected and others appointed, depending on how they are set up.
In St. Charles County, speakers at library board meetings have repeatedly complained about books with sexual content being available. Others have defended district officials.
After months of criticism, the system announced last month that it would remove books containing explicit photos of sexual acts from library shelves but that they still would be available in the district’s online card catalog and to check out.
Library staffers have estimated that the change would result in fewer than 10 books removed.
In addition, the district is taking one book out of circulation altogether — “Bang Like A Porn Star†that features interviews with gay adult film stars and photos detailing sex acts.
Both actions came after St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann and St. Charles Mayor Dan Borgmeyer, who under current law appoint the board members, asked the district to isolate books with sexually explicit illustrations or instructions to restricted areas of libraries.
Lovasco said “that would have been a much more responsive situation had the folks in charge (on the board) been directly accountable†to voters.
Lovasco, the bill’s sponsor, said he isn’t reacting solely to the controversy in his own county. He said library content had become “a hot button issue†in other areas across the country as well.
It’s also hit the Missouri Capitol previously.
In 2022, the Legislature passed a law barring school libraries from giving students access to books with sexually explicit images.
That prompted the library association, the ACLU of Missouri and a school librarians’ group to go to court last year to challenge the measure as unconstitutional.
Following the lawsuit, the House’s budget chairman removed state funding for local public libraries from a budget bill, saying the state shouldn’t subsidize the lawsuit by giving the libraries money. The Senate later restored the funding.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft told the state’s 160 public libraries last year to devise policies requiring parental permission for children and teens to check out books.
Lovasco’s bill calls for the new elected library boards to have five members. But it allows existing larger boards, such as the nine-person panel in St. Charles County and nine-member ºüÀêÊÓƵ Library Board, to continue their current size if they want to as long as they have an odd number.
The new boards would be picked in elections with no primary.
But in an unusual twist, the bill would allow but not require a candidate to list his or her party affiiliation on the ballot. Candidates who don’t declare a party affliation would be listed as independents.
The bill calls for all board members to be elected on an at-large basis. Lovasco said, however, he is open to possibly changing the bill to have board members in large library districts be elected from subdistricts.
Meanwhile, Puszkar suggested phasing in the possible new setup, with boards for the first two or three years being a mix of appointed and elected members.
The legislation is HB2498