ST. CHARLES COUNTY — The St. Charles City-County library system has bought four additional copies of a controversial book that critics contend is too sexually explicit for libraries.
Ironically, district officials said the extra copies of “Bang Like A Porn Star: Sex Tips from the Pros†were needed because a formal challenge to the book’s content was filed Sept. 27, and committee members need several copies to conduct the review.
If the committee, made up of library staffers, decides to keep the book in library circulation, the extra copies would be added to the books available to the public, said Lori Beth Crawford, a spokeswoman for the library district.
The challenge was filed a week after a group of critics appeared at a meeting of the library system’s board to complain about the book, which was in the adult section of the library, and “It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, Gender and Sexual Health,†which is aimed at children.
People are also reading…
“Bang Like A Porn Star,†a 175-page book published in 2018, features interviews with several gay adult film stars and includes photographs detailing various sex acts. It’s the only book that has begun the formal challenge process in the library system.
Prior to the latest purchase, only one copy had been available, on the shelves at the library’s Kisker Road Branch near Weldon Spring.
Crawford said she didn’t know when the committee would make a decision on the challenge.
She refused to release the name of the person filing the challenge, saying it was against district policy to do so. Area resident Rachel Homolak, one of those who complained about the book at the September meeting, said in an interview then that she hadn’t filed a challenge because she didn’t trust the process.
But on Tuesday night at the Kisker Road Branch, during the public comment portion at another meeting of the board, Homolak identified several other books in the library system that she opposes.
Homolak read a sexually graphic passage from one of the books — “Let’s Talk About It: the Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationship, and Being a Human.â€
“We have nice diagrams here,†she added, then called out to Jason Kuhl, the library system’s CEO sitting near board members. “See that, Jason?â€
She said the book was found at the district’s Spencer Road Branch in St. Peters, “not just shelved, but ... placed on a display†that encouraged children to read it. While the district says the book was in a teen section, Homolak said “youth adult is still minors.â€
Homolak also objected to “Gay Giant,†a book that she said “is about a man’s sexcapades and reminiscing on his childhood sexual experiences†and “Gender Queer: A Memoir,†which the Associated Press reported includes frank sexual images. The American Library Association’s website says that book drew the most challenges across the country last year.
Both of those books are in the adult section of the library, Kuhl said.
Before speaking during public comment, Homolak placed copies of those books and others to which she objected on the floor in front of her.
In response, on Wednesday, Kuhl said the five books first brought up at Tuesday’s meeting are commonly held at libraries across Missouri and the country. Each, he said, had been “well used by our taxpayers, which indicates our residents have a need for these materials.â€
For example, he said “Gender Queer†had been checked out 143 times from the St. Charles County system since September 2019.
“To exclude items from our collection that are included in collections of literally hundreds and thousands of other libraries ... would be to fail our residents and taxpayers who expect access to these typical library items,†he said.
Several other speakers at Tuesday’s meeting also attacked the district’s book policies, including Theresa Lintzenich, a St. Charles resident who reiterated her criticism of the “It’s Perfectly Normal†children’s book. She said it “reads like an advertisement for teen sex, contraception and abortion.â€
“St. Charles parents need to be able to trust the library again,†she added. “Please put this book in the adult section or get rid of it.â€
Some speakers, meanwhile, defended district officials.
“I want to thank the board members for being calm and civil while listening to these fire and brimstone bigotry people,†said Grayson Jostes of St. Peters.
Danielle Foster, also of St. Peters, said she supports the library and its employees amid “all of this negative, horrible hate speech towards you.â€
She said the books cited by critics “were for education.â€
“The library’s supposed to be a place where you can come and learn about all kinds of things,†she said. “Just because someone doesn’t like learning about one particular thing doesn’t mean that thing needs to be taken out.â€