CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — For Katie Earnhart, the first hint came in November 2021.
Earnhart is the public library director in this southeast Missouri city. She’s been here for five years, having moved from her native Kansas. Two falls ago, police officers walked into her 100-year-old library asking to see some books.
Some citizens had complained about “obscene†material in the teen collection, related to LGBTQ themes. The police looked at some books, took some notes.
“Nothing happened,†Earnhart said.
The attacks on the library, in Cape Girardeau and throughout the state, were just beginning. Most of them emanated from Republicans inside the Missouri Capitol.
For some reason, the GOP has labeled librarians as Public Enemy No. 1, following attacks during the pandemic on nurses, teachers and public health workers — and seemingly anybody who stood up for the health of fellow human beings.
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Last week, the Missouri Republicans who have a supermajority in the House defunded libraries. They erased about $4.5 million in funding for the state’s 160 public library districts. It’s mostly a symbolic move, as Senate leaders have indicated they plan to put the money back, and most library funding comes from local taxpayers. But it isn’t a move without harm, and it is but one battle in an all-out war against libraries.
On his own, and against a wave of public opinion, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft wrote a new state rule that could put some funding for libraries in jeopardy and make it easier for citizens to ban books they find objectionable.
Last year, the Legislature passed a bill that Republicans said was intended to remove “pornography†from school libraries, even though such rules already existed in state law. The law was so broad that it caused some school districts to remove books from shelves to avoid legal liability. The ACLU, Missouri Library Association and Missouri Association of School Librarians have filed a lawsuit seeking to declare the new law unconstitutional.
“It’s so disappointing,†Earnhart says of the attacks against libraries. “I find it incredibly frustrating that they’re using this as a tactic for their political theater at the expense of the libraries who serve Missouri’s citizens. We’re being used as a pawn.â€
Indeed, the real targets of Republicans are people in marginalized communities, including people of color and LGBTQ residents — particularly transgender people, who have become the party’s punching bag.
Since that first attack in November 2021, right-wing community activist groups have challenged books at the Cape Girardeau library multiple times. It’s usually the same three books, Earnhart says: “Gender Queer,†by Maia Kobabe; “The V-Word,†by Amber J. Keyser; and “This Book is Gay,†by Juno Dawson.
Each time somebody complains, Earnhart puts the books through the long-established process, guided by First Amendment case law, in which a committee examines the so-called questionable material and makes a recommendation to the library board. The result is the same every time: The books remain on the shelf.
Kristen Sorth, executive director of the ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Library, says the Republican attacks on libraries are particularly damaging in rural communities, where the staffs are smaller and have fewer resources.
“Libraries are a vital resource for all communities but particularly in rural areas where they may be the only location with reliable internet access,†Sorth said. “State aid makes up a larger percentage of the budgets for rural libraries, so the impact will be felt by those libraries and their patrons more significantly, particularly if they receive federal matching dollars which would also be impacted.â€
In the case of the Cape Girardeau library, if the state cuts were to stand, Earnhart would lose about $26,000 a year. That money has been used recently for mobile hot spots for people who don’t have Internet access, as well as popular audio and e-book platforms.
One of the things that makes the cut so particularly hurtful to Earnhart is that one of her former board members voted for it. State Rep. John Voss, R-Cape Girardeau, defended the local library during a bitter primary he won last fall. But as a member of the budget committee in the House, he voted to cut the library money, unwilling to stand up to the anti-LGBTQ freight train.
Republicans are trying to punish librarians for standing up for constituents and defending the First Amendment, but they can’t find the courage to do so themselves.
“This sort of thing comes in waves,†Earnhart notes of book banning.
But the current trend is as bad as many library professionals have seen. “Hopefully, just like all the times in the past, we’ll come out of this,†she said. “I just don’t know when it will be.â€