The presentation was unassuming, just a handful of picture books arrayed on the side of a bookcase 鈥� the ABCs of a Pride parade, biographies of the gay World War II codebreaker Alan Turing and 50 LGBTQ+ people who made history, the sex education manual 鈥淚t鈥檚 Perfectly Normal,鈥� a retelling of the Stonewall riot and 鈥淢y Shadow Is Pink,鈥� in which a young boy explores his gender identity.
But when Fresno County Supervisor Steve Brandau heard a complaint from a constituent that Clovis librarians had put together a graphic Pride Month display for the children鈥檚 section, he was concerned enough to check it out. It wasn鈥檛 the type of material that he thought should be available alongside books about skunks and pirates.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 like a kid going in there and seeing 鈥業 can choose to be a boy or girl,鈥欌�� Brandau said. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 seem age-appropriate, especially without the parent being involved.鈥�
After flipping through the books, Brandau said he left the library in June 2023 鈥渉orrified鈥� by images he believed were too sexually explicit and topics he felt were too mature for young readers. He began reaching out to local officials elsewhere 鈥� in states such as South Carolina, Kentucky and Texas, where library book controversies have become commonplace 鈥� to learn what they were doing.
Last November, Brandau led Fresno County in , which could soon decide whether to move material with 鈥渟exual references鈥� and 鈥済ender-identity content鈥� to a restricted area where it could only be checked out with a parent鈥檚 permission.
The committee, which has not yet been selected, is already a lightning rod for fears about parents鈥� rights, censorship, the politicization of libraries and LGBTQ people being pushed out of public life again. Supporters say they are concerned about sexual content, not LGBTQ themes, and they do not want to ban books from the library entirely.
Tracy Bohren, a queer mother of two from Clovis who helped rally local LGBTQ residents against the committee, said adults who object to books about gay and transgender people are applying their own biases to sexualize material meant to help children understand the world. She said it鈥檚 important to have library books about marginalized groups available to LGBTQ kids who don鈥檛 come from supportive homes and need the message that they are loved.
"Somehow in the 鈥榳e need to protect kids鈥� platform that they have stated, trans kids, LGBTQ kids, have not been considered part of that population that they need to protect,鈥� Bohren said.
Now the book battle has become another front in the of California and the state鈥檚 liberal government . A bill on track to pass the Legislature before the session ends on Aug. 31 would effectively outlaw book review committees and other policies that limit access to materials at public libraries 鈥� potentially shutting down Fresno County鈥檚 efforts before they ever get off the ground.
鈥淚t appears to me that they believe that children are best educated and raised as wards of the state,鈥� Brandau said. 鈥淲e have age limits for movies. We have age limits for alcohol. And it鈥檚 not unreasonable to have age limits on sexually graphic material.鈥�
Books bans surging nationwide
Though disagreements over what constitutes suitable reading material for young people are nothing new, public libraries have been thrust into a pitched culture war over the past few years as conservative activist groups across the country .
The American Library Association has tracked a massive increase in the number of books being challenged at schools and libraries, which to a record 4,240 titles. Nearly half featured LGBTQ or racial themes, according to the association.
Many Republican-led states have subsequently embraced policies requiring schools and libraries to remove books with any sexual content 鈥� including nudity, masturbation and homosexuality 鈥� or keep them in a separate adult section. New in Utah, Idaho, South Carolina and Tennessee in recent weeks.
California is not at the center of this conflict, though it has faced scattered fights over school materials, including a high-profile showdown last year between Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Temecula school board that tried to ban an elementary school social studies textbook because it incorporated a lesson about assassinated gay politician Harvey Milk of San Francisco. In response, Newsom signed a law to for including the history or culture of LGBTQ people and other diverse groups, while voters .
Besides Fresno County, the city council in Huntington Beach, the iconic Orange County surf community, has also to review children鈥檚 library books, part of a broader push by local officials to . In the latest salvo of a bitter brawl over the political future of the city, opponents are of the review board before voters next spring.
These incidents caught the attention of Assemblymember , a Torrance Democrat, who said public libraries are cornerstone institutions that should provide all Americans with a diverse range of perspectives.
鈥淭eens exploring gender identity issues absolutely should have access to books that speak to their experiences and that may provide support or guidance,鈥� he told CalMatters.
His proposal, , would require public libraries in California to establish a clear policy for choosing books, including a way for community members to voice their objections, but would prohibit banning material because it deals with race or sexuality. It also clarifies that library material can include sexual content that鈥檚 not obscene and leaves to the discretion of librarians where to display those books, though they could not prevent minors from checking them out.
鈥淎t the center of this bill is the fundamental respect for professionally trained librarians to be making the decisions as to what book titles and how to present them to the general public,鈥� Muratsuchi said.
The measure has received the support of the California Library Association. Peter Coyl, the director and CEO of the Sacramento Public Library and a member of the association鈥檚 intellectual freedom committee, said librarians want to provide people with information, not pornography. While parents have the right to decide what their own children read, he said, libraries need to have materials available to serve their full communities, including families with same-gender couples and children who are questioning their identities.
鈥淣ot every book is meant for every reader,鈥� Coyl said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 then take your belief about what鈥檚 right for your child and apply it to everyone else.鈥�
The bill, which won overwhelming approval in the Assembly in May and has advanced smoothly through Senate committees since, must pass the Legislature by the end of August to reach the governor鈥檚 desk. A spokesperson for Newsom said the governor would not comment on pending legislation.
If it is signed into law, it could still potentially face legal challenges from defenders of library book review committees, who argue the bill prevents parents from protecting their children from adult material.
鈥淗ow do we make sure our public libraries really are tools that can be used by everyone?鈥� said Diane Pearce, a city councilmember in Clovis, a fast-growing and Republican-leaning Fresno suburb. 鈥淲e want to empower our parents in this situation and the state is telling us that they can do it better than we can.鈥�
LGBTQ families feel targeted
The debate over the book review board in Fresno County has been deeply enmeshed with anxieties around LGBTQ rights, particularly transgender youth, underscoring how advocates on either side see the committee in starkly different terms.
As Brandau was researching his proposal last summer, the issue blew up publicly when Pearce that people 鈥渕ight want to wait until June is over to take your kids to the Clovis Public Library鈥� alongside photos of the Pride display and a page from a book about gender identity.
Pearce said she does not object to LGBTQ content, but rather to graphic sex education books and others dealing with 鈥渢ransgender ideology鈥� being targeted to young children, which she said are not appropriate themes for that age.
鈥淚 looked at it as a public service announcement,鈥� Pearce said. 鈥淚 believe that parents should be involved in their children鈥檚 exposure to that. Those issues are controversial.鈥�
Pearce asked her city council colleagues to send a letter to the Fresno County Board of Supervisors seeking a solution, though they .
That effort mobilized local members of the LGBTQ community, such as Boren, who said the library skirmish is part of a broader pattern of religious conservatives in Fresno County overlooking or discriminating against LGBTQ families.
The Clovis school district was one of the first in the state last year to their name, pronouns or gender identity 鈥� a policy that the Legislature and Newsom , effective in January and pending several lawsuits.
When advocates rallied against the review committee proposal before the board of supervisors last fall, Bohren said officials ignored their expressions of support for the library and seemed only concerned with serving their constituents who aligned with their ideology.
鈥淚 feel like it was contrived,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one specific group of people 鈥� Christian nationalists 鈥� who are deciding what is appropriate or not appropriate for my children to see.鈥�
Brandau said opponents fundamentally misunderstood his proposal, , which he already considered a compromise. No books will be banned, he said; the committee will merely move material to a restricted section of the library that parents can access if they want, allowing Fresno County to set its own community standards for what books should be readily available to children.
He said he took months to develop a policy that was 鈥渘ot targeting one lifestyle,鈥� though he acknowledged that language limiting 鈥済ender-identity content鈥� and other 鈥渃ontent deemed age-inappropriate鈥� encompasses books about sexuality and transgender people.
鈥淚鈥檓 not against this material. I鈥檓 against it at the wrong age,鈥� Brandau said. 鈥淚f this didn鈥檛 involve children, it鈥檚 not the biggest deal on the planet.鈥�
Librarians under siege
California librarians say morale in their profession has plummeted in recent years. The backlash to certain books has fomented public distrust of their intentions and stoked a host of stressful and sometimes terrifying new threats 鈥� protesters, prank calls, and 鈥淔irst Amendment auditors,鈥� who record their encounters with library workers on their phones.
鈥淭hese are things we never worried about before,鈥� said Coyl of the Sacramento Public Library. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not what we signed up for as library workers. And it is probably the worst that it鈥檚 ever been.鈥�
Some libraries that have not faced a huge number of book challenges are making precautionary changes to their policies, such as requiring that demands come from someone who proves that they actually reviewed the material and not allowing another challenge if the library keeps the book on the shelf.
鈥淣ot every book is meant for every reader. You can鈥檛 then take your belief about what鈥檚 right for your child and apply it to everyone else.鈥�PETER COYL, DIRECTOR AND CEO OF THE SACRAMENTO PUBLIC LIBRARY
The tumult has stretched even to liberal California communities not used to conflicts over cultural values. Programs where drag queens read stories to children have become a particular flash point. Two years ago, members of the far-right militia group the Proud Boys at a library in the East Bay city of San Lorenzo.
The library in Redwood City, on the San Francisco peninsula, started a drag queen story program remotely during the pandemic. When it hosted the event in-person for the first time in 2022, several groups . The protesters included people associated with the Proud Boys and a local homelessness nonprofit with an evangelical Christian affiliation, according to Derek Wolfgram, interim director of Redwood City鈥檚 parks and recreation department.
Wolfgram, a past president of the California Library Association, said he tries to use these situations as an opportunity to engage positively with the community. The evangelical nonprofit wanted to host a Bible storytime in response to the drag queen event, so the library created a series of story hours with faith leaders of different denominations, which Wolfgram said has been popular and appeared to draw new library users.
He recalled another exchange with a man who said the library didn鈥檛 have enough books with conservative viewpoints. Wolfgram asked for a list of recommendations, some of which were already in Redwood City鈥檚 collection and at least one 鈥� 鈥淲hy I Stand,鈥� the memoir of NBA player Jonathan Isaac 鈥� that the library added. It has since been checked out several times.
鈥淒on鈥檛 tell me what you want to take away from anybody else. Tell me what you want to add so you feel included,鈥� Wolfgram said.
Parents divided over review committee
In Fresno County, another Pride Month has come and gone and the library book review committee still has not launched. The deadline for applications was in April, but more than three months later, the board, which will primarily be selected by county supervisors, remains vacant.
Brandau said he received more than 40 applications, which he is reviewing. He expects to finish interviews and choose his two representatives to the committee by the end of the month.
鈥淲e have age limits for movies. We have age limits for alcohol. And it鈥檚 not unreasonable to have age limits on sexually graphic material.鈥�FRESNO COUNTY SUPERVISOR STEVE BRANDAU
A spokesperson said the library is waiting to receive direction from the review committee before it moves any material. In the meantime, the Clovis branch put together an elaborate Pride display in June, with a case of featured books, a historical timeline and, in the children鈥檚 section, a banner depicting melting popsicles of every color in the rainbow, with the slogan 鈥淟ove is Love.鈥�
John Gerardi, executive director of Right to Life of Central California, is among the applicants waiting to find out whether he鈥檒l be on the committee. The Clovis father of three 鈥渇requent library-goers鈥� under the age of 10 said he wants to move books about sexuality that he believes are being presented to children who are far too young.
On several library visits, Gerardi said, his wife has found books in the children鈥檚 section that included explicit material that did not seem appropriate for the marked grade level, such as 鈥淪ex Is a Funny Word鈥� by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth. The sex education comic book for 8- to 10-year-olds has been in the country in recent years because of its frank discussion of sexual topics. Gerardi objected to an image that depicts a character masturbating in a bathtub and a passage about the meaning of the word sexy.
鈥淪ome of these books just seemed completely inappropriate for healthy childhood development around sex,鈥� Gerardi said.
Gerardi said he has lost confidence in library officials, who he believes have been dismissive of parents鈥� concerns even though they are not all experts on early childhood development.
鈥淭here鈥檚 this idea that they have access to some secret hidden knowledge that we don鈥檛 have. And I just don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 true,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think that appropriate presentation of sexual themes to children is something that the taxpayers who are paying for this darn library can understand.鈥�
Others are seeking positions on the library book review committee precisely because they do not believe it should exist at all.
鈥淚t鈥檚 absolutely disgusting trying to control a public library that way,鈥� said Jamie Coffman, a Fresno mother of four children ranging in age from 2 to 11. She said it鈥檚 a parent鈥檚 job to monitor what their kids are reading, not anybody else鈥檚, and people should trust the librarians鈥� judgment about what books they put on the shelves.
Coffman said she submitted her application with vague answers that she hoped would conceal her true intention to 鈥渢ake it down from the inside.鈥� She has yet to hear back.
Raised in a conservative, Southern Baptist family, Coffman said reading helped expose her to other viewpoints as she was growing up. She worries that society is moving backward on accepting diversity and said she鈥檚 scared that her own children might have fewer books available to them.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 hide the world just to make your children into who you want them to be,鈥� she said.
is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.