Update: Meridian library chief urges supporters to fight push to disband district
Update Wednesday, March 1: The director of the Meridian Library District is asking people who support Meridian’s libraries to tell the Ada County Commission what they think of a petition to dissolve the district.
The commission on Tuesday set a date for a public hearing on the petition’s proposal.
“Although we understand the decision of the commission to set a public hearing, we are disappointed that there are members of the community determined to control others through restricting library content, accessibility and growth by changing or closing libraries,” Director Nick Grove said in a news release Wednesday. “I am hopeful that library supporters will come forward, participate in this process, and let the commissioners know how much this district means to the people of Meridian.”
A group called the Concerned Citizens of Meridian circulated the petition, saying the district should “segregate” books with obscene and “sexually explicit” material, and saying Grove and the district’s board have resisted the group’s demands.
The hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday, March 20, in the Commissioners’ Public Hearing Room on the first floor of the Ada County Courthouse.
Officials ask that any documents to be presented at the hearing be emailed ahead of time to bocc1@adacounty.id.gov.
The original Feb. 16 story:
A petition to place a question to dissolve the Meridian Library District on the ballot received 115 signatures, said the Ada County clerk.
The clerk’s elections office approved 93 of the signatures, Clerk Trent Tripple said Thursday in a meeting with the Ada County Commission. The commissioners accepted the petition “under advisement,” said Commissioner Rod Beck, meaning the commissioners will determine if the petition complies under Idaho law and if so, set the date of a public hearing.
The hearing would help commissioners decide whether or not to place the question on a ballot.
“We want everybody to have proper chance to present himself,” Beck said. “So we’ll hear both sides of every issue.”
The petition was circulated by a group called the Concerned Citizens of Meridian. No one from the public was able to speak at the short business meeting on Thursday morning, which was lightly attended, though Library District Director Nick Grove and Trustees Megan Larsen and Jeff Kohler watched and listened.
In a cover letter, which was emailed to the Idaho Statesman, the Concerned Citizens of Meridian said its efforts to label and “segregate” books with obscene and “sexually explicit” material began in 2022. But the group said it was not being heard by the Meridian Library District Board.
The letter said the citizens support the library district, just not its board of trustees or director.
“The library director and the current trustee board is ‘them’,” the letter said. “They are purposefully making the (Meridian Library District) an unsafe place for minors for allowing free access to obscene and sexually explicit material. In order to correct this issue, they must be removed.”
The cover letter also asserts that “upon dissolution, the (library district’s) assets will still exist.” But in a news release, the Ada County commissioners said if dissolution occurs, “all property and assets of the library district shall be disposed of by the Ada County Board of Commissioners.”
The commissioners had not set a date for the public hearing as of Thursday afternoon.
“We are disappointed that a small contingency in Ada County wants to dissolve the Meridian Library District,” Grove said in a news release after the meeting. “While we wait for the determination on the next steps, our library staff will continue to provide the excellent programming and assistance Meridian has embraced for the past 99 years.”
Previously, groups concerned with material in the library circulated a flier that listed five books from Meridian libraries as examples of “graphic” and “disgusting” pornography: “Captain Underpants,” “Sex is a Funny Word,” “Two Boys Kissing,” “Gender Queer” and “Big Hard Sex Criminals.”
The Statesman reported previously that “The Adventures of Captain Underpants” and “Sex is a Funny Word” are children’s books in the youth area in the Meridian Library District’s catalog. “Two Boys Kissing” is in the teen area, and “Gender Queer” is in the adult section.
The adult comic book series “Sex Criminals,” is not available at any Meridian Library locations, but is available at the Boise Main Library. “Big Hard Sex Criminals” is the hardcover collection that includes the first 10 issues of the series. It doesn’t appear to be available in any local libraries, according to library catalogs, the Statesman reported.
Voters created the Meridian Library District in 1974 with a ballot measure. A year later, voters elected to tax their properties to pay for it. The district runs four libraries across the city on a $7 million annual budget, and anticipates opening the Orchard Park library this spring at the southeast corner of Chinden Boulevard and Linder Road.
More than 1 million items were checked out of the library in 2022, about 30,000 people attended library events, and over 700 programs were held, the district said in the news release.
“We will continue to serve the community and be a place that represents and accepts all people, providing opportunities to find representation of themselves and to learn about others,” said Larsen, the chair of the board.
Business and Local Government Editor David Staats contributed.
This story was originally published February 16, 2023 at 1:34 PM.
