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Compilation 19 min 31 sec
Green, in her own words
This edit follows purchase questions, staff answers and later Board discussion. April 16 responder Davina S. was USBE’s library media specialist, drawing on earlier district work. Original on-screen wording and automatic captions remain; the chapter list corrects her role. April 5’s speaker attribution remains uncertain.
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Who orders the books? A member asks the question in April 2024. Staff arrange for the people who do the ordering to explain it to her. A district librarian answers it in the same meeting. Twenty-eight months later the board spends $60,000 to ask it again, in the vendor industry’s own vocabulary. 2024-04-05. A member of the committee, graded C-strong that this is Member Green: “Who orders the books that we get? What contracts are we in at a state level or local LEA level with publishers or distributors?” So I have a lot more homework to do myself, but who orders the books
that we get? What contracts are we in at a state level or local LEA level with publishers or distributors? Do they ever do refunds? Where do we match up the money? Like if you get stuff that you don't, you know, we got those books, we send them back and they reimburse us because we paid them. I don't know if that's how that works, but those dynamics like who orders the books? Are we on an automatic shipment of these are the books that are under this entity that says send that out to all the, you know, all the
schools nationwide? And why? And if it's getting to the point where laws are in place now that it's like there's a group of percentage of your books that are falling in conflict with the law that we just how do we mitigate that from the beginning? Instead of having to do something like this, the back end, like it's putting a bandaid on a hemorrhage type approach. So I don't know. It just seems like there's a higher level. 2024-04-05, ninety seconds later. A participant: “I would love to share with you how librarians operate and how schools operate
with selecting materials, and how they contract. I would love to meet with you.” all of those things exist though i was gonna say i probably don't want to take the time now but i would love to like share with you like like how librarians operate how schools operate with selecting materials and how they contract yeah and how the contracts work and how all of that i'd be happy to publish contract with authors and if authors have you know like to delve off into that field that's their right but like as as our entity we have to
protect yeah and i don't generally contract with authors like i haven't heard of an lea i don't know how i would love to like meet with you and kind of share 2024-04-16, eleven days later. Vice Chair Green: “Who is the purchasing manager that looks at what inventory needs to be ordered? Is that list procured from an outside organization or vendor?” Like we, you know, a business has a purchasing department and what they do is they go in and they look at their inventory needs and they, they make their, their, um, their purchases
that they send out when that is received and you have your receiving department, they scan it that they got it from the delivery man, then they, they scan that inventory and they go stop the shelves. So I would assume that there is that there's that level that exists there. There is somebody that is creating an order for the inventory that's coming to the schools as it relates specifically to library books and, and materials. And I guess this does fall into other books that are being ordered,
but as far as the librarians go, um, who is the, who is the purchasing department? Who's the purchasing manager that looks at what inventory needs to be ordered and goes in and selects, we need 30 books of this. We need seven books of that. We need this. If that doesn't come organically from an order form from a librarian, is that list procured from an outside organization or vendor.
Okay. 2024-04-16, the same meeting. A district librarian answers the premise: “In five years in that library, I probably got two boxes of books from them. There’s no procurement like it. I never had any of my libraries that I knew of that were getting boxes of books sent to them from vendors or publishers.” One practitioner’s account of her own districts is not a statewide finding. A big box of books, and that was rare I would say in 5 years in that library, I probably got 2 boxes of books from them. There's no procurement like I maybe this never happened to me, and as
a district librarian I never had any of my libraries that I knew of that were getting like boxes of books sent to them from vendors or 2024-04-16, two minutes after that. Staff, to Vice Chair Green by name: “If you would like further information on that question, we can get some before the next meeting, about procurement, or even with the librarians.” Green: “Yeah, that would be great.” The staff member offered by name is the agency’s Director of Purchasing and Contracts. Whether the offered briefing happened is unestablished; a staff briefing is not minuted.
A little bit. And I was gonna say, Vice Chair Green, if you would like more like further information on that question, we can get some before the next meeting we can get with Adam Herd as well about procurement or even with the librarians. Okay, yeah, that would be great. I think it's, yeah, that would be very helpful. 2025-12-05, twenty months later. Member Green: “I’ve spent some time reaching out to librarians to understand the procurement process: curating an order, picking that, shipping that, receiving that, inventorying that, cataloging that, placing it on the shelves.”
because it is protected and it's a problem. I've spent some time, I'm reaching out to librarians to understand the procurement process. Like what is it? What does it take to get a book? And if you stock your business shelves, you know that there are many, many, many levels that go into curating an order, picking that, shipping that, receiving that, inventorying that. Cataloging that, placing it on the shelves, and then the process of
that being used. So 2026-06-05. Member Green reads the list into the record: School Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly. Follett Content Solutions, Mackin, Perma-Bound, Junior Library Guild, Ingram, Baker and Taylor. “What I’ve personally been collecting and researching.” and help you know make our public libraries functional so you've got the school library journal you've got the book list carcass reviews publishers weekly national council of teachers of english international society for technology and education um some major vendors and distributors are folate content solutions you have mac and educational resources perma bound books junior
library guild ingram content group baker and taylor and then you've got the others like scholastic penguin harper and collins mcmillan simon and would it be helpful if i send those to you because those are that's like the specific lane i'm looking to see like what what those relationships look like um and i don't know if you've if you've rolled that into the supply chain and procurement part of of what you've given us um and i'm asking because if i need to make a motion now i can if we're flexible on that i'm more than happy to share what
i've personally been collecting and researching what what would be best and 2026-08-06, the full board. Member Green: “I’m viewing this review through the industry lens, not through like the educational realm.” been, yeah, compiling a lot of information. I'm viewing this review through the industry lens, not through like the educational realm, but this is more on the front line. And so, and I just have the, this is, I'm just going to read it briefly. It's just a little tiny paragraph, but I think it sums it up so I can get right to the point. We can
move on. It's the memorandum 2026-08-06, eight minutes later. Member Green: “We’ve been able to put a Band-Aid on a hemorrhage, as far as the type of novels and materials, pornographic novels, that have made it through.” The same phrase as April 2024. It corroborates. It does not identify. And now we have a year or two of data underneath our belt. And what we're seeing, the way I've phrased it, I'll phrase it again, is we've been able to put a Band-Aid on a hemorrhage as far as the type of novels and materials, pornographic
novels that have made it through Salt Lake Tribune had an organization. 2026-08-06, sixty seconds after that. Member Green, as her own assertion: “Right now, I’ve asked these industry level questions. I have yet to be able to have a conversation with people that can answer that.” That no such conversation occurred is not established here. And I think that my biggest fear is that we will continue to have legislation go through addressing things that we don't understand. And right now, I've asked these industry-level questions. I have yet to be able to have a conversation with people that can
answer that. Now, we know that there are trends. 2026-08-06, the vote. Chair Hymas: “That motion passes. Ten in favor, one abstention, Chair Hymas, and two no votes being Member Reale and Member Lear.” Okay. That motion passes, 10 in favor, one abstention with Chair Hymas and two no votes being Member Reale and member Lear. And with that, going back to you, Chair Kerry from the committee.
2026-02-22 to 2026-04-14, in the same window. Across five episodes of a sitting board member’s interview show, the word “library” never appears. Six videos, five distinct episodes: the channel posted one of them a second time under its own “REPRISE” title. Searched across all six transcripts, “librar” returns zero. So do pornography, obscene, RatedBooks, sensitive material, HB 374, addendum and procurement. The seven hits for “book” are reading recommendations. Why the subject does not come up is unestablished.
Twenty-three dated excerpts put versions of the book-supply question alongside recorded answers. Several legislative portions are audio presented over a waveform.
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[Card] “How did these books get here?”. Twenty-three moments, 2022 to 2026: Utah Legislature, Utah State Board of Education, and the channels around them The same question, asked by public commenters, legislators, a state board vice chair, two districts, one board member and one candidate, over four years. And what the people who do the buying said back. The source timestamp is on each card. Legislature and Pickens County tapes are audio only. [Card] May 2022. The earliest supply-chain framing on the swept USBE record, 2022-2024.. A public commenter tells the state board where the books came from: publishers invented a genre, and it landed on the shelves. “The books were placed there instead. So that explains the influx.”
— Brooke Stephens, public comment · [P] My name is Brooke Stephens, and I speak in support of board member Kleinstraft. We need a policy that adapts and helps resolve the unique circumstances that our libraries are facing. In 2009, publishing companies created a new genre for 18 to 35 year olds, whom were stuck in adolescence. In order to compete against self-publishers, publishers created a new adult category of books. The demand from these customers was more detailed sex in the books. At that time, the line for the young adult category was talk of sex, but no details.
The genre failed because there was no space available in bookstores and libraries to accommodate the new genre. Because the storylines in the books more closely resembled those of the young adult category, the books were placed there instead. So that explains the influx of explicit pornography in books. Because of the extremely detailed sex scenes, many of the passages in these books qualify as the addictive stimulant pornography. Pornography brings a lifetime of damage to individuals. [Card] 166 days later · 5 months. Item: implementing H.B. 374, the 2022 sensitive-materials law.. A senator asks the state board how a book gets in.
“What is the front-end process of getting a title inside a library?” — Sen. Fillmore · [P] Thank you. I really enjoyed your presentation. It was very informative. A question I had, though, is what is the front-end process of getting a title inside a library? Does the State Board have standards or rules for that piece of the process? And if not, do you have a sense about what is the best practice that you think, anyway, that LEAs are implementing? I may interrupt you with questions with your permission, Mr. Chair, as you answer, but I don't want to make my question long-winded.
[Card] Same meeting. The state board answers: that is the thing the new rule ends. “No more ‘the publisher sent extra copies so we're just gonna put them on the shelf.’” — a USBE presenter (Davis, Norman or Stallings) · [P words, C speaker] may I address answer the question yes yes go ahead you know we found that very question to be really important and really it was missing in a lot of places and that was part of the problem because it's a lot easier to analyze before than to pull out and so we have by board rule requested
that or required that every LEA create now a criteria that they publish openly and work on transparently of what they will have to do to put the book into the library in the first place no more you know the publisher sent extra copies so we're just going to put them on the shelf even though we haven't read these in our model policy we suggest that libraries look is this [Card] Same meeting. He says he has a bill file open on acquisition. It becomes H.B. 464 (2023).. The bill sponsor picks the question up as his own. “How did they get there in the first place?” — Rep. Ivory · [P]
Senator Fillmore, to your question, which I've got a bill file open that deals with acquisition, that deals with some of the time hurdles and the people hurdles and the number hurdles that are being put up to prevent parents from challenging books. But that was the key question. How did they get there in the first place? And so that goes back to a Supreme Court case 40 years ago. The Supreme Court case, the holding was there were facts in dispute, so summary judgment was not appropriate. That was the holding of the case, pretty generic, vanilla, benign. Three judges in
that generic, vanilla, benign, not appropriate for summary judgment decision, three out of the nine said, we think there's something special about books in libraries. And we think that if a book gets on a library shelf, they can keep it out for any reason or no reason at all. But if it happens to get on a library shelf, you can't remove it for purely political reasons. Three out of nine judges said that 40 years ago. That's been turned into what's been perceived as the rule. This is the Pico case. And so they try whatever they can do to get books on the library shelf and
then say, look at the Supreme Court and what they said. [Card] 28 days later. Minutes list Supt. Farnsworth and Board Chair Clement; which one is speaking is unresolved.. A district describes its own old practice. “A lot of times we would just buy a bundle of books from a publisher, as opposed to reading each of them.” — an Alpine School District presenter · [P words, C speaker] As a result, the district has looked at our procurement process. I believe this was very valuable. I think that a lot of times we would just buy a bundle of books from a
publisher as opposed to reading each of them. That part of our policy has been very valuable in terms of helping us to keep books that would violate community standards from getting on the shelves. But I hope you realize there's also been a large [Card] 99 days later · 3 months. She goes on to name BookLooks, Common Sense Media and Rated Books.. The state board's vice chair, presenting H.B. 464, asks it too. “Where are these books coming from? How did they get here? Someone's providing them.” — Jennie Earl, USBE Vice Chair · [P]
So the question becomes, what do they all have in common? They have a content of books and content in our public school libraries. Where are these books coming from? I guess in my mind, when I look at this, I think, how did they get here? Where are they coming from? Someone's providing them, and they're not just providing them in one area. It's not just Utah being pushed back. It's around the nation. So there have been systems and rating things put in place, and I'll share just three of them that are out there. Those are not necessarily the ones we have to use, but I do think there is value in saying to vendors, this is where Utah's line is. These are the things that we don't take into our public libraries. They don't have to use our rating system, but they surely know where Utah stands, and they need to understand where that line is.
[Card] Same meeting. Her example is a friend's daughter, a school librarian in southern Utah.. Public comment, same hearing: the books arrive unasked. “Vendors who are just giving stuff to the schools without school soliciting. They're just delivering them.” — Nicolene Peck, Worldwide Organization for Women · [P she said it; the practice is her hearsay] Thank you. My name is Nicolene Peck. I'm president of the Worldwide Organization for Women, and we are in support of this bill. We especially appreciate the rating system that has been put in here. I think it gives a great message to vendors who are just giving stuff to the schools without schools soliciting, like asking for the books.
They're just delivering them. We also love that this is going to decrease the workload on districts all around the state. It's going to make it easier, which is great. A little bit of context for the library. A dear friend of mine, her daughter is a librarian down in southern Utah at a school, and the vendors like Fullett will deliver these books that have not been asked for. She'll see them. Some of them are so bad, she'll hide them in her desk or somewhere, and she's like, no child is going to see this book because they know it's bad.
They don't know what to do about it and how to get it. [Card] 111 days later · 3 months. Presenting: Supt. Rich Nye, Board President Nicole McDermott, Chief of Staff Ben Horsley. The speaker addresses Ben.. A district, walking legislators through its removal flowchart, asks it of itself. “How these books ended up on our shelves anyway.” — a Granite School District presenter · [P words, C speaker] and miners well yes then we remove that book now as we follow that process and you can take a look at the flow chart as it moves through we also began asking the question as would be natural is
how did these books ended up on our shelves anyway and so if you flip the page over we also apply the same standard to selecting books in our district for use whether or not in the library [Card] Same meeting. Public comment, same meeting. “Pornography is being purchased and brought into our schools. Really, we need to stop the flood.” — a public commenter, United Women's Forum and Utah Eagle Forum · [P words; name as heard by ASR] United Women's Forum and Utah Eagle Forum. I am a mother of six and I am a teacher.
The biggest problem that I see with the problem with pornography in our schools is that pornography is being purchased and brought into our schools. And so now we're spending a lot of time and a lot of resources and a lot of energy trying to figure out how to get it out. Really, we need to stop the flood. We need to stop pornography from entering into our schools. [Card] 223 days later · 7 months. Public comment on H.B. 29: the books came in bundles, and she says why. “Promptly books began coming into our schools in book bundles.” — Cari Bartholomew, public comment · [P words; the causal claim is hers]
you're up hi again I'm Cari Bartholomew um I'm not one to usually use the race card but I'm going to tell you I feel like this is the most offensive thing in terms of race um in 2020 Emily Drabinski the head of the American Library Association proudly said how excited she was to be the first queer Marxist to be elected as the president and how she was going to change the world promptly books began coming into our schools in um book bundles some of the books cross the bright line rule and what I mean by that is they will put an African American on the cover and say oh we
[Card] 73 days later · 2 months. Item 3.6: amending R277-628, the state's school-library rule.. A state board member asks the question for the first time. “Who orders the books that we get?” — Green, but no one is named on this tape · [C, strong] So I have a lot more homework to do myself, but who orders the books that we get? What contracts are we in at a state level or local LEA level with publishers or distributors? Do they ever do refunds? Where do we match up the money? Like if you get stuff that you don't, you know, we got those books, we send them back and they reimburse us because we paid them.
I don't know if that's how that works, but those dynamics like who orders the books? Are we on an automatic shipment of these are the books that are under this entity that says send that out to all the, you know, all the schools nationwide? And why? And if it's getting to the point where laws are in place now that it's like there's a group of percentage of your books that are falling in conflict with the law that we just how do we mitigate that from the beginning? Instead of having to do something like this, the back end, like it's putting a bandaid on a hemorrhage type approach.
So I don't know. It just seems like there's a higher level. [Card] 11 days later. Eleven days later she asks it again, and says she still has no answer. “Do we receive procured orders that are delivered automatically to the schools?” — Vice Chair Green · [P] charge of that here's and here's one more concern that comes back to procurement which i i still haven't received an answer to and i'd like an answer and if it's not today if anybody that that knows this can get back to us are we physically procuring our order forms for the books that come to our libraries
or do we receive procured orders that are delivered automatically to the schools if that if the second is the case as a standard in our working relationship with these vendors then in essence it's the distributors that can't be on the committee [Card] Same meeting. A district librarian answers from her own experience. “I never had libraries getting boxes of books from vendors or publishers.” — a district librarian · [P] A big box of books, and that was rare I would say in 5 years in that library, I probably got 2 boxes of books from them.
There's no procurement like I maybe this never happened to me, and as a district librarian I never had any of my libraries that I knew of that were getting like boxes of books sent to them from vendors or publishers. [Card] 219 days later · 7 months. Pickens County adopted the RatedBooks/NBRI list the next year.. The same question, in a South Carolina public library board room. “Are these books gifted, or by publishers or authors? How did they get there, or did we buy them?” — Tom Geisler, public comment · [P; name as heard by ASR]
question. And now the libraries across the country, all of them, they're bringing in this pornographic material. It's coming on like crazy. And how did it get there? How did this stuff get there? By kicking God out, number one. Number two, I would like to know, are these books gifted by publishers or authors? How did they get there? Or did you buy them? I'd like to know that. I think we need an audit on that. That's just common sense. I ran a business. I had to have an [Card] 363 days later · 11 months. A legislator puts the supply question to the state auditors. They say they did not look into it.
“We just ordered this box of books and we don't have any say over what's in it.” — Rep. Auxier, quoting librarians; OLAG answers · [P] all right uh we do have uh we do have some lights here so we'll start with Representative Auxier thank you mr chair um one of the things that i know has been heavily focused on is how to be proactive in selecting rather than trying to get the books off later as i've been in the schools and talking many of the librarians are like we just ordered this box of books and it's just a
collection and we don't have any say over what's in it and so part of what i have been saying is just because they come in doesn't necessarily mean you need to put them on your shelves but did you look at that at all as maybe a different way that we can order books so they're not just being selected from publishers who you know put whatever they want in it but letting the schools choose themselves it might be more expensive that way than a combined set as well but i was just wondering if that was
anything that had been touched upon no we we heard about that process but we didn't look into um whether it would be possible to go outside that process no okay thank you thank you representative we'll go to uh senator rebe [Card] 16 days later. She says she went and asked librarians herself. “What does it take to get a book? Curating an order, picking, shipping, receiving, inventorying, cataloging.” — Member Green · [P] and it's a problem. I've spent some time reaching out to librarians to understand the procurement process. Like what is it? What does it take to get a book? And if you stock your business shelves,
you know that there are many, many, many levels that go into curating an order, picking that, shipping that, receiving that, inventorying that, cataloging that, placing it on the shelves, and then the process of that being used. So this is not like it's accidental. It's not like we are completely ignorant to, if we praise the specialists, you know, and our experts, then there is, there is a job that librarians are, have to undertake now. They need to understand
the increase and desire, you know, for these industries to push these novels to the detriment of our children. And again, they have been unaccounted. There's no accountability to this happening. And we have seen, um, champions in the state of Utah that have taken great effort to create systems that allow us to see and to filter through novel upon novel upon novel upon novel of harmful to minors and pornographic materials.
[Card] 73 days later · 2 months. 'The State of Things', with a guest named Jean on screen.. Clip 10's argument again, on her own show: the ALA president, then the bundles. “And then all of the sudden, book bundles started coming in.” — Cari Bartholomew, hosting · [C, strong: her name plate is the active tile] heard about it so i don't have a bias but i do have a bias against the american library association who was ran by a woman who when she was elected said i can't believe a queer member was elected
to be the president of the american library association um we're going to change the world yeah and then all of the sudden book bundles started coming in and my friends i am not a prude That can be taken out of context, whatever, but I have, [Card] 52 days later. Her answer to 'where is the book coming from' is the American Library Association.. A candidate for Green's seat explains it on an advocacy channel. “Do you know why it came into the schools in the first place? They receive bulk boxes of books every year.” — Nichole Beecher Isom, candidate for USBE District 14 · [P]
and really it comes down to parents' knowledge. Well, and do you know why? Do you know why it came into the schools in the first place? Because it wasn't there before. Yes. Good question. Good question. Okay. So where is this coming from? When our school librarians start the beginning of a school year, they receive bulk boxes of books every year. And our librarians do not have the time, nor are they getting paid to read every book. And so they're going through the best they can to just make sure these books are great. They put them on the shelf. Where is
the book coming from? Well, if you look at the American Library Association, you can go to the president's webpage and she states right there her intent and her success. [Card] 29 days later. She lays out the supply chain as she understands it. “Publishers and the distribution centers that then funnel into the schools.” — Green, but no one is named on this tape · [C] there's an industry that exists with publishers and they have a relationship with authors and they have, you know, that's their business. So they're going to onboard authors. They're going to onboard
their inventory, which is novels. Um, and then you have the partnerships between those publishers and the distribution centers that then funnel into the, the schools. So that means that you, you have a warehouse, you have a place where those books are housed, you have, um, a purchase order that's curated. And then you have that hand selected and shipped from that warehouse. You have somebody that receives it, inventories it, puts their coding on it. So you know where it is. We do that with our product. Everything is mapped out with a little scanner. You know exactly where
it goes. You receive it, you stock it. And it's the same with our books. So we've been trying to figure out who's to blame. If anybody were to be blamed, it's hard with books. Again, how do you read thousands of, of, you know, books every year? But we are asking the question, how is it that this, you know, can keep happening when, which is why I voted to keep the, the clarification on, we are, have an environment of minors. And so we, that brings a whole different level of, um, [Card] Same meeting. A librarian answers her directly, at length.
“We are choosing every single title that ends up in our schools.” — a librarian, unnamed on this tape · [P as her self-description] so let me make sure i understand your question yes um so you're asking what librarians know about like what are the contracts that maybe a school slash librarian has with authors publishers distributors where they get the inventory where they get the inventory from okay um so uh every every every school or district may be a little bit differently but there's a little bit different there are a couple of distributors out there that they will purchase
from amazon being probably with our small districts and charter schools they probably go there more often just because it's more convenient it's more quick the books will get there more quickly our other districts will use a variety of different um they don't work with publishers at all it will only be a distributor who has a a bunch of all of the titles potentially um when what they do is they actually cover the titles for they cover that when the materials come in they're already pre-covered in library materials and barcoded and everything so it saves the librarian time so that's partly why they
use those um organizations so they don't necessarily have a contract with any of those organizations i know there's a state contract out there with one um facilitator uh but beyond that like the the librarians or the schools are not required to use any specific um vendor for purchasing and that's why they end up like i would purchase from amazon sometimes and i would purchase from another distributor sometimes um but i had no relationship with publishers none of us had ever have any relationships with publishers
at all so i can't speak to um to like what that might look like um i do hear um i've heard mentioned historically this idea of these books these bundles of books that come i never did that none of the librarians in granite school district ever did that for my conversations with um librarians i don't i'm not sure um you know who might who might be purchasing those bundles um that you're rough that you all have been referencing um but that's not something that i think is mainstream that comes and we get we got these books
that we didn't actually choose all of what came in the package um generally we are choosing every single title that ends up in our [Card] 54 days later. The host of clip 10 says it again, two and a half years later, to the RatedBooks founder. She answers: pre-purchase lists. “Scholastic or somebody will send you a book bundle, and in that book bundle there's this kind of material.” — Cari Bartholomew, hosting; Brooke Stephens answers · [P] you're going to have a better chance of protecting your kids and when you have people and not all
because i have definitely talked to librarians who get the book bundles about there's some great librarians out there yeah and they they grab these book bundles that are given to them so you know they're not just made out of money and scholastic or somebody will send you a book bundle and in that book bundle there's this kind of material [Card] 36 days later. At the vote on the $60,000 industry review. “Pornographic novels that have made it through.” — Member Green · [P] And now we have a year or two of data underneath our belt.
And what we're seeing, the way I've phrased it, I'll phrase it again, is we've been able to put a Band-Aid on a hemorrhage as far as the type of novels and materials, pornographic novels that have made it through Salt Lake Tribune had an organization. [Card] Same meeting. A colleague asks if she means vendors are doing it deliberately. “How vendors have access to public education. We don't understand that relationship yet.” — Member Green, answering · [P] I guess I'm still a little unclear. Do I hear you saying you think that vendors are intentionally selling pornographic materials to schools?
Is that what I think, is that what you're saying? You know, if we wanted to spin it politically, you could say, yeah, we're putting our stake in the ground. And yes, that's happening. What we want to understand is how vendors have access to public education, and we don't understand that relationship yet. [Card] Every clip here is a derived cut. To quote anyone, open the source recording at the timestamp on the card. USBE recordings are on the board's YouTube channel; legislature audio is at le.utah.gov by meeting id. Speakers graded [C] are not named on the tape; do not upgrade them. What is not here: district school-board meetings were not screened for this phrasing. That absence is unconfirmed.
Stitched meeting excerpts show Davis book-appeal votes and later State Board legal discussion. Title cards identify agenda items and recommended outcomes.
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Thank you. Consent items. Board, are there any items that were requested to remove from consent?
If not, we're ready for a motion on the consent items. I move that we accept consent items 1 through 10. I second that motion. Thank you. We have a motion for Mr. Robison, a second for Ms. Hogan on consent items 1 through 10. All in favor of that motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed with a nay? Okay, that one passes unanimously.
The first group is consent items. Board, before we open that for a vote, are there any items that you'd like moved from the consent agenda to a business item? Okay. With that, we're ready for a motion on the consent items 1 through 9. 10? 10? What's that? There are 10. Oh, you're right. There's a more recent version. Mine says 9. Yeah. Okay, so it's consent items 1 through 10. Thank you. I move we approve consent items 1 through 10.
I'll second that. So we have a motion from Mr. Robison, a second from Ms. Gerrard to approve consent items 1 through 10. All in favor of that motion, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That's unanimous. We'll move. We'll move now to our consent items. Board members, are there any items that you'd like to move from consent to a business item? President Mumford, I would like to move item number 2 to a business item, please.
Thank you. So I'm going to move item number 2 to the top of our business items, and that leaves the board minutes as a consent item. We need a motion to approve those minutes. I'll move that we approve the minutes. I'll second. So we have a motion from Ms. Gerrard and a second from Ms. Price to approve the minutes. Any discussion or questions? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. That's unanimous. We'll move forward now to our business items and the board appeal committee recommendations.
If not, I think we're ready for a vote. If not, I think we're ready for a vote. We had a motion by Ms. Gerrard and a second by Mr. Robison. All in favor of the motion to approve the board appeal committee recommendation to reinstate the Bible in all DSD media centers, please say aye. Aye. That's unanimous by the board. Thank you, Dr. Taylor. Thank you, Dr. Taylor.
Great. Next, we have our consent items. Board, are there any items you'd like to remove from the consent agenda to a regular business item? Seeing none, we'll take a motion to approve consent items 1 through 8. I move we accept the consent items 1 through 8. I'll second that motion. So we have a motion from Mr. Lamb and a second from Ms. Price. All in favor of accepting consent items 1 through 8, please say aye. Aye. Aye.
I'm going to proceed on our agenda to consent items. Are there any items that a board member would like to move off of consent to a business item? Seeing none, we're ready for a motion to approve consent items 1 through 6. Oh, sorry. Ms. Powell. Yeah. Or just a question before we proceed? Well, like, so if I want a discussion, move it, too.
Move it? Yeah. Move it. So 5 and 6, the additional one-time compensation and superintendent contract, those are the two. Okay. Sounds good. So we need a motion to approve consent items 1 through 4. I move that we approve the consent items 1 through 4. I'll second that. So we've got a motion from Ms. Hogan and a second from Ms. Gerrard to approve consent items 1 through 4. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. That's unanimous. Okay.
So if there's no objections to items 1 through 6, we'll take a motion to approve the consent items. I'll move that we approve the consent items 1 through 6 with the small change.
I'll second that. So we have a motion from Ms. Gerrard and a second from Ms. Price to approve consent items 1 through 6, noting a clerical change to the minutes as noted by Ms. Powell. Any discussion? I just want to clarify for Ms. Powell over there. The other Ms. Powell. It was the October 3rd meeting and under board reports. Did you get what I said? It should say legislative priorities, not religious leader. I'm sure it was just a. Thank you. Okay. All in favor, please say aye.
Aye. Aye. Thank you. I'll move that we approve consent items 1 through 6. Okay. Next up, we're going to move to our consent items. Board, are there any requests to move a consent item to business?
Motion to approve consent items 1 through 6? I'll move that we approve consent items 1 through 6. Second. Thank you. So we have a motion from Ms. Gerrard, a second from Ms. Powell. All in favor of that motion to consent on items 1 through 6, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Thank you. That's unanimous. We'll move. We're to the portion of our meeting to the consent items, and hopefully you've had plenty
of time to look at those consent items. Are there any items that anyone would like to move off of consent onto a business item? President Gerrard. Yes. I'd like to remove Item 8, Sensitive Materials Appeal Committee Recommendation. Okay. Let me find that. Okay. We will move that to a business item. Do we have to vote on that, Mr. Lovell? We don't, do we? It's just a request of a board member, I believe. I think you would just vote to approve everything else besides that one. Yeah, but we don't have to vote to move it.
So, okay. Anything else? Do we have a motion to approve the consent items except for number 8, the Sensitive Materials Appeal Committee Recommendation? I move to approve Consent Items 1 through 7. I'll second that. Okay. So, we had a motion by Ms. Powell and a second by Ms. Price to approve the consent items except for an abrate. Thank you. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay, so we have the motion on the floor to table the sensitive materials appeals recommendation
until February and until after some more information will be added on to the website. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. One opposed. Oh, no. Sorry. Was that? No. Okay. Okay. Unanimous then. Okay, now, consent items.
Okay, is there any piece of a consent item, any number that you want to move to business item? If not, I will entertain a motion. I move that we approve consent items one through six. Second. Okay. We have a motion by Ms. Hogan and a second by Ms. Powell to approve the consent items one through six. All in favor?
Aye. Any opposed? Okay. That passes. Hopefully you've had a chance to look at the consent items. Are there any items that you would like to move to a business item on that list? Ms. Hogan? Yeah. I request we pull number seven sensitive materials appeal committee recommendation from consent.
Okay. To business. Okay. We will pull that and put that on our business item agenda. We'll do that one first. Do I hear a motion on the rest of the consent items minus number seven? So, I move that we approve consent items one through six and eight. I'll second that motion. Okay. We have a motion to approve the consent items one through six and then eight minus number
seven. And it was motioned by Ms. Barber and seconded by Ms. Price. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Thank you. okay we have a motion and a second on the floor I'm not going to read the motion again but all in
favor say aye aye all opposed to the motion no no no okay so help me vote raise your hand with the four to three okay four for the motion no you probably want to let's do a raise of hand all those in favor of the motion so there's one two three all those against the motion the other four okay that motion fails
so is there a motion on the other side I move we approve the sensitive materials appeal committee recommendation item seven in the consent items I'll second okay so all in favor of that motion to approve the original consent item say aye aye all opposed no opposed okay so same vote so that motion passes the original motion on the consent agenda so okay
okay we have our consent agenda items one through six is there anything on the consent agenda that anyone would like move to a business item if not I will hear motion on our consent items one through six I move to accept consent items one through six thank you okay we have a motion from Ms. Hogan and the second was from Ms. Powell to approve consent items one through six any other discussion
any other discussion okay all in favor of approving consent items one through six say aye aye any opposed okay that motion passes thank you okay we have our consent agenda okay okay next board we have our consent agenda items one through 11 is there um anything on our consent agenda that you would like to move to a business item
no no if not i will entertain a motion on our consent i move to approve consent items one through 11. okay Ms. Price has made the motion is there a second second okay we have a motion by Ms. Price and a second by Ms. Hogan to approve the consent items one through 11. okay Ms. Price has made the motion is there a second second okay we have a motion by Ms. Price and a second by Ms. Hogan to approve the consent items one through 11. any other discussion all in favor aye aye any opposed okay those have passed
we'll move to our consent items next so we have consent items one through six is there any consent anything on the consent agenda that anyone would like to move julie yeah i would like to move the board minutes and it's i just need to make a small correction on my board report section in the minutes and i noticed this after the agenda was posted so i have to do this in a public board meeting so okay we'll do that well we'll do that afterwards we'll uh i'll entertain a motion right now for consent um items two through six we'll do that first and then we'll go to the other one is there a motion for that i move that we approve consent items two through six okay i'll second that
okay there's been a motion by Ms. Hogan to approve consent items two through six second by Ms. Price any more discussion okay all in favor to approve those say aye aye any opposed okay that motion passes for items two through six okay consent items we have consent items one through nine um is there any one of the consent items that anyone would like to move off to the uh to a
uh to a business item no i'd like to move number five just for just i just want to make a comment okay okay okay okay so we'll we'll come back to that one so let's go ahead and uh do we have a motion to approve consent items one through nine not um not um minus number five i move to approve consent items one through four and six through nine
oh good listed in the agenda okay okay we have a motion by Ms. Price and a second by Ms. Powell to uh approve uh consent items um one through four and then six through nine any discussion okay all in favor aye any opposed okay uh those passed
so um the issue is it was just strictly a procedural uh kind of a technical issue that led into more substantive problem and it's my understanding this is the first time that it's been appealed to the board so that's why it's come up and why it may have happened 40 times before but this is the first time it's come up to the board level and and you can do some of that if it's non-controversial and routine on a consent uh calendar i just don't think in this case it worked and i do think that a judge should it get to the point of
being reviewed by a judge would find that it was a problem and the easiest way to clean it up is to send it back and have them do it in accordance with that um it's they've adopted robert's rules of order and robert's rules of order specifically says that the only things that go on consent decrees uh i mean on the consent agenda or consent calendar are non-controversial and routine matters and so under these circumstances it's clearly not non-controversial routine i don't want to address because i don't know that this should ever be considered routine
but their own policy specifically says that it has to be um to the full board for approval during a public board meeting and so it was it was a technical violation that kind of ran them into a substantive problem it's not something that can't be fixed it's not something that i think they were acting in bad faith on or anything like like they said they've done it repeatedly and nobody's called them on it this was the first time they got called on it i mean this is a very narrow issue uh because we didn't like i said we i didn't reach the issue
of whether or not fight club actually violates sensitive materials because we don't have to there is a procedural issue and the procedural issue is required that they follow their policy i think that a court should it get past us could very well find that they did not because they've adopted robert's rules and they did not follow those because the whole point of the consent decree is there's a bunch of items on it and they're basically passed because they're routine and non-controversial and they get passed so you guys can save your time and do other things that that need to be much more discussed i think it was a
technical issue i don't think it was an intentional i'm trying to hide the ball type of issue or anything like that i think it was a technical issue that they've done before and this is the first time that it's been brought to our attention and in reviewing what i was provided reviewing their rules reviewing our rules and robert's rules which i know far more about now than i ever wanted to i think that they are and i do think that a court would find that they were in violation just strictly
on the not being clear on the appeal and the rationale for their decision
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ClipMay 6, 2022 · 2 minutes 54 seconds
Brooke Stephens’s full comment on a draft library policy
Her complete public comment supporting a draft library policy. She discusses pornography, a claimed “new adult” category, and parent participation in book review.
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my name is brooke stevens and i speak in support of board member kleinstraft we need a policy that adapts and helps resolve the unique circumstances that our libraries are facing in 2009 publishing companies created a new genre for 18 to 35 year olds whom were stuck in adolescence in order to compete against self-publishers publishers created a new adult category of books the demand from these customers was more detailed sex in the books at that time the line for the young adult category was talk of sex but no details the genre failed because there was no space available in bookstores
and libraries to accommodate the new genre because the storylines in the books more closely resembled those of the young adult category the books were placed there instead so that explains the influx of explicit pornography in books because of the extremely detailed sex scenes many of the passages in these books qualify as the addictive stimulant pornography pornography brings a lifetime of damage to individuals and families i know parents who have paid 12 000 a month for months and even years for residential treatment for severe pornography addictions and yet the schools hand out books to
to these um children this is a great cost especially when they remain um it doesn't take into account all the therapists bills before and after that marriages are shattered by pornography if we have a stimulant such as a pack of cigarettes do we take into account the packaging what color is the packaging is there a nice picture in it is the slogan good if that's what you're doing you're missing the point pornography is an addictive stimulant and must be treated as such students must not be granted access to addictive stimulants in the school settings such as alcohol tobacco drugs or pornography
due to this influx of extremely explicit novels we need guidance that allows the proper checks and balances as is in board member klein's draft for weeding of books so we can restore confidence in library materials one minute due to the explicit and graphic nature of these books it is not responsible as board member lear has in her draft to put children on these committees in fact i had to excuse a student member of the committee yesterday so i felt comfortable giving my allotted five-minute speech we also need a policy that involves the parents and lets them participate in the conversation
if the schools are trying to teach students not to be biased but model bias what are they really teaching actions speak louder than words it is extremely biased when deciding if a book will stay to let the person who selected the book participate but not the one challenging it it's like a boxing match with only one team in the ring board members client board member clients policy includes parents this is vital in establishing trust and cooperation with the community thank you ms stevens next
The Davis board votes 7–0 to reinstate the Bible in all school media centers.
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If not, I think we're ready for a vote. We had a motion by Miss Gerard and a second by Mr. Robison all in favor in them of the motion to approve the board appeal committee recommendation to reinstate the Bible in all DSD media centers. Please say aye, aye That's unanimous by the board. Thank you. Dr. To
Green asks whether staff choose school books or vendors send preselected orders. Davina S., USBE’s library media specialist, says local staff usually select and order them. In her earlier school and district work, donations sometimes arrived, but routine unsolicited boxes or bundles were uncommon. She says the state does not recommend against bundles. Staff offer help from Adam H. or librarians, which Green welcomes. Starts at 2:47:08 in the full meeting.
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Here's and here's one more concern that comes back to procurement, which I still haven't received an answer to. And I'd like an answer. And if it's not today, if anybody that that knows this can get back to us. Are we physically procuring our order forms for the books that come to our libraries? Or do we receive procured orders that are delivered automatically to the schools?
If that if the second is the case as a standard in our working relationship with these vendors, then in essence, it's the distributors that can't be on the committee. Okay, let's get some further information from Davina. What do you have to say to that? I think the standard generally is that books are being there. It's not a list or like a box of books that shows up at the library. It's the standard is that the librarians, educators, district people use the selection criteria of their policy to select books for their libraries and classroom libraries.
Do we know, do we, do districts ever receive orders procured from vendors? That they did not solicit themselves. I'm trying to think in my library, I had a local bookstore donate books to me, but I would go through that book that box differently than I would go through a box of books.
And that was rare, I would say in five years in that library, I probably got two boxes of books from them. There's no procurement, like I, maybe, this never happened to me, and as a district librarian, I never had any of my libraries that I knew of that were getting like boxes of books sent to them from vendors or publishers. Davina, what about the book bundles? I know a couple years ago, those were real popular, bundle a whole bunch of books and you bought a certain grouping. Are those not taking place anymore?
I'm not hearing about the, I never actually have ever experienced that myself as a district librarian, supervising library in the library. I have heard about what you're talking about, but I personally have not at, in a large district, that was not something that was commonplace. And do we give recommendation at the state level that that's probably not a really great idea? No. No. Okay. Okay. So it's safe to say then that in our, our local school districts, there are specific people that are physically procuring orders of books that are delivered and received at their schools.
As opposed to a publisher, is that what you're, you're referencing there? Yes, we have staff, educators, librarians that are purchasing books. I would say that's the norm. It's individuals at schools and districts that are purchasing materials using selection criteria policies to do so. Okay. Thank you. You bet. Okay. I'm good with the way it is right now. It may get a little bit of a tweak by next, by board meeting, but I think I'm comfortable with this currently.
Great. Let's talk a little bit. And I was going to say, Vice Chair Green, if you would like more, like further information on that question, we can get some before the next meeting. We can get with Adam heard as well about procurement or even with the librarians. Okay. Yeah. That would be great. I think it's, yeah, that would be very helpful. Thanks. Thank you. All right. So the next.
Aug 20, 2026: discussion of the mature content collection
At a Community Library Network meeting, a speaker who appears to be the director explains the mature content collection and how young adult books are shelved.
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it's not not designed to be an inquisition exactly but it's also it's also important to understand right we are a public library yes and therefore the reason why we're structuring it with a mature content collection and inappropriate uh using the term inappropriate in the in the in the collection acquisitions policy is so that we regain the right and freedom that libraries should have to put things wherever we want to right as a library we can put a book on this shelf or that shelf or this shelf or that shelf right the goal is the same though we want a top quality wholesome
educational like valuable children's collection that's that's the to make you know children's collections great again right that's what we want and that's what we're doing it doesn't mean that we're not going to get a book in that you know one person here one person there might think this is terrible what is this right and that's not going to go in the children it's going to go where we want to put it on the shelf it could go into the whole entire ya can move seven days over right and as i've said here many times before young adult to the publishing industry is i don't know 13
17. young adult at your local church group is 18 to so it's the ones that are trying to get married in court right it's a totally how we're defining young adult right is up to us right and so we've redefined young adult as 18 to 25 then all of a sudden the whole young adult publishing market right may come in and then we place it somewhere so i i just want to make sure that you understand that i'm on the same page right and we are trying to accomplish something together which is great
okay so no thank you and the reason we have that report coming out it's not strictly just to monitor how well we're complying but it's also to advertise to the public hey look at what we bought this month if you can go online you can look at this list and there's where we bought thousand books in the last month and go ahead and use it as a tool to help you shop a little bit and for a taxpayer to see where the money is going so it's not strictly there to monitor looking just for bad books well that's
fine and like i said in my little report right if we're talking about like transparency here and this is a public library like everything we have is in an ils or you can just go in and search keyboard so you'll know where it is you know where we put it yeah like it's not we're not hiding anything it's the whole point of a library system is that it's meant to be right publicly accessible right so it'll be interesting we have those two books right and i haven't had a chance okay i'll
get into it after i haven't had a chance but it'll be interesting a long from now whenever to see where it landed right and if it breaks the law it's landing in the mature content collection should be a guide i don't know that's another conversation but it's important to realize that even if we because you made a comment about being selective versus first amendment and removal i'm not going anywhere near that i'm just saying that we have a place for something that breaks the law you know idola law is the idola law we comply we appreciate we have a place for that we also have a place for a children's
collection which is like for our families and children in our community and then we have an adult collection which is the general adult question and public libraries going to have a full spectrum of of stuff right so we have these collections and that's really where i'm interested i'm interested to make sure that we have a a library collection where we empower the parents so they know that this section is going to have going to have that and this section is not going to have that whatever that is but at least it's knowledge right and this is why i mean it's great that i guess you're getting that report
early but that report is essentially the i that's the shelf list back in the day when you went into the car catalog you had a whole bay of car catalog the first subject and uh the same bay author and then the same day it's like they had to be produced but there was a fourth one which was the shelf list and if you just need to know everything that was in the library on the shelf you could just go to the shelf usually it was behind the scenes it wasn't the one that was out
in the public but car catalogs we live in that same environment it's electronic so now this is great we can continue to do that but don't forget that it ends up just being in the iLS and everything is transparent and available to see where it ended up
State Board attorney answers questions about Davis’s appeal process
The State Board attorney discusses procedure in the Davis Fight Club appeal. She does not decide whether the book is a sensitive material.
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so remember Boggess remember Brinton yes I just had a question about this because I think the public perception is that Davis County was wrong to pull this book rather than that this was just a procedural thing and as I understand it the Davis School Board has done has put the books on the consent calendar after going through the appeal numerous times like 40 times before with other books so why other books because I applaud Davis District for pulling books
that don't meet our you know that don't hit there they hit that bright line so they need to be pulled they are sensitive materials they don't have the educational value so they're following the law in removing the book so I just want to make sure and get clarification that is there a precedent set where they've done this with 40 other books so why this book because I think it's a good thing that they're being advocates to follow the law and remove the books a G cover well yeah come on up
I figure y'all can hear me I don't know about anybody else so the issue is it was just strictly a procedural kind of a technical issue that led into more substantive problem and it's my understanding this is the first time that it's been appealed to the board so that's why it's come up and why it may have happened 40 times before but this is the
first time it's come up to the board level now one thing that you need to understand is that the board is restricted by your rule 277 123 10 4 that you're strictly reviewing the procedure not substituting your judgment for theirs about whether or not it was or was not a sensitive material so and we really didn't even get into that because it was strictly on the procedure of how it got onto their their specific policy is that it has to be as I said out on the full board for approval during a public board meeting final decisions on the appeal and
and you can do some of that if it's non-controversial and routine on a consent calendar I just don't think in this case it worked and I do think that a judge should it get to the point of being reviewed by a judge would find that it was a problem and the easiest way to clean it up is to send it back and have him do her in accordance with that thank you I've got member Davis next but before that I need a point of information and that is that these pumpkin cookies are on point Randy so
again thanks to your wife I know that was worth the interruption member Davis go ahead yeah and this might be for AG Cooper again but is there anything that says that it's not okay to do this on a consent calendar because any member of their board can take it off the consent calendar if there's a big they get a lot of feedback prior to this any member of the board can take it off and say let's discuss this further I worry about this making it look like they're you know breaking some kind of a law somewhere also as member Earl was just
saying if their own policy says these will go on a consent calendar then they would be okay is that is that true and maybe we need to make an encouragement to have a thorough and clear policy as opposed to take everything to the full board every book to the full board I mean it'll go to the full board but I mean take everything off of the consent calendar okay I'm not going to touch this thing is it okay it's they've adopted Robert's rules of order and Robert's rules of order specifically says that the only things that go on
consent decrees I mean on the consent agenda or consent calendar are non-controversial and routine matters and so under these circumstances it's clearly not non-controversial routine I don't want to address because I don't know that this should ever be considered routine but their own policy policy specifically says that it has to be um to the full board for approval during a public board meeting and so it was it was a technical violation that kind of ran them into a substantive problem it's not something that can't be fixed it's not something that I think they were acting in bad faith on or
anything like like they said they've done it repeatedly and nobody's called them on it this was the first time they got called on it so there's a better way to do it to where it's more open and transparent without looking like they were trying to sneak something through if you put something on a consent calendar yes anybody can take it off in fact they did that in this particular meeting they originally had one through six and then they only did two through six on the consent calendar so it it's something if somebody had come in and said hey you know we want to talk they could
have taken it off and that didn't happen in that meeting but it was very minimal information in the paperwork about why the sensitive materials committee had made their decision so I don't think it I think that a court very well could find that they did not check all the boxes they needed to check should it get to that point may follow up so my my question is are we saying that every one of these should never be on a consent calendar or are we saying that there should be more clarity in their policy because
one could argue if it's happened 40 times it kind of is routine but that's a matter of opinion I suppose but I'm just trying to get clear on what we're saying are we saying that every single charter and district these shall never be on the consent calendar and if so then I think this motion is probably what that's trying to say or are we saying be clear in your policy about your procedure because it could be argued that your procedure with roberts rules this isn't considered routine or non-controversial I just wanted to interrupt here and as you cooper tell me if I'm off base here we're kind of getting
into this wider right now we are discussing did um but we'll set a precedent so I want to know did davis and and that could be something that we can go down that hole but did davis follow their procedure I don't we can't go through everybody's policy right now we could we could readdress policies right and say okay we need to ensure x y or z but what is before us is did davis follow their policy you're saying not necessarily as it is written and that's what we are discussing here so I'm hesitant to start
getting into all that's what that's where I'm hesitant to start getting into right I mean this is a very narrow issue uh because we didn't like I said we I didn't reach the issue of whether or not fight club actually violate sensitive materials because we don't have to there is a procedural issue and the procedural issue is required that they follow their policy I think that a court should it get past us could very well find that they did not because they've adopted roberts rules and they did not follow those I don't want to argue about whether or not it was routine or non-controversial I mean I think
the fact that we're here arguing about it shows that it's not non-controversial but the when you do that you have to kind of take it they have a way of opting out of roberts rules in their policy as well and they did not do that so their policy specifically says that the appeals committee will present their recommendation to the full board for approval during a public board meeting where the final decision on the appeal and rationale for the decision will be determined by majority vote of the board I think that a court very well could look at it and the supporting materials that went with it and
say that that is not to the full board and not the full rationale and not presented to everyone so the solution for that is send it back and let them do it to where it is very clear
Aug 20, 2026: a trustee responds to public comment
At a Community Library Network meeting, a trustee accuses earlier public commenters of promoting access to pornographic materials and grooming. The September clip below contains a response.
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Multiple comments at our budget meetings, previous regular meetings, and in the Asian press are absolutely false. I won't name names, as that would be an unprisoned behavior, and the names don't matter anyway, as it is truth that is important. Some people are bent on making sure other people's innocent children have access to pornographic materials, and therefore hate and spare no opportunity to spread lies about the current Board of Trustees and the good administration of CLN. Despite their love proclamations for love and tolerance for all, they really seem to be only for themselves and their alternative viewpoints.
They seem to coordinate with each other to ensure that at least one of them is always here and share information with each other on what happened at the meeting, and meeting recordings are freely available online, so one could surmise that they perfectly well know what the truth is of what happened at meetings and are therefore purposely spreading lies. They don't seem to have any shame when they are caught in their lies. They then tell different lies, or double down and get louder about the same lies. You know what they say about a lie told often enough.
They use freedom as an excuse to promote grooming other people's children with materials that are so heinous that they've been illegal in all 50 states about the last 55 years to give to another person's child. And before that, no one would have survived the backlash of either publicly advocating publishing the same is filled for children, or giving it to them. These extremely explicit materials groom children for sexual exploitation and a perverted life that leads to disease, mental and physical health issues, and death. They also claim that we're banning, book burning, or censoring, when in reality these books are
still available to adults that have been removed from the children's sections. Interestingly enough, previous administrations purchased and placed the vast majority of the worst of these heinous materials in the children's sections. They also claim that our director got a 20% raise, apparently for no other reason than just to waste taxpayer funds. The issues has been expanded upon in our public meetings and that CLN deleted a vacant position to beat up the vital responsibilities and salary of set position between multiple other positions. So it wasn't a new expense on taxpayers.
Sep 17, 2026: a commenter says the August remarks were defamatory
A commenter disputes an August trustee’s accusations and says the remarks harmed their reputation. This is the commenter’s account.
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At the Community Library Network's August 20th meeting, Trustee Rochelle Otteson accused me of being a liar, of being bent on exposing children to pornographic material, and of being a groomer. These are her exact words. Although she did not use my name, that does not necessarily shield her from accountability. Under defamation law, a person does not have to be named explicitly if their identity can be reasonably determined from the context. One of the key questions in the defamation case
is whether the statements damage the reputation of the person targeted. That raises an obvious question for me. What is my reputation in this community? And could such accusations damage it? I moved to Kootenai County in 1988, when I was hired as Director of Religious Education at St. Pius Parish. I was also a part-time instructor in moral theology at Gonzaga University. I remained at St. Pius until the birth of our first son, after which I began teaching part-time at North Idaho College and Lewis and Clark State College.
As my sons grew older, I continued adding courses at NIC, and eventually became a full-time philosophy professor. During my 26 years at North Idaho College, I was elected Chair of the Faculty Assembly, elected twice to the College Senate, appointed to the Curriculum Council, and honored with the Excellence in Diversity Award. I was also named a Woman of Distinction in Education by the Coeur d'Alene Serotonist. Beyond the college, I've been deeply engaged in my community.
I served for 24 years as a Trustee with the Post-Fall School Board, and spent eight years on the Executive Board of the Idaho School Boards Association. In 2023, I was honored as the Association's Board Chair of the Year. My community involvement also included teaching religious education at St. George's, serving on PTOs and senior parent committees, and participating actively in Boy Scouts. I'm particularly proud that both of our sons became Eagle Scouts.
Today, they are college graduates, one is a veteran, and both are devoted fathers to my four wonderful grandchildren. Perhaps this history speaks for itself. It reflects a lifespan, teaching, serving, raising a family, and contributing to the community I've called home for nearly four decades. Would publicly labeling me a liar, a groomer, and intent on distributing pornography to children damage that reputation? I believe that's a legitimate question
Wallace describes the Llano County lawsuit as a dispute over removing pornography from the children’s section. This is her description of the lawsuit.
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I can. So, Llano County, that is where I live, and Llano County has the premier designation as the first library in all of America sued for removing pornography from the children's section. Now, when that happened in April of 2022, the books were not removed and thrown away. They were taken off the children's section and marched over about 30 feet and placed into the adult section of the Llano Public Library. This is a county library.
On CleanBooks-vb, the speaker says Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me has no pornographic content but argues it is unsuitable for elementary students. The later excerpt concerns a different book, Allen Ginsberg’s Death and Fame.
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So again, this is an example of no, there's no pornographic content, but this is certainly not age-appropriate for elementary children.
In a separate CleanBooks-vb video about Allen Ginsberg’s Death and Fame: Poems, 1993–1997, the speaker calls that book pornography and obscene. This remark is not about When You Reach Me.
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definitely someone who orders this pornography this is pornography it is obscene and they allow it and put it in front of minors make it available to minors that person needs to face the music
This separate collection gathers 45 remarks from meetings, hearings, interviews, and advocacy videos. Each clip has automatic captions and links to its source recording where one is public.