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Anderson Co. mayor asks sheriff to investigate library books for 'obscene' material

The mayor has asked the sheriff to investigate whether a handful of books contain "obscene" material. One library director said they're receiving threats.

CLINTON, Tenn. — Miria Webb finds comfort between the shelves of the Clinton Library. It's home to more than 48,000 items like books and DVDs.

"It's usually at least a fun, safe, nice space for people," she said. "I've got a lot of special patrons who come in and talk to me and tell me about their lives and that's great."

That started to change as a battle over books began brewing in public meetings. Fifteen people spoke during an Anderson County Commission public comment period on Feb. 21.

"Books in our taxpayer-funded libraries make the jobs of human and child traffickers easier," one woman said. "They say it's not a church, yet they preach their gender-bending immoral schmuck in the name of freedom."

She and one other person spoke against a handful of books found in public libraries. The other 13 spoke in favor of the current review process, which lets library boards make their own decisions and reviews.

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank asked the sheriff to investigate.

"While the Anderson County library system has a procedure for how to address questionable content, there is no clear guidance regarding how to proceed if one perceives a violation of obscenity statutes has occurred," she wrote. "Regarding the materials that have been brought to light by the citizen(s), we are requesting that the Sheriff's Department please investigate the materials for obscenity violations."

The Clinton Library doesn't carry the main book in question, "Let's Talk About It" by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan. It has, however, received four formal complaints about four separate books.

Credit: WBIR

"The three books that have already went all the way through the process, the board voted to retain, they're on the shelves," Webb said. "The fourth book that we just had go through the subcommittee process, the subcommittee voted to move it to the young adult section. The age range was really close on that one."

One book is "Grandad's Camper" by Harry Woodgate.

"The granddad has lost his partner who's a male and the granddaughter helps him remember their good times together by helping repair the camper that they use to tour the country in," Webb said. "This is the one that made me cry. It's beautiful and so sweet."

Another is "Families Like Mine" by Marie-Therese Miller. 

"This just talks about different kinds of families... some families may have many children and these families can be noisy, some families have one child and they can be quiet," Webb said. "There are families with two dads and families with a dad and a mom."

The third is "It Feels Good To Be Yourself: A Book About Gender Identity" by Theresa Thorn and illustrator Noah Grigni.

The fourth, which was moved to the young adult section, is "It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health" by Robie Harris and illustrator Michael Emberley.

"It's a sex-ed book," Webb said. "Our collection is here to support all kinds of people in different phases and stages of their life. I've guided parents to that book before to help their children."

She said those materials are important for the library to offer, even if some don't agree with them.

"We support a large and diverse community up here in Anderson County," Webb said. "I want everybody to be able to find themselves on our shelves and that's what we're trying to do here."

While most people have been supportive of her and her team, others haven't been as kind.

"It's hard when people are saying things about you like we've had said about us," she said. "We've had people threaten us, both our jobs and with arrest, but we're still here and we're doing our job, and we're helping our community."

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