Addressing the Coos Bay Library Board about D.E.I. propaganda
I gave the following public comment at the library board meeting on December 18th, 2024:
Good evening! I am Chris Castleman, and I represent a growing contingency of property owners and taxpayers within the Coos County Library district.
This is the most accessible library to my home. I benefit from its facilities and resources almost daily – anywhere from a borrowed audiobook on the Hoopla app, to a hardback D.I.Y. book on timber framed homes, and even the occasional reservation to utilize the Myrtlewood Room for a meeting. I highly value our libraries as well as the sense of community and education that they encourage. I even get some fruits and veggies when I stop by! You might call me a power user :)
Which is why I am fairly shocked and concerned when like minded citizens tell me that they refuse to step foot in your library, despite the hundreds of dollars per year injected into their property tax bill to pay for these services. Why won’t they come here? Three main reasons I hear on repeat:
Too many smelly bums.
Too many rainbow books on display.
Tampons in the mens room.
I don’t have time to get into each of these tonight, so I’ll just talk about rainbow books. Well what are rainbow books you might ask? They’re the gay and trans books with pretty rainbow colors displayed at eye level for small children to pick up and get all confused about adult issues at the incredibly impressionable age of 5.
Okay but I get it… you’re really just trying to be inclusive, right?
Well… where’s your display of books featuring conservative values? Like the traditional family, small government, capitalism, liberty… you know, basic American stuff?
And even if you want to get a little alternative, where’s your display with books like Animal Farm, 1984, Brave New World, and The Fountainhead? Did you know that half those books aren’t even available at this library today? I checked.
Now that doesn’t seem too inclusive if you’re excluding certain schools of thought that aren’t considered woke.
But maybe you’re the type that believes only immoral people would boycott a library over some gay books and misplaced tampons. Maybe you believe that the boundary of “inclusivity” only extends to moral citizens. Fine – but who defines morality? You? The government? You’re educated folks so you see the slippery slope this could lead us down right? Or maybe you’re bright enough to see that we’ve already gone down that slide and you just don’t know how to climb back up?
Well here’s how we start:
We start by setting a goal of true inclusivity and respect.
We start by understanding who makes up our community and respecting all of their values and beliefs – even ones we disagree with.
We start by understanding that just because you disagree with someone’s beliefs does not make them immoral. Both sides of our divided nation could use some work in this arena.
But let’s get to some concrete actionable requests:
Stop promoting D.E.I. propaganda and gender dysphoria resources to children. You – as a public tax funded entity — should not be promoting any controversial beliefs to anyone, let alone children. Imaging a public library promoting white empowerment books, or having religious pamphlets for people right when they walk in the door. None of those have a place being promoted by a public institution.
Start looking into ways you can help newly marginalized groups (like people triggered by rainbow books) to feel welcome, comfortable, and heard. Challenge yourself to hear their concerns, and help them feel included. And most importantly, do it in a way that does not directly or indirectly exclude other belief systems.
This is just one example of how we achieve true inclusivity. With the right goals and proper focus on engagement and respect, we can break through these barriers and work together to create a community where we all feel welcome, and not just one where we cater to the angriest, most outspoken, or most woke.
Thank you for listening to my concerns and ideas.
UPDATE: I have received no response from the board (no comments during or after the meeting) and none of these issues have been addressed.