Symbols are powerful things – and a group calling themselves “The Republic Library Changemakers” want symbols and materials that represent LGBTQ+ Pride out of their library.
Since July they have been reaching out to NCW Libraries Executive Director Barbara Walters about the issue, but on Dec. 19 they brought their concerns to the NCW Libraries Board of Trustees during the last board meeting of 2024. Four members of the group spoke for about 10 minutes during the public comment period at the beginning of the meeting.
Republic is a town of about 1000 and the county seat of Ferry County, the fourth least-populated county in the state.
Carol Langutaris was the first to speak via video chat, and she said their group was formed in response to the way the “direction the Republic branch was being driven” by the librarian in Republic and took the opportunity to make her displeasure with NCW Libraries Executive Director Barbara Walters known.
“The community of Republic has approached Barbara Walters multiple times over the past months expressing concerns about the focus and prioritization of LGBTQ materials and symbols in our local library branch well after Pride month has ended,” she said. “She has repeatedly responded by dismissing our concerns and deferring to board policy. As she has refused to meet with community members we are reaching out to you directly to express our concerns.”
A disproportionate amount of their limited shelf space in Republic is being used to display ”LGBTQ materials,” she said. There are three Pride flags, one of which is visible through the front window, and Republic is a small and “largely conservative” community. They are “respectful and tolerant” of LGBTQ+ symbols during Pride month, she said, but the ongoing “elevation” of Pride materials continues to this day appears to be the “permanent focus” of the branch.
“We have been repeatedly informed by Miss Walters that the library is intended to be a safe and welcoming space for everyone,” she said. “Yet she is unconcerned that a significant portion of the community is excluded from using the library or bringing their children to the library under these circumstances.”
The Pride flag makes some feel “unsafe,” she said.
Safety and feeling unsafe because of the Pride flag was a constant theme throughout the discussion, which continued after the public comment period.
Nancy Churchill, who represents Ferry County on the NCW Libraries board, said the people of her community are being ignored by Walters. The folks who have an issue with LGBTQ+ symbols and materials at their branch should be treated as a minority group.
“Right now they do not feel welcome. They feel excluded,” Churchill said. “And I don’t think that’s proper. When we are in communities let’s say that are Hispanic-speaking communities we try to meet the needs of those communities.”
Churchill also called Walters out, accusing her of using the board as a shield. There is no display policy currently, so the claim that the decision to continue to allow Pride flags and LGBTQ+ materials to continue to take up shelf space in Republic is not on the trustees.
“I do not appreciate being the bad guy in my community because the board has defined a policy that allows my community members to feel excluded from the library,” she said. “They’re not trying to exclude anyone else. They want a library that is open and inclusive to the entire community.”
It’s incumbent upon them to create policy, Churchill said, and in her eyes that policy should include a process for patrons who feel “disenfranchised” to have a say in what is displayed at their local branches. If there are disagreements a “mediator” from the district office can work to find a resolution.
She also brought up the safety issue.
“For whatever reason the response to this particular group is that the library is following board policy and that the board is responsible for the policies that are making their library feel unsafe to them,” she said.
Trustee Jim Mitchell, who represents Chelan County, asked what about the Pride flag makes people feel unsafe.
“That’s the second time I’ve heard that: ‘safe.’ The people before who spoke said that they don’t feel ‘safe’ and then you just said ‘safe,’” he said. “What’s the safety concern about this?”
They don’t feel safe taking their families into their library, Churchill said.
Mitchell pressed, asking again what the safety concern was – specifically.
Churchill said they feel like the library has displays and materials that are not meeting their families’ needs or their values.
“I’m not hearing safety in any of that,” Mitchell said. “I’m hearing concern.”
Denise Sorom, who also represents Chelan County on the board, balked at the idea of giving too much “curatorial power” to patrons and thus taking it out of the hands of professional librarians and NCW Libraries staff. She said maybe the board needs to strengthen the wording of the policy to make it clear their staff is “empowered and supported” by the organization in their curation duties.
The display policy topic came back up near the end of the meeting, after Walters introduced a draft of a policy predicated on what other library systems have adopted. That proposed policy states unequivocally that curation and display duties are the purview of staff members – not members of the public or special interest groups.
“NCW Libraries has the sole discretion for initiating and curating displays, included but not limited to collection items, promotional materials, flags or other items,” it reads. “Displays are used to highlight new and relevant materials, educate the public on a variety of subjects, genres, and formats, celebrate national events, and inspire curosity in the Libraries’ collections, services and resources.”
NCW Libraries staff members are the experts in this field, Walters said, before Churchill interrupted her to make a case for local control.
Near the end of the meeting, Walters also took a moment to read a couple of letters from members of the Ferry County community who support Pride flags and LGBTQ+ materials at their local branch.
One was from an individual who takes their one-year-old son to the library every week
“I live in Republic and I am glad the library promotes inclusion and diversity,” it read. “I know there is a very vocal minority of our community that has been on a crusade against the library since Pride month and I am very disappointed in how they are behaving. I just want to let you know that I appreciate everything you guys do and thank you so much.”
Before wrapping things up, Sorom stated that the proposed draft Walters presented is just that – a draft – and this discussion will continue in the future before a final decision is made.
Trustee Nancy Spurgeon had the last word, and she quoted something she heard a librarian say once that made an impact on her.
“‘Actually everyone who walks into the library should be offended by something that’s in the library. And then I feel like I’ve done my job,’” she said. “I’ve carried that with me for a long time.'“
You can watch the entire board discussion about the proposed display policy here:
What’s Next
This discussion is far from over, and the board will make a decision about what their display policy will be in the coming year. When they make a decision I’ll cover it. In the meantime, I reached out to both Walters and Churchill with a few questions about this issue.
I asked Walters about the rationale behind the decision to keep Pride flags displayed at the branch after Pride month, and if the “Changemakers” group gets its way will it affect other branches? I also asked for the annual costs of running the Republic branch vs. the tax revenue that comes from Ferry County residents to support the library.
It was mentioned multiple times throughout the meeting that the people of Ferry County “pay for” the library, but with a population of 1000 in the town and about 7000 in the county overall it seems unlikely the branch is not being subsidized by taxpayers from Okanogan, Douglas and Chelan counties.
I asked Churchill if she shared the “Changemakers” desire to see the Pride flag and LGBTQ+ materials removed and if she helped organize the group. I also asked her about her political activism and if joining the NCW Libraries board is a part of a partisan project to undermine a public institution.
We’ve seen that type of political strategy employed by folks like Katherine Thomas and Bill Sullivan before. Thomas ran for Wenatchee School Board as a part of a failed attempt to install rightwing directors affiliated with Grace City Church on that body and Sullivan has spent a majority of his time on the Chelan Douglas Health District board focused on Covid-19 vaccines and how to rid the two-county region of them.
A Final Thought, and My Two Cents
With so much of the conversation centered on fear, safety and feeling “unsafe,” it got me thinking about the legendary CBS Broadcaster Edward R. Murrow.
In 1954, Murrow took on Sen. Joesph McCarthy on his show and delivered a knock-out blow to McCarthy’s career. For years, McCarthy had been exploiting Americans’ fear of the Soviet Union during some of the darkest days of the Cold War and exacerbated the “Red Scare” to conduct baseless, vindictive investigations designed not to root out legitimate threats to national security but rather to leave peoples’ personal and professional lives in shambles. McCarthy made baseless claims he couldn’t prove in order to advance his personal political ambitions and make a name for himself as a Cold War crusader battling the enemy within. His brand of rapacious, fact-free attacking led to the coining of a new term: “McCarthyism.”
But after a while, Americans became tired of McCarthy’s empty allegations and vicious public kangaroo courts in Senate sub-committee hearings. Some people started speaking out and pushing back. Murrow was one of the first to do so, and this is what he had to say about McCarthy’s penchant for exploiting fear to divide Americans and short-circuit our ability to think rationally.
“We will not walk in fear, one of another,” he said. “We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men – not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular.”
Having a conversation about display policies and what flags should be in our public libraries is well and good, but let’s dispense with the dishonesty and fear mongering.
Let’s respect each other enough not to lie to one another. Stop using claims about feeling “unsafe” and pretending like it’s somehow damaging for a child to gaze upon a Pride flag. It’s no more or less damaging to look at a Pride flag as it is an American flag.
Meaningful dialogue cannot happen without respect. Respect is hard to earn when you lie. If the members of the Republic “Changemakers” group actually want to be heard and their opinions respected, I suggest they start by being honest.
Update as of Dec. 30, 2024: A Response from NCW Libraries Spokesperson Amanda Brack
After the board meeting I sent Executive Direct Barbara Walters and Communications Manager Amanda Brack a few follow up questions. Here are a few of those questions, and Brack’s responses in a Q&A format.
DB: What is the rationale behind the decision to keep a Pride flag displayed at the Republic branch after Pride month? Is that at the discretion of the branch librarian, or is it a decision that was made by administrators at the district-wide level?
AB: NCW Libraries joins the American Library Association, the Library of Congress, and public libraries across the nation in sharing a commitment to elevating the voices, stories, and experiences of historically marginalized communities both through monthly celebrations and ongoing displays.
We know that not every program or display will have relevance or resonate with every patron. Through the variety of programs and resources we offer, we hope everyone can find something that meets their interests.
Choices about branch displays are guided by NCW Libraries board approved policies including our Freedom to Read Statement, Strategic Directions, and Collection Development Policy (attached) as well as the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights. NCW Libraries encourages branch librarians to highlight a variety of celebrations and initiatives throughout the year. Additionally, branch librarians are given autonomy to develop displays with the support and approval of their supervisors and other departmental leaders.
DB: As far as the claims that the Pride flag makes some people feel "unsafe" or uncomfortable, what do you say to that?
AB: Our goal in displaying the Pride flag is to honor the LGBTQ+ community as a group whose voices, stories, and experiences have been historically overlooked and marginalized. This very circumstance, where individuals are asking for the removal of the Pride flag, is an example of the ways that our LGBTQ+ staff, family, friends, and neighbors are facing discrimination and erasure.
There are many public spaces where the LGBTQ+ community feels invisible, unwelcome, and physically unsafe. By displaying the Pride flag, we are hoping to make it clear that all are welcome and safe from discrimination and harm in our libraries.
The claim that the presence of a Pride flag would make someone feel unsafe is confounding. The library is a place where a diversity of ideas is celebrated. There is no requirement to conform to a specific way of thinking. Rather, as library professionals, we celebrate difference. We believe difference makes us stronger. It can be uncomfortable to be in proximity to difference, but practicing civility and respect in the midst of difference will only serve to unify and strengthen our communities.
Diminishing and disrespecting others, especially based on their protected class status, has no place in the library.
This group of individuals is not only asking for the removal of the Pride flag. They are asking that LGBTQ+ materials be minimized, relocated, and even removed from the Republic Library. They are asking that their small group has a voice in determining what is appropriate and acceptable for their entire community, based on their personal beliefs and preferences.
These requests demonstrate the reality that the LGBTQ+ community faces ongoing censorship, marginalization, and discrimination.
To exclude library displays and materials based on one group’s personal beliefs is censorship. As public library professionals, we reject censorship in all forms and are committed to protecting the freedom to read for all people.
DB: Can you give me the breakdown of how much of the costs for the Republic library comes from Ferry county taxpayers, and how much Republic's branch is subsidized by taxpayers from the other counties in the district?
AB: By participating in an inter-county rural library district, Ferry County’s library services are significantly subsidized by the other four counties within the district, Chelan, Douglas, Okanogan, and Grant.
2025 taxes are not finalized yet, but I can provide the information for 2024.
96% of NCW Libraries’ operating budget is generated through property tax revenue. In 2024, NCW Libraries operating budget was $16,117, 693 with $15,615,192 representing property taxes.
This is a shoestring budget compared to other public libraries of our size in Washington state. Our library staff are scrappy and creative. They maximize our resources to provide excellent library services to our communities, despite rising operating costs.
We are committed to stewarding our limited budget to equitably serve each of our 5 counties and the communities within them. We are thankful that as an inter-county rural library district, tax revenue from our more populated counties can subsidize library services in our less populated counties.
In 2024, Ferry County property tax revenue equaled $247,179.63, representing 1.6% of NCW Libraries total tax revenue.
NCW Libraries operates two branch locations in Ferry County, the Republic Library and the Curlew Library. In 2024, NCW Libraries operating costs for the Republic Library alone was $540,610.18.
Even before factoring in Curlew Library operating costs, NCW Libraries is contributing $293,430.55 over what Ferry County pays into the district, to operate just the Republic Library. This reality demonstrates our commitment to equitable service in rural communities.
If I hear back from Churchill, I will update this article with her responses as well.
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