Emotions run high at library meeting
By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – The biggest crowd perhaps ever in Slidell history for a public hearing was out in force on Monday night when over 400 concerned citizens showed up for the Republican Party Executive Committee (RPEC) meeting that was moved to the Municipal Auditorium in anticipation of the huge turnout.
RPEC called the public meeting after their own outrage joined others in recent months following the revelation that St. Tammany public libraries are offering alleged pornography and pedophilic materials to children of all ages, without parental approval.
While the vast majority of the attendees were there supporting the materials be put into a restricted area in the libraries, requiring the approval of parents to view, the St. Tammany Library Board of Control, as well as Library Director Kelly LaRocca, have steadfastly refused for months to agree to any limitations.
LaRocca was among those invited to the meeting and initially told RPEC Chairman Brian Glorioso that she would attend. However, at 4:30 p.m. on Monday the library director contacted him and said she had been advised not to attend, and therefore, would not.
RPEC also invited Parish President Mike Cooper, the entire Parish Council, District Attorney Warren Montgomery and Library Board President Rebecca Taylor to the meeting, but only Montgomery attended, along with many Slidell City Council members, Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer, and La. Sen. Sharon Hewitt, among public officials of note.
At the heart of the debate is a list of approximately 150 books uncovered by several parish moms that include what they claim is pornography, pedophilic materials, and extensive books about gays, lesbians and transgenders. They have also found other books teaching sex techniques to teens but were particularly shocked to find that all materials are available to children of any age at the library.
While most of the people in the audience were undoubtedly unaware at what level the alleged pornography could be found, one of those parish moms, Connie Phillips, opened the evening with a video presentation that put the pictures from the books, and some of the text, right on the screen in the auditorium for all to vividly see. From the reaction heard in the crowd, it left little doubt to most that the materials available to children should be restricted, the majority of the speakers stated.
However, the evening was not without its drama as Slidell Police were there in force and at one point had to take one man out of the event for constant heckling of speakers. He was not the only one to yell remarks from the audience during various presentations or remarks from the public.
Glorioso had to stop the meeting several times and insist on respect for all speakers, but things still got out of hand enough that Slidell Police Chief Randy Fandal took the microphone and assured the attendees he would remove anyone making trouble.
That still didn’t completely quiet those in attendance who believe the books should remain without restrictions, eventually leading to one dispute between several men in the audience, followed by the police removing one individual.
The meeting was called because RPEC claimed in its letter that the libraries are “intentionally exposing the children of St. Tammany Parish to pornographic materials…and sexually explicit materials.”
Phillips opened her presentation making the connection between American Library Association (ALA) President Emily Drabinski and what is happening at St. Tammany public libraries, as well as dozens of libraries all over the country.
Her presentation noted that Drabinski is a self-proclaimed lesbian and Marxist and states clearly on her website that she believes public libraries should be used for a social agenda that includes allowing children of all ages to access any materials with no restrictions.
“Kelly LaRocca is one of her foot soldiers and has brought this to our children in St. Tammany Parish,” Phillips said. “The ALA has voted to turn libraries into propaganda machines to change society.”
The presentation from Phillips included numerous pictures of naked men having oral sex with other men, as well as women having oral sex with other women. One book shows a picture of an adult man having sex with a young boy.
Attorney David Cougle, one of the new leaders in the Facebook site named the St. Tammany Library Accountability Project, told the crowd that “the cartoonish nature of the pictures in the books shows they are appealing to children. There is no excuse that this has happened, and it was intentionally done by Kelly LaRocca. All of this was completely unavoidable, yet now she has opened the parish up to lawsuits from either side depending on what happens.
“The entire library administration in our parish has radically different values than the values of our communities and we must stand up to protect our most valuable asset from the predators they are bringing to our children,” he added, continuing to ask for LaRocca to be fired, and the board to be replaced.
Rick Franzo, president for Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany (CCST), said that when he viewed some of the materials, “my stomach turned the more I saw. And our own taxpayer money was used to purchase these books. Anyone with common sense viewing this stuff can clearly see it is child exploitation, pornography and sexually explicit materials. This needs to stop and we demand the removal of those in charge if they do not put these books into a restricted area.”
Franzo also pointed the finger at Cooper and the Parish Council since they are the ones who appointed all the Library Board members, who then hired LaRocca. While pressure is building on Cooper and the parish council members to take action, there has yet to be public comments from any of them.
“The parish president and Parish Council need to immediately re-evaluate this leadership or CCST will sue and take this all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary,” he added.
However, not all saw the material as being a problem for children to view.
“This is an attack on the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender, Queer) community,” said Tamara Murray. “The reason that 82 percent of trans kids consider suicide is because of how they are treated. The majority of the youth in these categories said reading the books made them feel more accepted.”
Shirley Thommason noted that the popular book, “Huckleberry Finn,” has racial slurs, “but I don’t want that book removed from the library. Other countries ban books—are we going to do the same? Public libraries should not restrict access to anything.”
However, no one at the meeting called for banning books, with all speakers asking only for the books to be put in a restricted area.
The evening began to turn into more of a forum on support or opposition to gays, lesbians and transgenders, with Gay DiGiovanni saying that her 5-year-old son had a friend who “acted differently, like a girl, when he was young. His dad tried to beat the gay out of him, but the boy finally ran away at the age of 16 and he is still gay. I reject any legislation to restrict these books.”
Others in the audience were also in favor of “no restrictions,” however, it was clear by the reaction to speakers that the vast majority supported restrictions.
LaRocca and the Library Board did announce what they claim is a response to the complaints when they created new juvenile library cards two weeks ago, with four options for parents that can restrict what kids check out. However, the cards still do not restrict access in any way for kids of any age to view the books or other materials when visiting the library. And children 10 and above are allowed to visit the library without parents.
Cougle responded to the new cards as, “fixing absolutely nothing.”
LaRocca continues to state unequivocally that, “our library does not have any pornography and I have never seen a book that I think should be restricted in any way.”
RPEC took no action on the night, however, is considering a resolution that they will send to the Library Board, asking for the formation of a citizens committee to review what books are currently accessible to underage kids, and to review what new books are purchased, then restrict access where needed. The proposed resolution is also considering a request to fire LaRocca and disassociate the St. Tammany board from the ALA.