02/06/2026
The History of the Parental Guidance Sticker and how it originated as an LGBTQ+ content sticker
(FYI: remember the Library Committee meets only every 3 months)
6/30/22 Lindsay McKinney and Cheryl Sanford were quoted in the Alamance News complaining about LGBTQ content at May Memorial Library. By 11/7/2023 Sanford was on the board and there was discussion on how to limit access of materials in the children’s department, the mobile library and the BookMARK. Cheryl Sandford said she thought the flashpoint of certain materials was that they were LGBTQ books. She recommended that labels be put on them for identification. This would only affect the children’s books.
2/13/24
The County Attorney said in reading through the policy, as it exists, the library committee is here to ensure that the reconsideration process happened and was followed properly, not necessarily to act as an additional review board for library materials. He said further that the policy seems pretty clear that the library director is the ultimate abitur of the library materials and their suitability. He said, at the end of the day, the Commissioners are involved. They are involved in the employing and staffing of the library. Rick said, if the types of decisions being made aren’t found to be suitable, then they could possibly be involved at that point. But, he said he wasn’t sure there was a place for the Commissioners necessarily, at least in this policy as he sees it written today.
5/14/24
The County Attorney said, “Regarding the labels, that is a procedure. The Board can only make recommendations to procedure. They can’t vote on changing a library procedure. Jessica [Simmons] asked if the sticker issue was part of a policy. [The Library Director] said the stickers we use, as Logan said, are part of our library procedure. Changing the procedures happen as need demands, instead of revising policies every 2 years. The policy only guides how you do things. When it comes down to the details, those are procedures.”
Library Director- Stickers don’t age well.
Kim DiMuro said, “So you’re saying that we are not going to do the stickers. Then are we going to put the LGBTQ in a separate section?”
Logan said if stickers are something the Board feels strongly about, moving forward, then it’s a matter of figuring out exactly how to do that. How to classify it? What information is included with the new books coming in? Do existing materials get re-classified? The Library Director said there is not a pre-done sticker of this topic. Staff would need to design a sticker. Kim asked if it would be better to have a separate section. Logan said a problem of putting all these books in one section is that many books are on numerous topics.
Kim asked why the board could not go ahead and vote to get an LGBTQ Friendly sticker made and put on the children’s books. Logan said the board could not vote to do it. The board can recommend further consideration of this idea. She said there needs to be further discussion on how this would look.
The Library Director said she could ask staff to design a new sticker. What is the threshold if there’s a new subject or request? Should one be created for just one book? How many books is the tipping point? Just having the details in writing and putting a procedure together would help staff determine what is included, what is not included. Should stickers be put only on new materials? Should old materials be stickered? Logan said patrons can request a sticker now. It is on the form for reconsideration. She said what we are talking about now is the actual procedures staff would need to follow.
11/12/24 Lindsay McKinney had joined the board and the minutes note that “The Committee meeting packet included copies of possible sticker options and basic explanations of the current request. New committee members were provided explanations of the ongoing conversation that has led to the request for a LGBTQIA+ sticker.”
1/31/25 a Special Meeting of the Library Committee was held to discuss stickers. It was standing room only with the public wanting input. Committee members denied that stickers were to be put on LGBTQ books and it was decided that “Stickers should be put on books that contain the following: violence, sexually explicit material, underage drinking and drugs and/or su***de.”
https://alamancenews.com/mothers-question-age-appropriateness-of-lgbtq-display-at-may-memorial/
https://library.alamancecountync.gov/about/library-committee/ (minutes available from 9/10/19 to the present)
