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ST. CHARLES COUNTY — A sweeping policy change could wrest decisions on removing books from library shelves away from librarians and give the authority to the district’s politically appointed board of trustees.

The St. Charles City-County Library Board will also weigh a change to how the library system decides what exhibits should be on display in branches. These displays, largely centered on “heritage months and other significant cultural, historical and social themes,” would be selected annually by a committee of library personnel, including top administrators and other staff.

The changes would clarify an appeals process, with the board of trustees having the final decision. Librarians and staff now consider materials and review challenges from the public complaining about specific books or displays and make recommendations to the library system’s executive director.

Library patrons posting on social media say they’re worried the possible changes would give power to the board members, who are appointed by the St. Charles mayor and the county executive. Now, the board has no role in choosing or approving library books or other materials.

Book challenges have been a sensitive topic in libraries across the United States in recent years, but especially in St. Charles County. Since November 2023, the library district has fielded 11 requests from patrons to have books they personally considered inappropriate removed from the library’s collection.

This wave in book challenges came on the heels from criticism from conservative parents and leaders in St. Charles County, who pledged to comb through the library’s collection of nearly 1 million books and challenge the books they felt were obscene or pornographic in nature.

Many of the books challenged had LGBTQ-related themes and characters. Only one of those books, “Bang Like a Pornstar: Sex Tips From the Pros,” was ultimately removed.

The board will consider the changes at its meeting Tuesday night.

Library officials say the proposed policies are misunderstood, even as critics of the proposals say they could reignite the culture wars that new library CEO John Greifzu has strived to move beyond.

“The policy revisions merely formalize practices that are already in place,” said board President Matthew Seeds.

The American Library Association has a similar appeals process, according to its website, while the ӣ����Ƶ Public Library said complaints about its collection are “handled by their professional library staff.”

The proposed St. Charles City-County Library policy grants the patrons who previously challenged books a 45-day window to file their appeal with the board of trustees.

Per the draft proposal, only library patrons or St. Charles County property owners could challenge a book in the library’s collection. Patrons wanting to challenge a specific book would complete a two-page form with about 10 questions.

The form is then forwarded onto a committee of five staff members, which would include one of the library’s executive officers to “ensure alignment with the library’s mission.” The committee would still recommend a decision to the executive director.

The director’s decision typically has aligned with the recommendation, but the proposed policy allows for the decision to be appealed to the trustees for review within 30 days of the committee’s decision.

The trustees may opt to uphold, modify or overturn the committee’s decision. The trustees’ decision is final. However, any books that are retained in the collection will be eligible to be challenged again in two years, according to a draft of the policy posted on the library’s website.

Previous recently challenged books include:

• “It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, Gender and Sexual Health.”
• “Where Do Babies Come From?”
• “Krampus Baby!”
• “What’s Happening to My Body? A Book for Boys.”
• “Everybody Counts: A Counting Book from 0 to 7.5 Billion.”
• “The Little Coven.”
• “Humble and Kind.”
• “Being You: A First Conversation About Gender.”
• “Bye, Bye Binary.”
• “If You’re A Drag Queen and You Know It.”

These proposals are among the many policy changes that are set to be voted on during Tuesday night’s meeting of the St. Charles City-County Library trustees. Other proposed policy changes range from reimbursement rates for professional and civic club memberships for library staff to altering the hours of operations for library branches.

The 7 p.m. Tuesday meeting has been moved to the Spencer Road Library Branch, at 427 Spencer Road in St. Peters, said library spokesperson Lori Beth Crawford.