Mat-Su Assembly member withdraws proposal to remove library book

What you need to know:

• A Mat-Su Borough Assembly vote proposed by Assembly member Michael Bowles on whether the borough must remove the sex education book “Let’s Talk About It” from libraries was canceled after Bowles rescinded the measure.
• The book, previously moved from the young adult to adult section, is a frequent subject of public comment.
• Bowles said he believes the book is criminally obscene, while other officials cautioned that acting without legal guidance could expose the borough to a lawsuit. Bowles did not state a reason for rescinding his proposal.

• Short on time but need the local news scoop? Get free weekly news in your inbox for Mat-Su, from Mat-Su.

PALMER – A planned Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly vote on whether to ban a graphic novel sex education book from Mat-Su Borough library shelves was canceled and will not be considered next week as initially planned.

If approved, the measure would have ordered Borough Manager Mike Brown to remove the sex education book “Let’s Talk About It” by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan from the library collection.

Assembly member Michael Bowles proposed the step in a late-night motion during closing comments near the end of an April 21 regular meeting in Palmer. It was rescinded without objection at the end of a special budget hearing in Willow on April 23.

Had it appeared on the May 5 agenda, the motion would have marked the assembly’s first vote on whether to ban a specific title.

Bowles did not explain why he rescinded the proposal. He did not return calls seeking comment and declined to comment after a meeting this week.

“Not going to comment on that — it was a private discussion,” he said Tuesday after a budget hearing in Wasilla.

Bowles did not say who he spoke with. Borough Mayor Edna DeVries said he did not share his reasoning with her.

The 234-page, graphic-novel-style book is shelved in the adult nonfiction section of the Willow Library, according to a state library catalog. It is currently checked out and was due back in early April.

The book was moved from the young adult to the adult section in 2023 after Mat-Su resident Jackie Goforth filed a material challenge and a reconsideration request, according to Goforth and a borough dashboard tracking book challenges and the work of a now-disbanded citizens’ library advisory committee.

Bowles said the book should be removed because it believes it does not pass the “Miller test,” a U.S. Supreme Court-set standard for determining whether material is criminally obscene.

“There is no way that passes the Miller test,” he said during the April 21 meeting. “The Miller test is the test that has been recognized by our courts, and that book is absolutely obscene — absolutely that book needs to be removed immediately from every library that's in the borough, and it needs to happen tomorrow.”

He asked the assembly for unanimous consent to remove the book.

Borough Attorney Nicholas Spiropoulos said he could prepare a legal memo but would not discuss his advice publicly.

“The Assembly can take a vote on what they want. We’ve had many, many, many discussions on the process and how this goes. I'm not going to get into a public discussion about the Miller test,” he said. “I will tell you — not a single librarian in the United States has been charged with violating, based on any book, the Miller test.”

Assembly member Maxwell Sumner moved to postpone a vote until after the memo was completed. The motion passed unanimously.

Bowles also proposed temporarily pulling the book from shelves until the assembly received the memo and held a final vote.

“Not pulled from circulation, just pulled from the public, put in a storage room. So it's still technically in circulation, but it's just physically not able to be checked out,” he said. “One less kid that gets hold of this, the better.”

Bowles withdrew that request before a vote.

The proposal to remove “Let’s Talk About It” is the second time this year Bowles has introduced a major change to borough library materials and later removed it from the agenda before a vote.

A resolution he introduced in January would have removed materials depicting sexual acts from borough libraries, blocked future purchases, and barred access through the state library network. Bowles said he proposed it at the request of some residents but pulled it after others said it went too far.

“Let’s Talk About It” is the regular target of public testimony from individuals who want to block libraries from shelving certain books they say are obscene.

“Books in our taxpayer-funded library, such as ‘Let’s Talk About It,’ are highly specialized, graphic children's books. Several books contain rape, incest, illustrated oral and anal sex, masturbation, LGBTQ identities and every kind of obscene, pornographic and illicit sex. They glorify drug and alcohol use. Children have no choice. This obscene, pornographic material is placed in front of them,” Mat-Su resident Linda Spohn said at a March 3 assembly meeting. “I am not talking about censoring, banning or burning anything. I am opposed to tax dollars being spent on obscenity.”

Other residents disagree.

“You've been told that there are obscene materials in our libraries. The polite way to say this is that is not true,” Mat-Su resident Mary Robinson said at an assembly meeting late last year. “The only way to bring this to an end is to go to court.”

Assembly members said during the meeting that taking action against a specific title without first seeking legal guidance could expose the borough to a lawsuit.

“I agree with you 110%,” Assembly member Bill Gamble said to Bowles. “But I think we may be putting the borough at risk by doing that.”

Assembly member Dmitri Fonov said he could not support creating policy during closing comments.

“I would encourage parents who take their kids to the library, watch what they check out, do the right thing, filter that,” he said. “But I think this will take a lot more time to approach it correctly. I would be happy to work with anyone on this issue, but just based on emotions, making a direction like that potentially has more consequences than just feel-good moments, so I cannot support that.”

Goforth said she believes the book will not ultimately be removed and that people who advocate for that step face ridicule.

“That will happen to anybody that speaks out about it,” she said.

Spiropoulos said Tuesday he has not decided whether he will still draft a memo now that the proposal will not go before the assembly next week.

Any such memo would be protected by attorney-client privilege and would not be public unless the Assembly voted to release it, he said, adding he has never seen members do so.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com