Opinion: Dixon Library Director Reaches Fair Decision Regarding Censorship Requests

By Brandon Clark

In June of this year, the Dixon Public Library was besieged with form letters from several members of the public demanding that two LGBTQ graphic novels, "Gender Queer: A Memoir" and "Patience and Esther: An Edwardian Romance," be removed from the library for their sexual content. In a fair compromise, library Director Antony Deter decided to keep both books and relocate "Gender Queer" to the adult graphic novel section of the library.

"Patience and Esther" has always been housed in the library's adult graphic novel section. The library purchased “Gender Queer" for their young adult graphic novel section – meant for teenagers – because its authors published them with that audience in mind.

In fact, teens adored this book so much that when parents from Community High School District 99 tried to ban "Gender Queer" at the schools, students made such an effort to prevent the book from being banned that they were awarded the 2022 Illinois Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Award.

"The way that I came to that determination is, although, bearing in mind this was published with a young adult audience in mind, there were a couple of the images that certainly caused strong enough upset within the community that I felt it warranted moving," Deter said. "That being said, I did look at 40 other libraries catalogs, and 21 had "Gender Queer" in the young adult section, and 19 had their copies in the adult graphic novel section."

The Dixon Library Board adopted a new policy regarding public complaint processes during a meeting on Aug. 8. The previous policy allowed public members to raise their concerns over a particular title but did not clarify the next step after a patron had voiced the concern.

Under the new policy, if a patron is concerned with a particular book, they can fill out a form directly to the director. Deter will then be required to give his determination in a written response. The letter also includes information on a patron's right to appeal Deter's decision with the library board.

"We received those requests from 19 different patrons before the new policy took effect. Still, I chose to respond to those requests per the new policy guidelines," Deter said.

The response letters Deter sent out on Aug. 29 included details on the placement, selection criteria, use by patrons, and literary merit of the two books.

Deter received no response from any of the letters he sent out. However, if someone does decide to contest Deter's decision, the library board will put it on the agenda for their Oct. 10 meeting.

This incident is the first time in Deter's seven years as a director that a book has been requested to be banned from the library even though the library is home to other books with images of an equally graphic nature. Still, Deter tries to sympathize with both sides.

"The one image is pretty shocking, and I am sympathetic with people concerned that it would be available to anyone. That was also part of my decision."

This was a difficult position to be in for anyone, especially given the cancel culture of the current times. Nevertheless, Deter listened to all sides and made a fair compromise. He did so without caving into social pressures or compromising the primary function of the library – a collective of the world's literary works and written knowledge – free from individual bias and prejudices.