Concerned parent responds to Meridian Library policies and questions issue of fairness

I am a family physician in Meridian who has taught in academic medicine for eight years, and I am very comfortable thinking about ideas from across the worldview spectrum — conservative to liberal, religious to atheistic. I, myself, come from a religious, conservative worldview and perspective, but I thoroughly enjoy discussions with friends from all worldviews.

I moved my young family to Meridian in the past few years because, like many of you, I wanted a great place to raise my kids. Overall, we have loved Meridian and have felt like it has kept its family-friendly promise.

Except the Meridian Library.

Compared to most libraries we’ve been to in three states, Meridian Library, for some reason, seems to lack a sense of what is appropriate for children. We are well aware that most libraries have materials we’d prefer our kids not be exposed to, and we have been good at helping our kids steer clear of those materials.

Meridian Library, on the other hand, doesn’t just have those materials available but has promoted them by displaying them in the children’s section at eye level for our 2-year-old. It’s like someone at the Meridian Library had an agenda to promote liberal ideas about sexuality to kids.

In Megan Larsen’s recent guest opinion, she argued that, in the name of free speech and anti-censorship, libraries have a sacred responsibility to facilitate exploration of all ideas, including those that are controversial or offensive to some.

Her argument, in the case of Meridian Library, has at least two key flaws.

First, Meridian Library is not simply providing access to materials that contain what many from conservative, religious worldviews consider inappropriate, explicit and damaging to children, but the library seems to be actively promoting them to kids. While you can technically label them as educational or scientific or art and use legal definitions to avoid the label of pornography, and while we can respect that some parents may choose to expose their children to these materials, couldn’t the library keep any potentially controversial materials out of the way so that parents can choose to introduce their children to them if they want to instead of including them in kid-targeted displays?

Second, if Meridian Library is truly dedicated to free speech, avoiding censorship and encouraging free thinking, why not promote books that represent opposing views side-by-side so that people can be exposed to ideas from across the worldview spectrum? Why not add a book about the benefits of avoiding sex before marriage next to the books that promote a liberal approach to sex education? Those who decry censorship of liberal materials often seem much less open to defending exposure to controversial conservative material. Would the Meridian Library be as passionate about defending free speech that advocates for conservative ideas?

In conclusion, although Ms. Larsen asserts that recent legislative efforts to clean up Idaho libraries are simply a small group of authoritarians forcing their will, those elected representatives do, in fact, represent the views of many of us concerned parents who feel that, if we are to be free thinkers, we should have equal access to both conservative and liberal ideas and that any particularly controversial material should be placed out of the way — not displayed in the faces of our children.

Ben Wilson is a resident of Meridian.