The announcement can be found in the latest WLA newsletter (p. 11, authored by Elizabeth Buchanan and myself), and includes the following praise:

Our colleagues at West Bend Public Library were indeed tested. Going through any challenge requires commitment, professional integrity—and guts. It is a long mental and physical process and, with each day, a new commitment to the core values of intellectual freedom in our profession is required. Our colleagues met this challenge and, while this case may not be over, it is our hope that they can be proud of their actions and their firm standing in the face of strong controversy.

Congratulations!

Here’s the (abridged) history and escalation: [Updated on 6/19/09 to include ABC News coverage, and 7/22/09 to include CNN]

02/15/2009: Ginny Maziarka, who blogs at WISSUP, files a formal complaint with the West Bend Community Memorial Library regarding the presence of LGBTQ-themed books in the library’s young adult section. In her words: “Children as young as 11 years old have free access to propaganda-type reading material (I hesitate to call it literature, thanks) that glamorizes and encourages homosexual activity.” Maziarka also shows frustration that the library does not appear to provide “information about EX-GAYS, people who have left that lifestyle, and/or the TRUTH behind homosexuality and its origin.”

02/26/2009: Maziarka meets with various library officials, requesting that (1) the library attain “balance” by including “faith-based and ex-”gay” books that oppose a pro-homosexual ideology” within the young adult section; and (2) removal of any book in children’s and young adult section that contains “perverse and pornographic language”. Both requests were denied.

03/03/2009: The scheduled Library Board meeting to discuss Maziarka’s complaint is postponed due to the crowd of over 300 people exceeding the fire code (the meeting was already relocated to a larger room in anticipation of the turnout).

03/20/2009: Maziarka receives a communication from library director explaining that since (in his and the city attorney’s opinion) the nature of her complaint has changed, the re-scheduled Library Board meeting to discuss the original complaint has been canceled. Maziarka is urged to submit a new, updated, complaint to re-start the process. Maziarka responds by stating the library’s “withdrawal of our complaint is in gross error” and wishes to move forward.

03/26/2009: Maziarka issues a petition for a “child-safe, family-friendly library.” The petition requests the library board take a roll call vote on the following five issues:

1. Reclassification of Youth-Targeted Pornographic Books into the adult section of the library.
2. Visual identification of explicit material with a parental advisory.
3. Restrict Library-generated Online Sexual Content.
4. Balanced Literature on Controversial Issues including homosexuality.
5. Children’s Internet Protection – require the libraries to implement technology protection to protect minors from internet porn on public computers in accordance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act.

03/26/2009: Maziarka holds a “town meeting” about the library controversy. About 150 attended, reflecting both sides of the issue; no library officials were present. The controversy gains additional media attention.

04/14/2009: UW-Milwaukee School of Information Studies issues a statement of support for the West Bend Library, hailing their “support of the principle of intellectual freedom in the face of pressure to abandon their professional and communal commitments.”

04/18/2009: Maziarka e-mails local media outlets, conservative commentators and the town of West Bend clerk, asking they help stop scheduled appointments to the Library Board until the controversy is settled.

04/22/2009: The West Bend City Council refuses to re-appoint 4 sitting library board members over their handling of the controversy, sparking statements of condemnation from the American Library Association and a collection of free speech organizations (PDF). Additional national press coverage emerges.

05/02/2009: The Milwaukee branch of the so-called “Christian Civil Liberties Union” filed a legal claim against the the city of West Bend, Mayor Kristine Deiss, the West Bend Library Board and Library Director Michael Tyree, arguing that the young adult book Baby Be-Bop is offensive, and that the book’s “words can permeate violence, and puts one’s life in possible jeopardy, adults and children alike.” The group demands $120,000, Deiss’ resignation and the book be removed and publicly burned or destroyed. Maziarka distances herself from this group, as others shoot it down as ridiculous.

05/18/2009: The West Bend City Council affirms its original refusal to re-appoint 4 sitting library board members.

06/02/2009: The Library Board (including the 4 members who were denied re-appointment, but not yet replaced)  held a public meeting to discuss the issues presented in Maziarka’s petition. After listening to both sides for over two hours, the library board unanimously concluded that its existing policies regarding these texts were sufficient. Maziarka declares the library “XXX-rated” and unsafe for children.

06/03/2009: In its report of the library board meeting, the ALA notes that members of the “Christian Civil Liberties Union” were present and distributed copies of their complaint to attendees, complete with their call to burn the library’s copy of Baby Be-Bop. This is picked up (and ridiculed) by numerous bloggers and online news agencies, most notably Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, the Drudge Retort, the Times Online and the Guardian.

06/16/2009: Enter Gawker. The immensely popular and snarky news and gossip blog posts about the blog wars that have emerged around the library controversy. The focus is on Maziarka’s WISSUP and the anonymously-written Sleepless in West Bend, described by Gawker as “this crazy book-burning lady and her angry liberal enemy.” The comments are less friendly.

06/19/2009: ABC News publishes a somewhat lengthy story on the controversy, focusing mostly on the CCLU claim, attracting a long string of comments.

07/22/2009: CNN.com reports on the entire saga, also attracting numerous comments.

07/30/2009: The Pew Research Center states that the library controversy was the 3rd most blogged about topic from July 20-24, behind news about Obama’s first six months in office and gossip about the TV show Dr. Who, but drawing more attention in the blogosphere than the Dr. Henry Louis Gates arrest.

So, we went from a single complaint about GLBTQ books, to a canceled board meeting, a larger petition about “sexually explicit” books, a call for book burning, condemnation from various information professionals, ousted library board members, the upholding of library policies, and ridicule in Daily Kos and Gawker.

It is hard to imagine how this will escalate further, but it inevitably will….

After listening to citizen voices for over two hours, the library board unanimously concluded that its existing policies regarding these texts were sufficient. As reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The Library Board on Tuesday night unanimously rejected efforts by a local citizen group to restrict access of young adults to books depicting sex among teenagers or those describing teenage homosexual relationships.

Such books already are separated from children’s books, either in a young adult fiction section on the first floor of the library or shelved as young adult non-fiction alongside similar adult texts on the second floor, board members said.

The nine-member board listened for 2½ hours as nearly 60 people discussed the appropriateness of the library providing such books to the public before the board voted to maintain current policies.

I believe this was the right decision by the library board (but they’re not quite out of the woods yet, unfortunately).

The library board did not, however, appear to take specific action on a separate, but related, request by the complainants, whose petition also asked the Library Board to “balance” its collection of books about homosexuality with books “affirming traditional heterosexual perspectives” that are faith-based or written by “ex-gay” authors.

This is a very problematic request, a fact made clear by SOIS grad student Tony Hoffmann at his Sex, Drugs, and Intellectual Freedom blog. Time will tell if this demand will continue to be put forward by the West Bend Citizens for Safe Libraries.

The West Bend Common Council, upset over the handling of a citizen call to restrict sexually-explicit books in the listing recommended for teenage readers, rejected reappointing four members of the city’s Library Board Tuesday night.

“They’re all good people,” said Alderman Terry Vrana, who voted against the four reappointments. “I disagree with them.”

He said the appointees were not serving the interests of the community “with their ideology.”

Vrana said he wanted people on the Library Board “who think and use a little common sense. I’m concerned about the morality of this city.”

The vote was 5-3 not to approve Mayor Kristine Deiss’ recommendation to reappoint Library Board members Tom Fitz, Mary Reilly-Kliss, James Pouros and Alderman Nick Dobberstein to threeyear terms. Fitz is a 24-year member of the Library Board and a retired librarian from the University of Wisconsin-Washington County. Pouros is a well-regarded attorney. Reilly-Kliss is a retired school teacher, employee at Fireside Books & Gifts and a master gardener. Dobberstein, besides being a West Bend alderman teaches English at Hartford Union High School.

This is truly remarkable. The city council has ejected a 24-year veteran of the board (also a retired academic librarian), an attorney, and two teachers because they disagreed with their “ideology” about what the role of a public library is in a community. Four very intelligent people. People entrusted to educate the city’s children. People who have committed their lives to the spread of knowledge. And because they didn’t immediately cave to the demands of a vocal “citizen advocate,” they’re now getting kicked off of the library board. They now have an objectionable “ideology.”

This action has prompted a new round of condemnations, this time coming from the American Library Association and a collection of free speech organizations including the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the National Coalition Against Censorship, the Association of American Publishers and PEN American Center.

From the ALA:

Last week, the West Bend, Wisconsin Common Council voted to deny reappointment to four Library Board members, based on objections to these members’ ‘ideology’ and their adherence to library policy concerning challenges to materials in the library collection. This move appears to be motivated largely in response to an ongoing campaign that seeks to restrict access to books in the West Bend Community Memorial Library’s young adult collection of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender fiction and nonfiction.

We are dismayed by and deeply concerned about these developments. Libraries connect people and ideas, by providing access to a diverse array of information to meet the needs of everyone in the community. Whatever their personal beliefs, library board members have an obligation to support this unique role of the public library. When individuals or groups attempt to block access to library materials in the name of their own particular beliefs, we must all oppose such efforts and we must preserve the intellectual freedom rights of the entire community….

And from the coalition of free speech organizations (PDF of their statement):

…The library is for everyone, but that doesn’t mean that every book is appropriate for every patron.  On the contrary, professional librarians choose books to reflect a diversity of topics and viewpoints that meet the needs and interests of all patrons.  Those who object to the books are entitled to their views and need not read anything that offends them, but they have no right to impose their opinions on others.  If parents have concerns about their own children’s reading choices, is it their responsibility to direct and supervise them, not to expect the library to reflect their views about parenting.  No one is forced to read a book because it sits on a library shelf.

The West Bend Common Council should strive to be objective in choosing the members of the Library Board, evaluating candidates based on their ability and interest in the job, not on the political and social opinions they hold. Such a process is essential to guard against reliance on subjective judgments and to ensure that library materials are evaluated using only objective, constitutionally-sound criteria.

We strongly urge you to protect the right of all readers to read and think freely.  By keeping the challenged books in the young adults section, you will demonstrate respect for your patrons and their choices; for the professionalism of the librarians who serve the reading public; and for the First Amendment and its central role in a pluralistic, democratic society.

I urge you to read these statements in their entirety, which are all in line with the statement issued by the School of Information Studies at UW-Milwaukee prior to the removal of the library board members.

I also urge other organizations and persons committed to the fundamental human right of intellectual freedom to speak out against the escalating efforts to restrict access to books for young adults in the West Bend Community Library.

:: UPDATE :: Seven Stories Press, an independent book publisher, has issued a call to action to “let the Common Council know how you feel, and why you believe that “protecting” kids in small towns from books that deal favorably with homosexuality is not an appropriate action for a taxpayer-funded library to take.”

::UPDATE:: Additional coverage at School Library Journal (and Google News, of course).

Some of the books in question include:

• “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky (MTV Books, a division of Simon & Schuster)
• “The Geography Club” by Brent Hartinger (HarperTeen, a division of HarperCollins)
• “Deal With It! a whole new approach to your body, brain and life as a gURL” by Esther Drill (Pocket, a division of Simon & Schuster)

The books are from major publishers, sold in general bookstores, and are available in public and high school libraries throughout the State of Wisconsin.

There has been considerable media attention to this challenge, and you can learn about the challengers’ position at their blog, “WISSUP: Wisconsin Speaks Up“, and some of the community opposition to the challenge at a blog of their own, “West Bend Parents for Free Speech“.

As a school dedicated to training librarians and information professionals principles of open access, inclusiveness, and diversity, the faculty and teaching academic staff at the UW-Milwaukee School of Information Studies have issued the following statement of support for the West Bend Library:

UW-M School of Information Studies Statement of Support for the West Bend Library
April 14, 2009

In recent weeks, two citizens of West Bend, Wisconsin have petitioned the West Bend Community Memorial Library to remove gay-themed books from a section designated “Young Adults,” arguing the books should be reclassified and placed in a restricted area requiring parental approval prior to being released to a minor. They further demand that the books be labeled with a warning about their content, arguing that they are obscene and pornographic.

The books in question include:

• “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky (MTV Books, a division of Simon & Schuster)
• “The Geography Club” by Brent Hartinger (HarperTeen, a division of HarperCollins)
• “Deal With It! a whole new approach to your body, brain and life as a gURL” by Esther Drill (Pocket, a division of Simon & Schuster)

The books are from major publishers, sold in general bookstores, and are available in public and high school libraries throughout the state.

Throughout the history of the American public library, special interest groups have attempted to exert a disproportionate degree of influence on the development of a community wide resource.  Whatever the intentions of any of these groups, the public library is required to maintain a standard of intellectual integrity within a sometimes-volatile situation.

The public library was developed to be the anchor of free inquiry in our democracy.  We believe that mission is still relevant today.  Over 15,000 public library branches throughout the United States maintain access to quality materials collected and arranged according to national standards developed by thoughtful and committed information professionals.  The administration and staff of the West Bend Community Library are among those professionals and public scholars dedicated to principles of open access, inclusive collections, and community service. The education of these professionals is rigorous and expansive, demanding sophisticated skills in assessment, development and leadership; it ensures their preparedness to take the lead in developing and delivering information resources to their communities.

We, the faculty and teaching academic staff at the School of Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, along with the SOIS Graduate Student Organization, commend the West Bend Community Memorial Library Board of Trustees, administration, and staff for their support of the principle of intellectual freedom in the face of pressure to abandon their professional and communal commitments.

The full PDF of the statement is available here.

::UPDATE:: You can read a reaction to this Statement of Support from Dan Kleinman of SafeLibraries.org here (as well as in the comments below, where I pointed out his error in directing his statements specifically at Dr. Joyce Latham).

Tony Hoffmann, a SOIS graduate student and research assistant at CIPR, offers his retort here.