CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — There are continued concerns surrounding the creation of a city library board subcommittee tasked with reviewing the current Corpus Christi Public Libraries' book collection development policy.
People who spoke up during Tuesday's meeting at the La Retama Library expressed fears that the effort could ultimately target books having to do with diversity, equity and inclusion.
While there was no action on the agenda other than hearing an update on the subcommittee's efforts, residents still showed up in full force. The public comment section of the meeting was turned into a debate about access and what type of books should be allowed on shelves at our public libraries.
The board room, so packed, one man was sitting on the floor.
Concerns from the LGBTQ community first began after new board members were appointed last year.
"This is not a school library, it is not a facility solely for children, this is a public library," one resident said.
"Being gay is not a choice, it can not be learned, you can't catch it, you can't be taught, if that were true, all the movies books and tv shows about heterosexual sex would have made them straight by now," said another speaker.
However, many were there with other concerns focused on the type of material that they argued would be inappropriate for children.
"They destroy, they are sin, they destroy marriages," one woman said.
Last month, the board voted to relocate a book titled "Doing it Right" to the adults section after residents had called for its removal.
"I've got a vested interest," resident Daniel Resley said. "I put in 23 years in the Navy to defend the constitution and I don't like the direction the country is going. Bottom line, these books they're procuring if they are considered pornographic they need to be in a separate section, available 18 and up."
The board also formed a subcommittee to review or evaluate the library's book collection policy.
Resident Tom Tagliabue said the current policy works and that the subcommittee isn't needed.
"The policy is not a place for some members of this board to act as the morality police," he said.
Another concern from the Pride Center is over a possible loophole that would allow the subcommittee to report directly to city council to request changes rather than going back to the library board.
Carrie Moore joined the library board last year, her application listing her employer as Citizens Defending Freedom.
"All we want it is in the right sections, that is all we are asking for," Moore said. "We want diversity, we want all those things, we want all of that stuff, but the word gets out that we are a bunch of book banners and all this crazy stuff and suddenly people are up in arms."
"We don't make those decisions to get rid of books, that is not our job," she said.
Citizens Defending Freedom is a group that is described on its website as a Christian-based nonprofit that aims to fight radical gender policies.
"Unfortunately I think a lot of time is spent on this and not things -- I did a two-year report on how the Texas Education Agency is allowing pedophiles to stay in our schools and not go into the penal system, yet nobody is asking for an interview on that," Moore said.
Esteban Macias who signed up to speak during the meeting said what children read should be left up to parents.
"The parent ought to have that responsibility to safeguard what that child is learning," Macias said. "I, for my child, I would not want to restrict my child to learn what they wish to learn."
Eli McKay told 3NEWS that the subcommittee meetings not being open to the public is an issue.
"There is a lot of things being done behind closed doors," McKay said. "The community doesn't have a very open and transparent understanding of what the subcommittee is doing."
Another person said the board is wasting their time by focusing on the book collection policy when they should be focusing on the budget.
That's because during the meeting it was learned that that library staff has been asked to reduce the libraries' budget by five percent, which equates to about $200,000.