In a special election last week, Huntington Beach voters decided to eliminate the public library review board, which was established by the City Council in 2024. They also voted to prevent privatization of the public libraries.
A History of a Rocky Relationship
This election is the last installment in an often tumultuous relationship between Huntington Beach and public libraries, starting in late 2023 when the Huntington Beach City Council approved a proposal directing library staff to relocate “obscene” or “inappropriate” children’s books to another part of the library.
That resolution was fully adopted in February, and libraries began moving children’s books from the children’s section to another, adult section of the library. The same month, the Huntington Beach City Council voted unanimously to install a plaque that spelled out “MAGA” at its central library location.
The Council then doubled down on book censorship, passing an ordinance in April 2024 that established a “Community Parent-Guardian Review Board.” The board was tasked with ensuring that books for children in public libraries met the city’s “Community Standards.”
In Ordinance 4318, the Council defined “Children” as anyone under 18 years of age, automatically including YA and teen books within the review board’s purview, and defined “Sexual Content” much more broadly than the 2023 ordinance, including any content that mentions “sex, sexual organs, sex acts, relationships of a sexual nature, or sexual relations in any form.” This would, obviously, include any content describing romantic relationships, puberty, or sexual health.
The ordinances, particularly the review board, were met with resistance by many in the community, and prompted a lawsuit by the ACLU and non-profit Alianza Translatinx, along with several residents, including two teenagers.
The lawsuit defines the act of removing books from one section of the library, designed for children, to an adult section, to be censorship. It cited the 2024 California Freedom to Read Act, which stipulated that resources from the public library be available to all, regardless of age or identity, and prevented censorship of library books based on content.
The People’s Choice
That brings us to last week’s special election. The City Council authorized an election held on June 10, where the community would vote on the library review board and on protecting the library from privatization, a move the Council had considered in previous years.
Some City Council members voiced their concerns about the board before the election, but there was support from others. One councilmember’s political action committee paid for signs that read “Protect Our Kids from Porn” to be displayed where children and their families could read them.
On June 10, Huntington Beach voters delivered a definitive decision, with 58% voting to eliminate the review board, and 61% voting to keep the libraries publicly operated.
Huntington Beach’s complicated relationship with freedom of information mirrors a conflict that has been reflected across the nation, with advocates for censorship targeting public libraries and restricting books based on content and viewpoint, a constitutional violation. Lawsuits by the ACLU are underway in multiple states, and public and judicial opinion can seem divided at times on where the line between regulation and censorship is.
But this broad majority consensus by the voters of Huntington Beach offers a ray of hope for those on the side of greater access to information and literature: despite the council’s opinions and ordinances, when they left it up to the people, voters let their voices be heard.
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