6/4/25 Parental Guidance: A new front emerges in battle between far-right, LGBTQ+ themed books
“Picture, if you will, a library with its books behind a plated glass cabinet, locked and out of reach to patrons of all ages, accessible only upon request to a library employee who has the appropriate key.
Imagine a row of children’s books and educational materials, deemed inappropriate or controversial by some, shoved away in an adult’s only section – further out of reach than that imaginary cabinet – each with a warning that disseminating those books to a minor could be a crime.
In some cities and townships across Michigan, library officials or the members of boards that oversee them, especially those who have expressed hostility to the LGBTQ+ community, are toying with the idea of making those barriers a reality.
The effort has become a second front, so to speak, in the culture war over children’s books and particularly those with LGBTQ+ content or themes. . .
The crusade in Hartland
For the Hartland Cromaine District Library in Livingston County, the conversation on labeling books started in 2022. Over time and with the election of new library Board of Trustees members, the conversation became much more pointed.
Much of that had to do with the election of Bill Bolin, the pastor of the FloodGate Church in Brighton, and his elevation to the president of the Cromaine District Library board in January. Bolin and his church have been written about by various publications, including The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta, detailing Bolin’s mixture of right-wing conspiratorial politics and Christianity. . .
In February, Bolin, as the congregants of the FloodGate Church know him to do, began to speak out of order to introduce himself and detail exactly why it was that he sought the library board position and its leadership post, according to the approved minutes of the board’s February 20 meeting.
“For those who do not know why I ran for this position, I desire to protect children from the harm that can befall them over coercive behavior,” Bolin said in a statement to the crowd. “The approach I am suggesting, along with certain colleagues, is a commonsense approach to changing the sexual tone and nature of some library policies and practices.”
Bolin said that the board would then discuss controversial items on the agenda, including the removal of June LGBTQ+ Pride displays, labeling certain books that may be deemed controversial, moving books to an age restricted area, providing supervision in the teen area to monitor “behavior” and returning the Pledge of Allegiance to monthly meetings.
Bolin then read from Michigan law regarding the displaying or disseminating of sexually explicit materials to minors, followed by a recitation of a potential warning label he had created warning adults of the dangers of providing such material to children.
But Bolin wasn’t talking about dirty magazines in a seedy retail store: he was talking about books within the community’s public library. . .
“Kate Mazzara of Hartland said she feared that the nation was tiptoeing toward religious fascism and that the small district library in her hometown was sliding on the same path.
“Make no mistake about it, that’s what this is,” Mazara said. “It starts with baby steps, and then it’s over.” Michigan Advance article