Library Board Of Trustees Rescinds Policy On Pride Month Displays

By Stacy Altherr

After mounting pressure from community members and groups, as well as a possible investigation by a state human rights department, the Smithtown Library board of trustees rescinded its decision to remove Pride Month displays from all four of the town library’s children’s rooms.

The library board of trustees held an emergency meeting 6:30 p.m. Thursday evening via Zoom to retract the decision. More than 1,000 people attended the virtual event.

Library board president Brianna Baker-Stines, who voted against the measure Tuesday night, when a 4-2 vote approved the policy removing the displays from Smithtown Library District’s four libraries, said that the board needed to trust the highly skilled and educated librarians to know what books should be included in displays and noted the board should stick to its work of managing budgets and other trustee responsibilities.

After the decision Tuesday to pull the display, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul quickly issued a news release stating that New York will not become the next “Don’t Say Gay” state. “Public places are prohibited by law from engaging in discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” she said via the statement.

In addition to the governor’s office, local and national LGBTQ organizations have reprimanded the library board of trustees for their decision and applaud the quick reversal. 

“The entire community made this happen,” said David Kilmnick, President of the LGBT Network. “It woke up a sleeping giant majority that believes in safety, equity, fairness and love for our children. There is a lot more to do to create and provide safer schools, and LGBT instruction and this victory tonight shows what we can do when we lift our voices and act together.

Tonight’s  vote to rescind Tuesday’s decision was 4-2 with one abstention.

Vice President Thomas Maher said he voted to remove the displays, thinking it would only be until the next meeting when a policy would be made. 

“I will reverse my decision,” he said at the meeting, saying he wants the Smithtown library system to be an “open, safe, and accepting place for everyone.”

Library trustees Marie Gergenti and Theresa Grisalfi voted against the reinstating the display. Both said they were concerned about the content in some of the books. Trustee Marilyn LoPresti, who abstained from the vote, said she spent time reading the books and was also concerned about some of the content.

None of the books were removed from the library shelves when the displays were removed.

Statement from the Board of Trustees of The Smithtown Library:

Earlier this evening the Board of Trustees of The Smithtown Library rescinded our earlier decision to remove Pride displays from our Library’s Children’s Departments. The majority of the Board recognizes that our earlier decision was made without the time, care and due diligence that a decision of this type deserves and that it was the wrong decision. Moving forward we will commit our collective energies toward ensuring that we get the advice and guidance needed from our Library Administrators, staff, outside experts, legal counsel and most importantly from Smithtown residents before we make important decisions regarding our Library.

The Board’s goal for The Smithtown Library is to be a place that welcomes openly all Smithtown residents. We recognize that we have our differences but we believe that what we have in common outweighs those differences. We know that a good library will contain things that may trouble each of us but understand that our primary role involves representing many different viewpoints and opposing ideas. We do this by giving voice - and space - to each.

The Board looks forward to reviewing our decision-making processes and our policies related to our Library’s collections, displays, programs and services to ensure that they are helping us fulfill our mission of “providing access to diverse information, lifelong learning and entertainment resources through outstanding service for all residents of the Library District.”

We will report back to the community regularly on our progress.

The Smithtown Library Board has posted a link to tonight’s emergency board meeting. Click here to listen to the audio recording of the June 23 Emergency Board Meeting.