Two ballot initiatives related to the five libraries in Huntington Beach, determining whether a review board will decide what should be in children’s sections and if future councils could privatize operations, showed early success, in initial results released Tuesday night following the close of polls on the special election.
Measure A pushes to get rid of a law the Huntington Beach City Council approved in 2023 that created rules for a proposed 21-member children’s book review board. While the board hasn’t been set up, it could relocate library books from the regular children’s section to a more restricted area that requires parental permission for children to check out those books.
Additionally, it could also block the purchase of new books if a majority of the members feel a title doesn’t meet “community standards.”
If Measure A wins, it eliminates the law creating the review board and instead declares the director of the city’s libraries as the person in charge of setting standards for what materials the library holds.
Supporters of Measure A argued to voters that the motive behind the law amounts to banning books and silencing ideas. If they are successful, they said, it will keep parents in charge of their family’s reading choices and not politicians.
Councilmembers said the law they created is to prevent children from being exposed to “library books and/or materials that may be considered lewd or pornographic.” A vote against Measure A, they told voters, would preserve community input on what children are exposed to in city libraries.
Councilmember Gracey Van Der Mark in June 2023 ignited the issue when she proposed making a law to screen out children’s books with sexually explicit material.
Measure B stems from when the Huntington Beach City Council considered having the library managed by a private company. If Measure B is passed, it would create a law requiring the City Council and a majority of voters in an election to approve a change in library management.
Both initiatives are supported by a grassroots group known as Our Library Matters.
The group’s campaign manager, Spencer Hagaman, said on Tuesday that he and the group of about 120 volunteers, who knocked on 10,000 doors, sent mailers and worked a phone bank, are holding a watch party and were optimistic.
“This is about fundamental American rights,” he said. “It’s a battle over something that shouldn’t be a battle.”
“Regardless of tonight’s votes, I’ll call it a win,” he added. “I’ve never seen so many Huntington Beach residents motivated. I’m proud of the work we did.”
Opponents to Measure B say it would strip the council’s ability to make financial decisions in the city’s best interest.
Among those is Mayor Pat Burns, who has been on the council since 2022, and said he was spending his evening taking down campaign signs.
He was optimistic, he said, despite the extensive campaign launched by Our Library Matters, that the council’s decisions would stand.
“People definitely don’t like the books that were put in the library for kids unmonitored by the parents,” he said. “So, I try to be optimistic. But the pro-yes people have launched a campaign that has a lot of distortions of the truth. I’m optimistic people see through it and hopeful that we’ll prevail.”