A testy election in Metro East reflects the nationwide clashes over books, libraries

“I’ve never been in such a hotly contested election,” says Cathy Kulupka, who is on the ballot April 4 for a second term with the board of trustees for the Mississippi Valley Library District.

The district, which serves about 33,000 residents, has two libraries: one in Collinsville and one in Fairmont City.

One of seven candidates for five positions on the board, Kulupka has felt the need not only to knock on doors but also to place signs in supporters’ yards — something she’s never done before.

“I had not planned on running again,” she said. But as the election heated up, it felt like a “fight for the library.”

In the meantime, as libraries face criticism or book challenges, particularly in Missouri, the Illinois state House passed a bill, HB 2789, in March to prevent libraries from banning books. It is now before the state Senate.

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias was quoted by the Chicago Tribune as saying libraries are “under assault the likes of which they have never seen. They are being thrown into the mix of a political battle, and we’re trying to give them cover by helping them, by codifying this into legislation.”

On March 27, the American Library Association released a statement saying it “condemns — in the strongest terms possible — the violence, threats of violence and other acts of intimidation that are increasingly taking place in America’s libraries, including last week’s bomb threats to Hilton Central School District in New York.”

The Metro East library district has faced no bombs, but anonymous threats were reported in connection with a drag queen story time last summer in Collinsville.

Prenzler gets involved

“This was an outrageous thing that took place in these libraries,” Kurt Prenzler, chairman of the Madison County Board, said in an interview, referring to the drag event and a similar one later in Glen Carbon. “This is why we have to replace the trustees.”

Prenzler lives in Edwardsville.

Although the trustee positions are volunteer and nonpartisan, Prenzler, a Republican who last year lost some of his powers on the county board, has endorsed a slate of five candidates. He used campaign money to mail voters a flyer tagged “let kids be kids.”

Identifying himself as a member of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Prenzler said several of the church’s pastors gathered outside the Collinsville Memorial Public Library the morning of June 3, when drag queen Chasity Valentino was scheduled to read later in the library’s community room (rather than the children’s book area). The event was free, and Valentino was not paid.

Fifty to 60 people showed up to listen to the stories, but Valentino stayed away. Instead, reporting death threats, she appeared via Zoom, said Kyla Waltermire, the library district’s executive director.

The director said Valentino read “Red, a Crayon’s Story” by Michael Hall and “You Are Not Alone” by Alphabet Rockers. Some pastors from St. John United Church of Christ attended in support of the event, Waltermire said, and police monitored the library but did not need to intervene.

“Those who attended were grateful to see themselves reflected in the event, while others appreciated a safe space for their families to expand their horizons,” Waltermire said.

No future drag queen story times are planned, she said, calling it a “one-off” event.

Afterward, however, a current board candidate, Jeanne Lomax, asked to hold a Christian story time. She requested that her event also receive “co-sponsorship” from the library, with a public listing on the library’s event calendar. The library staff told her they would rather plan a series of religious-themed story times than a single event focused on one religion, but Lomax said she wanted the same treatment that the drag event received.

Her free event in the community room, attended by about 70 people, Lomax said, included songs and two books by Christian author Max Lucado: “You Are Special” and “Because I Love You.”

The Christian event March 4 was expected to be followed by a Wiccan event scheduled for March 24. But when the library’s board of trustees met March 20, it passed a policy to eliminate all “co-sponsored” events.

Meeting and community rooms in the Collinsville and Fairmont City libraries will still be available to rent for $25-$50 an hour for private events, Waltermire said.

The president of the library’s board of trustees said it was advised by a lawyer to stop the co-sponsored events because they could lead to lawsuits.

Threatening letters

The president, Mark Schusky, said he is “worried about the future of small town libraries” like the ones the Mississippi Valley district represents. After the drag story time, Waltermire told the board she had opened “nasty pieces of mail, one with a swastika in it,” Schusky said.

Waltermire confirmed she opened mail in which a Pride Progress flag was used to create a swastika. An image of a “pedobear” — a cartoon bear used to mock people accused of having a sexual interest in children — on a Pride Progress flag was sent to her home. Both incidents resulted in police reports.

The library had been getting requests since 2019 for a drag story time, the director said.

“We knew there would be pushback,” she said, but the library’s job is to provide materials and services to “meet the diverse needs of the people we serve.”

Candidates supported by Prenzler have focused on promoting conservative “family values” in the libraries while saying there should be no drag queen story times.

Some, like Lisa McCormick, have also said on Facebook that they are concerned about tax increases.

The library district’s projected 2023-2024 budget, about $1.2 million, was affected by a new tax rate the trustees passed last year. An 8.5% levy increase for Uptown Collinsville, largely a business area, came about because of the expiration of a TIF, Waltermire said. The library district awaits confirmation of the levy request from county officials, she said.

Both McCormick and Lomax also said they were concerned about the shelving locations of nonfiction sex education materials they did not believe are age appropriate for some children. One book that McCormick specified, “It’s Perfectly Normal,” is marketed to readers 10-12. The best-seller, first published more than 25 years ago, is a frequent target of challenges.

McCormick, who home-schooled her son, said she frequently took him to the Collinsville library. In an email, she wrote: “Now there are sexually explicit books shelved in the children’s library so it is no longer a child’s safe space and parents have no idea. I believe those books should be put in a different part of the library, out of reach of elementary school children, and they should require parental approval before handling or checking them out.”

Waltermire said no library users have filed a complaint about “It’s Perfectly Normal,” which is shelved in the juvenile section.

Like the other candidates, Lomax does not declare a political party for the board election. But she said she attended the Jan. 6, 2021, rally for President Donald Trump in Washington. Lomax said she no longer has young children but wants to make sure “traditional family values aren’t marginalized.”

The other three candidates supported by Prenzler are Kathy Murphy, Chris Shurilla and Virginia York. Murphy is unopposed in a race for a two-year term. Current trustee Michael E. Treece Jr., who is aligned with Kulupka, faces McCormick for a four-year term. Four (Kulupka, Shurilla, York and Lomax) seek a full six-year term (three positions open).

The terms vary because two trustees resigned before their terms ran out, including one who left because of the library disputes, Schusky said. Five of seven trustee positions are up for grabs in the April 4 election.

Schusky, a Collinsville High School social studies teacher, said that he tries to remain nonpartisan and that some of the disputes have been “regrettable.”

“A library should offer diverse programming and make sure everyone feels welcome,” he said.

Kulupka said she fears possible changes with the future board and says library jobs may be in danger. McCormick has praised Waltermire and said there is no plan for firings, but she also said trustees should offer ideas for programming and “bring new ideas for the community.”

Kulupka counters that Waltermire runs the library “meticulously” and should be in charge of programming details, not volunteer trustees. “We haven’t done that in the past.”

Waltermire, who has worked for the Mississippi Valley system for nine years, has been director for three years. She said she had not seen these kinds of trustee disputes before in the Metro East. But she said beleaguered boards in the Niles-Maine and Elmwood Park libraries near Chicago led to new state legislation requiring boards to fill trustee vacancies. Library staff have quit and positions not filled.

This April, several Niles-Maine board candidates are calling their slate “Reclaim Our Library.”