Petitioners seek to repeal children’s book review board in Huntington Beach

Huntington Beach has received significant pushback following a City Council majority’s decision to form a review committee for children’s books at the public library.

A new chapter has arrived, as some residents plan to circulate a petition to gain support for a ballot initiative that would repeal the ordinance that established the committee.

Organizers filed a notice of intention to circulate the petition on Wednesday at City Hall.

“We’re very concerned about what’s been happening with our local library,” said Cathey Ryder, co-founder of Protect Huntington Beach. “For that reason, today, I filed a notice of intention to circulate a petition, where we will repeal Ordinance 4318. … We believe that parents should be able to parent their own children.”

Protect Huntington Beach co-founder Cathey Ryder speaks about efforts to repeal a children’s book review board recently approved by the City Council on Wednesday.

(Eric Licas)

The ordinance creates a committee of up to 21 parents or guardians, who would make determinations regarding the children’s books purchased and placed on the shelves at the library.

Criticism of the ordinance included questions surrounding the qualifications of members who would serve on the review committee, the duration of their appointments and the inability to appeal decisions made by the committee, which would be considered final.

Each council member would have the ability to appoint up to three members of the review board.

Ryder said there are about 300 volunteers ready to circulate the petition once it has been prepared, and she feels confident the group will be able to achieve a target of approximately 30,000 signatures.

Concerned citizens gather at the Huntington Beach Civic Center on Wednesday to call for a ballot measure rescinding a children’s book review board recently approved by the City Council.

(Eric Licas)

There have been additional steps taken to raise public awareness of the issue, Ryder said. Those efforts include Friday night rallies at the Main Street Branch Library, where the organizers have also handed out informational fliers, and a “read in” event at the Huntington Beach Central Library.

Barbara Richardson said the city has had conservative councils before the most recent four that comprise the majority were elected in 2022, but this is the first time she felt the library was not being supported. Formerly a children’s librarian at the Huntington Beach Central Library, Richardson said the City Council is “vilifying the librarians and the library staff.”

“What this committee does is taking away the librarians’ ability to order books,” Richardson said. “This committee has been told to judge the books by community standards, but what are these standards? Who gets to decide what these standards are? These committee members will be appointed by our City Council.

“We have four ultra-conservative, far-right council members, and three more liberal council members. It’s a majority-rule committee, so naturally, the conservative committee members are going to choose what books the children can read in the community — not the librarians, not individual parents.”