RCLS Board reconsiders controversial March 17 action, but postpones a vote to rescind
A report from the April 21 RCLS Board meeting
The Rutherford County Library System (RCLS) Board met on April 21 at the Smyrna Public Library and reconsidered its March 17 action to “Remove material that promotes, encourages, advocates for or normalizes transgenderism or ‘gender confusion’ in minors.” Ultimately, the motion to rescind the March 17 action was tabled until the June 2 meeting following a 6-4 vote.
The controversial March 17 vote, which passed 5-3, caught the attention of national First Amendment advocacy groups, caused the system’s hired library search firm to drop RCLS as a client, and led the Board to hold a closed-door meeting with legal counsel on April 14.
In Monday’s meeting, Kory Wells made a motion to rescind the measure the Board passed on March 17. Rollie Holden seconded Wells’s motion.
During the discussion of Wells’s motion, the Board shared that The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a politically conservative Christian legal organization founded by televangelist Pat Robertson, has offered to help the Board rewrite the measure in a way that maintains its spirit while offering them more cover against First Amendment legal challenges.
Cody York made a motion to table Wells’s motion until the next meeting in order to solicit more public comment and to confer with ACLJ and the Board’s local legal counsel. York stressed that his motion to table was “non-debatable” per Robert’s Rules of Order and effectively ended the discussion.
Chair Phil King called for a roll call vote on York’s motion to table Wells’s original motion. York’s motion passed with support from Sam Huddleston, Dina Piazza, Susan Quesenberry, Marzee Woodward, and Phil King.
Ben Groce, Rollie Holden, and Kory Wells—all of whom voted against the original March 17 action—voted against tabling Wells’s motion. Lisa Brewer, who was absent on March 17, also voted against tabling the measure.
The Board does not have a regular monthly meeting in May, so it will take up this item again at its next meeting on Monday, June 2, at the Linebaugh Public Library in Murfreesboro.
Individuals wishing to offer public comments at the June 2 meeting must email their requests in advance to publiccomments@rclstn.org. Requests should specify if the comments are for agenda items or non-agenda items. Public comments are limited to three minutes per speaker.