The tranquil shelves of a Louisiana parish’s local library near New Orleans have become the battleground for a contentious struggle led by Connie Nicholls Phillips and her book-banning club. These fervent individuals are demanding the creation of an “X-rated” section for books they label as sexually explicit within the library’s collection. The controversy escalated when Phillips physically confronted a library supporter outside a meeting of the St. Tammany Parish Council.
Since last November, Phillips and her associates from the St. Tammany Parish Library Accountability Project, which she co-founded with her husband, have embarked on a campaign to ban books that they find objectionable. Over 215 complaints have been submitted, leading to the removal of 172 books from the library’s shelves while their content is evaluated. Curiously, these targeted titles align with a list compiled by far-right groups like Moms for Liberty, utilizing platforms such as BookLooks.org to identify “offensive” texts.
Tensions surged during a recent St. Tammany Parish Council meeting, drawing both supporters and opponents of Phillips’ crusade. Her actions outside the meeting stirred calls for her exclusion from future council gatherings. Despite the uproar, a significant cost has been borne by the library and taxpayers alike, as more than $72,000 has been expended processing book challenges. Interestingly, 81% of these challenges were attributed to Phillips alone.
Phillips’ initiative has triggered demands for a segregated “sexually explicit” section in the library to house books they consider inappropriate. Notably, only a small fraction of the removed books have been reviewed by library staff. Amidst this fervor, titles like Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” Angie Thomas’ “The Hate You Give,” and the “You” series by Caroline Kepnes find themselves at the center of the debate. Connie Nicholls Phillips’ endeavor, originating from a public records request, highlights the persistent conflict between the freedom to read and efforts to limit that very freedom in the name of protection.