County attorney David Jones said Tuesday the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library (EVPL) may have to allow Neo-Nazis in its buildings because of its decision to host Drag Queen Story Hour.
The EVPL has responded, saying it grounds its decision in what’s called the Library Bill of Rights.
"The questions and comments that have come up recently are not new for public libraries," an EVPL spokesperson wrote in an email to WNIN. "When either new content requests or content challenges occur, we at EVPL review the content and make decisions that are grounded in the tenets of public librarianship" and the library bill of rights.
The document from the American Library Association is not authoritative but it is clear: if a library opens its space to the public, hate groups should have a right to it.
The library bill of rights says everyone should be able to use the library no matter what they believe. It also says that if the library makes spaces available to the public, it should do so “on an equitable basis regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.”
The library bill of rights mentions no exceptions for groups with hateful views.
The American Library Association received criticism from some librarians last year for publishing an interpretation of its bill of rights that explicitly names hate groups as having the right to library space.
The association later rescinded the document and published it again a few weeks ago. The new version does not explicitly mention hate groups.
