When Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee threatened to withdraw funding from the Ridgeland Public Library for providing LGBTQ+ material in January, it ignited a media firestorm that stretched across the country and even overseas, inviting the typical criticisms of Mississippi back into media cycles. When Mississippi best-selling author Author Angie Thomas tweeted a fundraiser for people to donate to the library, it invited supporters of the library to bash the state as a whole.
Lori Barnes, director of the First Regional Library System, which includes the Oxford Public Library, said that local lawmakers do not have any control over what materials are accessible at the public library. Barnes said lawmakers are very supportive both financially and actively and the library couldn’t ‘do what they we do’ without them.
But, McGee’s threat to withhold funding remained just that, a threat. He legally could not purge all LGBTQ+ books from the public library.
The story continued to circulate widely, however, what was missing from most of the headlines was an acknowledgment that the Board of Alderman in Ridgeland voted down the mayor’s actions and that other library systems in Mississippi offer extensive catalogs of LGBTQ+ material.
Barnes said the Oxford Public Library is committed to the freedom to read by providing services for all aspects of the community. There is a very diverse community in Oxford, and the library collection should reflect that diversity.
“Really one of the beautiful things about working in a library is that we’re here for every person in this community,” Laura Beth Walker, the branch manager of the Oxford Public Library, said.
UM Law student CJ Winship, a native of Ridgeland, wrote a recent editorial for the Mississippi Free Press, detailing how important it was to her to be able to find LGBTQ+ resources at her local library during a time of deep personal struggle.
“(It) helped me realize I was not alone in my feelings and that others like me existed,” Winship, who now openly identifies as gay, said. “I found several self-help books that helped put my mind at ease and reassure me that I was not broken.”
Ally Watkins, the youth librarian of the Oxford Public Library, said there have not been any major complaints about LGBTQ+ materials in the library. However, the library has a challenge policy containing a series of steps that people who want to talk about materials can go through.
“The library is more than just materials. We offer programming, resources, computers and all kinds of stuff,” Watkins said. “We do our best to be a gathering place for the community.”
