Save Samuels

Save Samuels is a Facebook group of over 500 citizens, taxpayers, friends, neighbors, parents, and guardians in Warren County, Virginia who are on a mission through community action to keep Samuels Public Library as a place for everyone without censorship or discrimination. We do not support the Warren County Board of Supervisor's decision to appropriate 75% of the library's funding in the midst of being overwhelmed with a targeted campaign to remove LGBT+ inclusive books from the library's collection under the guise of "pornography". 

The Tenents of Save Samuels:

We are a diverse coalition that works with people who have different viewpoints: we believe that makes us stronger.

We believe that Samuels Public Library is currently a safe and inclusive environment for all with a professionally managed and curated collection that fully represents our entire community.

We want to preserve the library as the welcoming and inclusive space without discrimination that it is and keep the current availability of books, information, and services managed by its highly professional staff.

We love our library, and we want it to remain the well-run and welcoming place it has always been.

We believe that no one group should dictate what should or should not be in the collection.

Samuels Public Library should continue to offer a full range of materials, programs, and activities with a comprehensive collection that is filled with a variety of views, opinions, topics, and areas of interest.

We endorse the informed decisions made by our knowledgeable staff regarding collection cultivation at Samuels Public Library.

We believe it is the right of parents/guardians to guide their children, and only their children, in finding materials in the collection that are appropriate for them.

We fully support the library’s efforts to provide tools to parents/guardians to help them make decisions about content for themselves and their families.

Our activities and gatherings are always in support of Samuels Public Library. While we protest the actions taken by the Board of Supervisors and want them corrected as soon as possible, we do not protest against other groups or institutions.

We believe love wins - so we will be driven by our love of Samuels Public Library.

If you are interested in becoming a member, join us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/savesamuels

1. The library is a non-profit 501(C)(3) corporation because it is most cost-effective,  allows for tax-deductible donations, and uses a volunteer board of trusted citizens with expertise and experience in business, technology, education, management, accounting, military, and civic organizations. 
   
   

2. The library has a diverse collection in line with its mission to bring people, information, and ideas together to enrich lives and build community. Selected materials present an array of topics and opinions and should be judged as a whole rather than on isolated passages.
   
   

3. Only 53 out of 20,461 patrons (0.25%) have flooded the library with frivolous Request for Reconsideration forms to unlawfully challenge books with LGBTQ content, severely disrupt the normal operations of the library, and harass the librarians and staff.
   
   

4. The total cost to process all 134 books being challenged equals $96,480 in staff time and related costs and $80,400 in in-kind volunteer time. (Each Young Adult book costs about $720 in staff time and $600 in in-kind donation of volunteer time.)
   
   

5. Warren County is still under financial pressure from the EDA scandal and cannot afford to risk lawsuits that might result from violating civil rights. Warren Co has already committed $10,000 to legal fees. The library has allocated $25,000 to fight the challenges. This is just the beginning of the financial implications of these book challenges.
   
   

6. All the books in question are being challenged because they contain LBGTQ content. Attempts to segregate books for no other reason than they portray LGBTQ people in a positive light is discriminatory and a violation of civil rights.
   
   

7. The Virginia Values Act of 2020 and the Virginia Human Rights Act clearly state that it is unlawful to discriminate based on sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity in places of public accommodations, including libraries.
   
   

8.  As a public library, the staff and Board of Trustees cannot impose a religious standard of pornography or obscenity and must use the legal definition set out by the U.S. Supreme Court in Miller v. California. A book must meet all three standards to be judged obscene:   be without serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value; appeal to the prurient interest according to community standards; and describe sexual conduct or excretory functions in an offensive way.
   
   

9. Banning, removing, or censoring materials, speakers, or displays violates First Amendment rights. The right to speak and publish under the First Amendment protects individuals and society from information suppression and censorship. Intellectual freedom is a basic right in a democratic society.   
   
   

10. Parents/guardians are responsible for what their children, and only their children, take out of the library. The library has powerful tools to help parents: three card options to restrict what children take out; detailed book descriptions in the library catalog; and professional librarians to act as resources to guide parents to appropriate materials.