County makes changes to library holdings, children’s access
Harris County invests $1.7M into virtual deputy services
BY CASSANDRA JENKINS
Montgomery County Com- missioners Court met July 11 to address dozens of concerned citizen requests regarding certain library book materials that are allowed on the shelves within the county’s library system. “We’re a conservative county,” resident Lisa Palmer said. “This is not that hard. We are supposed to protect our kids. This woke agenda is not to make people feel good; this is really an agenda to sexualize our kids at a young age.” What’s happening?: Commissioners made three separate motions. Commissioners Court gave Purchasing Director Gilbert the authority to expand the county’s book vendor list to gain access to more conservative book themes. Library Director Rhea Young was asked to group books by genre within the children’s section, and label and restrict access to sexually
BY EMILY LINCKE
For low-priority calls to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, more deputies will be available to respond virtually following a $1.7 million investment from county commissioners on June 27. Long story short: Harris County Commis- sioners Court unanimously approved the allocation of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to add overtime officers to HCSO’s TeleDeputy unit. The unit responds only to nonviolent calls—such as an abandoned vehicle or a crime tip—which make up about 60% of HCSO’s total calls, Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones said. The outlook: The commissioners’ invest- ment in the TeleDeputy unit is expected to bring the response time down from 14 to 10 minutes, Briones said. “What this does is this frees up and bet- ter leverages our law enforcement officers’ time,” Briones said.
Libraries in Montgomery County will restrict children’s access to certain titles after a Montgomery County Commissioners Court decision.
explicit books for those under 18 years of age. The court gave Young a “full vote of confidence.” All three motions apply to all seven libraries in the Montgomery County Memorial Library System. “While we may not agree on exactly what types of materials should be in the library, all of us agree that the decisions that we make is what we are trying to do in the best interest, in this case, for
our children,” Precinct 3 Commis- sioner James Noack said. “Acces- sibility to information and where these books should be located is very important.” Some citizens also advocated in favor of keeping LGBTQ+ titles accessible to all ages, including Teresa Kennedy, owner of Village Books in The Woodlands. “Young people deserve to see themselves reflected in the books they read,” she said.
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THE WOODLANDS EDITION • AUGUST 2023
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