We recently covered the story that a man in Iowa had taken to burning LGBTQ children’s books near his local library. Almost two weeks on and it seems his actions have only increased support for such books to be available in libraries.
The Orange City Public Library has been receiving donations from across the United States after a man protested a gay pride festival by burning LGBTQ children’s books outside the Prairie Winds Events Center, which lies about a mile away from the library.
As Iowa Public Radio reports, Paul Dorr, a member of the religious group called Rescue the Perishing, hosted a live Facebook stream where he examined several LGBTQ children’s books before calling them “shameful” and tossing them into a fire. If Dorr’s goal was to stymie the circulation of LGBTQ children’s books, then his actions appear to have had the opposite effect.
The library has since received donations of over 100 books from people across the United States, most of which are copies of the books Dorr burned. The library has also received several hundred dollars worth of monetary donations.
Library Director Amanda Vazquez said: “People must feel pretty strongly about the issue to be contributing the way that they are.”
Cedar Rapids resident Rob Holmes said he will be ordering copies of the damaged LGBTQ books for the library, and condemned Dorr’s actions as a “violent way to get [his] point across.”
“LGBTQ people are still a significant minority in the United States and I think a lot of people assume things about them,” Holmes said. “The books he [Dorr] burned really are just children’s stories about how people can be different, but how you can still understand and get along with them.”
A man named Dylan Boyle stated: “This is another example of using censorship to stop people from being able to do what the constitution rightfully guarantees them to do.” He has since gone on to start a GoFundMe page in order to raise money to replace the books. So far it has raised over $1,700 though he only initially needed $300.
“It was originally just to replace the copies of the books and I think people wanted to do more than that,” he continued, “I think that just shows when people want to oppress and intimidate people, there’s a lot more people who are willing to stand up.”
Boyle reached out to the library but was soon informed that it had already received a huge influx of books. He says he will use the money to either support the library or to buy LGBTQ books for smaller libraries in the state.
The library is yet to comment on how it will handle Dorr’s destruction of their books. He technically has three weeks before he will begin to be fined for having overdue books.
“Our policy lays out we attempt to send four notifications to patrons through varying [technology], whether it’s text, email or phone call, and through mail alerting them of the fact their materials are overdue,” Vazquez said.
If a book is two months or 60 days overdue, the library will then send a letter with a bill, and can then take legal action if the fee isn’t paid. Given Dorr’s actions, it’s possible the repercussions could be more than a small fine. The Orange City Police Department has stated an investigation into the incident is ongoing.
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