What you need to know:
- A Mat-Su Borough volunteer library board will now review monthly purchase lists of new books, DVDs and CDs selected by librarians for the borough’s library branches, with flagged items put to a vote. Items voted down will go to borough staff for final review.
- Book lists are posted on the borough’s website ahead of the board’s regular meeting and can be viewed by the public.
- The change is part of a series of updates requested by Assembly member Dee McKee to increase public oversight of library collections and limit children’s access to materials some community members consider obscene.
PALMER — Monthly lists of new books, DVDs and CDs selected for Mat-Su Borough libraries will now face a preemptive review by the borough’s volunteer library board, with flagged items subject to additional scrutiny.
The update is part of a series of changes requested last year by Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly member Dee McKee and designed to give residents more oversight of the library system’s collection and how it’s used by children, borough officials said.
The lists include items selected for purchase by librarians at each of the borough’s five libraries in Trapper Creek, Talkeetna, Willow, Big Lake and Sutton. Materials selected for Palmer and Wasilla libraries are not included because those facilities are overseen by the cities, not the borough…