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A sensible voice went unheard in library din

By SUE CARLTON
Published August 3, 2005

These days, Joe Stines seems like a guy trying to dodge bullets in a war he never signed up for - an odd spot for somebody who's worked in the quiet confines of the library for 30 years.

The Hillsborough public library system he runs, and the County Commission that governs it, have recently gotten national attention, and not in a good way.

It started with a gay pride display at the West Gate Regional Library, taken down after three patrons complained and later put back up in a less prominent spot, minus a poster. Newspaper stories on this got the County Commission all het up and, apparently, determined to make Hillsborough look to all the world like one mean-spirited place to live.

The board voted to ban any county entity from so much as acknowledging gay pride (with one dissenting vote from Commissioner Kathy Castor, who is starting to sound like the smallest Who in Whoville).

Though the commission deservedly got the brunt of the firestorm that followed, Stines has taken his hits. His critics say he took down the displays after the vote without question, never bringing up terms like "intellectual freedom." Some have said he is afraid for his job.

"To me, it's his job as a leader to take a risk and say something," said Bart Birdsall, a Greco Middle School librarian.

Stines sticks to his guns. "They've used the word fear," he says. "The only fear that I guess I have is there are portions of my profession that have gotten so far to the left" that he worries about support for the library.

Stines says the West Gate display was taken down by mistake - only the poster should have been removed - but defends moving it away from the children's area. He points out he is a public official who has to answer to his bosses. Had they tried to remove books or ban gay people from the facilities, he would have reacted differently. He's proud of the library's diverse collection, including gay literature, but sees nothing wrong with being sensitive about the displays. "Intellectual freedom does have some responsibility to it," he says.

Now here is another fact about Joe Stines: He is gay.

I know this because I asked him and he answered me. Yes, he is gay; he has been with his partner for 25 years. Many of his colleagues know this, just like they know he has a mustache.

(This is an interesting revelation in a town that seems to have a don't-ask-don't-tell policy when it comes to homosexuality and public officials, but that's a column for another day.)

Anyway, some e-mails to Stines imply it was his duty as a gay man to defy the commission. Some expressed disappointment.

Stines says he is "conservative in many ways," not one to carry banners or attend gay pride events. "This is the first time in my career that I've felt that there are people standing out there saying, "You have to believe this because,' " he says.

Did Stines have an obligation to respond in a certain way because he is a gay man? That seems like a dangerous road, a little like saying, "This is what the black community thinks," or, "This is what women want." And isn't expecting everyone in a group to think the same how we got into this mess in the first place?

Me, here's what I would have liked: to see Joe Stines the librarian face off with the commission instead of being practical.

I get worried when people like Commissioner Ronda Storms, who seems to think voluntary sterilization for child abusers and eliminating funding for a Planned Parenthood teen educational program are important county issues, want to start mucking around in my library.

Were you ever one of those kids who got your library card as a rite of passage, who checked out stacks of books up to your chin and read things that changed you or made you feel less weird? Think about what it would be like if Storms got to pick those books for you.

I would like to have heard Stines talk to them about a library for everyone. He's been around so long the board must like him. Maybe they would have listened.

Sue Carlton can be reached at carlton@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 3, 2005, 00:35:13]