At least 101 people want to be on Fresno County’s new library book review committee

More than 100 people applied for a spot on a contentious new “community standards” committee charged with reviewing library books in Fresno County.

Appointments to the 11-member Community Parent and Guardian Review Committee could begin as early as next month, according to Robert Jeffers, chief of staff for Supervisor Steve Brandau, who spearheaded the effort behind the new committee.

The deadline to apply for the committee closed April 26 with 101 “valid applications” submitted, county spokesperson Sonja Dosti confirmed Wednesday in an email to Fresnoland.

Brandau’s office received “almost 50 qualified applicants,” Jeffers said.

“It’s taking some time to work through them all, including as necessary interviews with our applicants,” Jeffers told Fresnoland in an email this week.

Jeffers said appointments would be made formally during the public portions of regular Board of Supervisors meetings this summer. He said committee meetings could be scheduled once a quorum has been appointed.

The Fresno library committee will “maintain a list of books and materials that have been deemed not to meet community standards and are thereby subject to parental or guardian consent provisions,” according to the committee’s bylaws, which the Board of Supervisors formally adopted March 19.

Books that don’t meet those standards–which the new Fresno library committee will adopt–won’t be removed from Fresno County Public Libraries, county officials have said. Instead, the books will be available for children to check out with explicit permission from a parent or guardian.

The bylaws state that the restricted book list will be posted at each of the library’s 34 branches across Fresno County.

The ACLU of Northern California opposed the committee in a Nov. 6 letter to the Board of Supervisors outlining numerous potential issues, including that the review committee would disproportionately affect books on reproductive health, gender identity and sexual orientation.

In an interview with Fresnoland last year, Brandau insisted the resolution creating the committee does not target the LGBTQ+ community.

Despite those concerns and others voiced in an extensive letter-writing campaign opposing the committee, the county supervisors narrowly approved the committee on a 3-2 vote.

Supervisors Buddy Mendes and Nathan Magsig backed Brandau’s efforts.

However, Supervisor Brian Pacheco called the committee a slippery slope and Supervisor Sal Quintero noted the library already had a complaint policy in place for offended community members. Both men voted against the committee.

Each supervisor will appoint two people to the committee and the county’s chief administrative officer will nominate the 11th committee member.

CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this story, county officials incorrectly reported the number of committee members required for a quorum. The story has been corrected. A quorum on the Community Parent and Guardian Review Committee is eight.