The agenda for the Daviess County Public Library’s regular September meeting was light, but its packed audience had other issues in mind.
The five-member Board of Trustees looked at its financial report, approved expenditures, and corrected a misspelled name from last month’s minutes. They finished in around 15 minutes.
Then, public comment began.
“In Matthew 12:30, the Lord Jesus Christ destroys the myth of neutrality when he says ‘he who is not with me is against me,’” began the first speaker, who accused the board of “allowing books promoting sexual deviancy to children.”
Many in the crowd burst into applause as a second man approached the podium.
“I’m here because I’m concerned about how my tax dollars are being spent, expressing my interests in our public library,” he began. “Because morality has gone south since I was a kid, and it’s gotten so bad that they actually had to put statutes in the KRS about obscenity and pornography,” referring to the Kentucky Revised Statutes, or state law.
Public comment went on for roughly 30 minutes, with each attendee limited to two minutes. Nearly every board meeting held by the DCPL over the last year-and-a-half has featured similar comments.
The library is facing an ongoing campaign from local Christian conservatives and Christian Nationalists seeking changes in how it handles certain materials.
Some of the more vocal activists argue their recommendations better protect children from harmful or inappropriate material, but opponents fear it's the start of a more extensive effort to restrict or remove materials relating to sexuality, gender identity, human anatomy, race, and diversity.
Library director Erin Waller and library supporters fear for the institution's future as they prepare for a vote on a new board member chosen by local Judge-Executive Charlie Castlen.
The Messenger-Inquirer reported last week that Castlen, for a third time since taking office, declined nominations made by Waller and the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives, instead tapping local pastor and attorney, Tim Kline.
Kline is a pastor at Christ the Redeemer Mission Parish, a Reformed Episcopal Church. His approval would finalize an all-white library board that may give more conservative thinkers a narrow majority.
During September’s regular meeting, some attendees who spoke during the public comment period framed their concerns over library materials as a battle of good and evil, with the board at the center.
“Jesus issued a powerful warning against anyone who would cause little ones to stumble or fall into sin,” said one man, reading from his phone an AI overview provided by Google. “He stated that it would be better for that person to have a large millstone hung around their neck and be drowned in the sea than to face the punishment for leading one of his followers astray.”
Several attendees later remarked the gathering had been “calmer” than previous meetings.
Some in the community, like Waller, see the saga as the politicization of the library’s tax-setting board. She said when politicians have authority over appointments, that outcome may be inevitable.
“This particular appointment will tip the scale – it’s a tipping point,” Waller told WKU Public Radio.
Castlen called concerns over politicization “unfounded” and declined to comment further.
Texts obtained by local advocates appear to tell a different story.
Kentucky’s most contentious library
Kentucky saw 302 challenges to library materials last year, a 1,061% jump statewide from 2023, according to reporting from the Lexington Herald-Leader.
DCPL was the target of over 250 of those challenges, coming primarily from the group Daviess County Citizens 4 Decency (DCC4D).
According to the nonprofit’s state filings, the most recent on Sept. 8, its directors include President Jerry Chapman and directors Kathryn Crowe, Joan Sanford, David Boswell, and Steve McFarling.
Notably, Crowe serves as director of the Michael E. Horn Family Foundation, an Owensboro-area charitable group offering scholarships and grants.
David Boswell is the brother of Republican Sen. Gary Boswell, a business owner who has held the District 8 Senate seat, covering Daviess, Hancock, and McLean Counties, since 2023.
In the mid-2000s, Gary Boswell entered a legal dispute with DCPL over his objection to property tax rates.
He also sponsored legislation during the last General Assembly that would delegate the power to appoint library board members to the local judge-executive and fiscal court statewide. It received support by other lawmakers but failed to pass before the veto period.
That system has been optional across Kentucky since 2022 and sparked concerns about politicizing libraries even before its passage. Supporters argued local elected officials should hold more power since library boards set local tax rates.
Chapman said in late 2023, DCC4D requested the relocation of materials housed in the juvenile and teen sections of the library to the adult section. Chapman referred to some as “hateful” or “pornographic.”
Among the titles challenged were:
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (2017)
- The Juneteenth story: Celebrating the end of slavery in the United States by Alliah Agostini (2022)
- The Bare Naked Book by Kathy Stinson (1986)
- It's not the stork!: A book about girls, boys, babies, bodies, families, and friends by Robie Harris (2006)
- Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko (2004)
- Trans Teen Survival Guide by Owl Fisher, Fox Fisher (2018)
After reviewing DCC4D’s challenges, Waller and the board ultimately moved six books from the teen section into the adult section. Each book was written by Sarah J. Maas and included multiple entries from her Throne of Glass series.
The library moved The Bare Naked Book, which illustrates various human body parts, to a section on parenting, and five books were removed due to low circulation rates. It also created a Teen Pass card that restricts young readers to a smaller selection of materials.
Waller provided a full list of books challenged and the library’s response to each, which can be found here.
“I agree that some of the content in the material may be shocking for some people to encounter. But that is an individual’s interpretation, based on their own life experiences and the values they hold,” Waller stated in a letter responding to DCC4D. “Honestly, assigning an age range to any collection can be tricky, because children and teens’ reading abilities and their families’ values and needs differ greatly among individuals.”
That didn’t satisfy critics like Chapman, who argues that the library should do more to “reflect the community values” of Owensboro.
He says those values are highly Christian and conservative, and added that more urban centers like Louisville and Nashville feature materials that he finds questionable.
“So we expect – and have a right to expect – our board appointments, our library specifically, to reflect the values of our community,” Chapman said. “It always has.”
Chapman announced during the library’s September meeting that DCC4D’s members are funding the development of a smartphone app that would allow parents to scan book barcodes and pull up a review.
He declined to share its cost and said more details will be made public in the coming weeks. Chapman added the project is awaiting a list of “positive, age-appropriate books” identified by Freedom in Education, a conservative private education advocacy group.
DCC4D identified the books they challenged by reviewing materials personally and by using two online book rating platforms – booklooks.org and ratedbooks.org.
The former, BookLooks, filed as an LLC in 2022 in Florida. USA Today identified its founder in 2023 as former Moms for Liberty member Emily Maikisch.
Today, the website has been scrubbed of every report, with a front page banner reading: “It has been quite the ride with many ups and downs since God called us to this work in 2022, but after much prayer and reflection it has become apparent that His work for us here is complete and that He has other callings for us.”
The latter, RatedBooks, shares ties to “parents' rights” groups across the United States. Their website lists local pages for areas in Georgia, Colorado, Texas, Michigan, and elsewhere. Its ratings offer a clear Christian conservative slant, with one front page tab reading “Gender Dysphoria” leading to a list of recommended books that discourage or attack transgender transitioning.
“We are asking parents, teacher (sic) and librarians to fill the shelves with books that contain characters and ideas that affirm the body,” the website reads.
The website additionally offers the chance to “fast-track or sponsor a review” for a $50 donation per book.
Before submitting their challenges, Chapman and DCC4D requested a list of all books housed in DCPL’s juvenile (12 and younger) and teen (13 to 17) sections, cross-referenced the reviews found on each website, and looked at them as a group.
“We reviewed them and, if we agreed, we put them on the list,” Chapman said. “Some of them might not be a bad book for a 13-year-old, but happened to be in the juvenile section, which is curated for 2- through 12-year-olds.”
Chapman said DCC4D expected their initial requests to be largely declined, claiming Waller “had already made her decision” on the matter.
Waller said the decisions were in line with the DCPL’s current written policies, set by the Board of Trustees, which she is legally beholden to.“Our policy for collection development says that we use professional journals and the publisher’s recommendation for adding it to our collection,” Waller said. “If a publisher calls it young adult, if the reviews are calling it young adult … that’s where we shelve it. We don’t make those decisions, that comes from elsewhere.”
Waller said that even if she personally finds a title unsuitable for its recommended age, it would be unethical to make a change based on her opinion alone.
Instead, it’s up to the library’s Board of Trustees to change or maintain the policies that constrain Waller. They also weigh in on appeals to book challenge decisions, as they did for several of DCC4D’s complaints.
Who decides ‘Christian values’?
Local pastor Kevin Whear regularly attends DCPL meetings to preach and advocate for Christian governance, often alongside members of his family.
He’s among the most vocal critics of library leadership outside DCC4D, and spoke to WKU Public Radio with the understanding that his views are his own and not representative of his church.
Whear is a father of 10 children and is active within the local homeschool community, moving to Daviess County from Chicago in 1988. He said he’d often bring his children to DCPL as they progressed through their homeschooling.
Whear was a chemical engineer before forming his congregation. He founded Christ Church Owensboro in 2022 after looking at “the state of modern Evangelical churches.”
“There are those in the church who are embarrassed — embarrassed by Six Day Creation, they’re embarrassed when God says, ‘I do not permit women to have authority over a man,’” Whear said. “So what they do is play a bit like Thomas Jefferson and they’ll take the Bible and edit it to their liking, and they become their own god, and that’s where I see most of modern church today.”
The church belongs to the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, whose notable members include U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Whear said his congregation now consists of roughly 15 families.
He said he was asked to participate in DCC4D early in their work, but declined due to their support of a statewide school voucher program.
He expressed support for ideas that are core to Christian Nationalism, which argues the United States was founded as a Christian country, not as a secular state, and should be governed based on Christian ideas.
Whear said he doesn't want “balance” on the library board with those he disagrees with – he wants Christians who agree with his biblical interpretation.
“My ideal would be people in the government, people that are meter maids, people running families, churches, businesses, that are ‘souled out’ to King Jesus and doing what pleases him,” Whear said.
During the September meeting, Whear again told the board they are offering “books that affirm and even promote lifestyles that are sexually corrupt” and attacked what he sees as a collective effort from transgender people to prey on children.
“Fear not the DEI screeching, nor corrupt mandates,” Whear said. “Instead, put away all the excuses and protect the little ones of our community against sexual corruption and evil.”
Some in the crowd clapped as Whear left the podium. One man yelled, “Amen!”
But Whear’s goals for the library board are far from universal among Owensboro’s religious community.
The Coalition for an Inclusive Daviess County formed early last year and has become the primary opposition to Whear and DCC4D, with members attending board meetings clad in matching shirts to offer support for the library’s decisions.
The group consists of individuals as well as 11 organizations, including four religious communities: Owensboro’s First Presbyterian Church, Central Presbyterian Church, Owensboro-Daviess County Ministerial Association and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Owensboro.
Jen Vogel is a member of the coalition’s steering committee.
“All these groups, the thing we have in common is fighting for inclusivity, particularly maintaining a diverse collection in the library,” Vogel said.
Last year, coalition members requested records for “any correspondence between the Daviess Co. Fiscal Court and the registered members of the DCC4D, and any correspondence between Daviess Co. Fiscal and state Representatives,” Vogel said.
Among the records, provided to WKU Public Radio, is a set of texts from June 2023 that appears to show State Representative DJ Johnson suggesting ways for Castlen and the fiscal court to fire or remove Waller and other board members.
“The fiscal court may adopt alternate appointment processes for appointing board members. It may take a while, but the fiscal court can replace the board, which can fire the librarian. Perhaps the threat would be enough to stop it,” Johnson suggested to Castlen in one of the texts shared with WKU Public Radio.
The next set of texts came in August, in which Johnson tells Castlen that he had met with Chapman. He suggested a meeting to “develop a unified strategy to deal with what I think is a serious problem with our library,” to which Castlen responded after meeting Chapman himself.
“He me (sic) with me and gave me a handout of all the materials. I am about to appoint my first person to the board. He will at least be a more conservative voice,” Castlen responded.
Dorth was soon appointed to the board in September 2023. He was not among the initial applicants for the position.
Johnson responded, “I think you can bring a lot of pressure to bear. I can run statewide legislation, but with no guarantee of success. Not to dump this on you, but I think the most effective way to rein in this stuff starts at the local level.”
Another set of text messages between Castlen and Sen. Gary Boswell was sent Feb. 2, 2024.
“I hope you won’t place those liberals on the library board. Make your own appointment thx,” Gary Boswell wrote, to which Castlen responded, “Thank you.”
The next text from Gary Boswell to Castlen, sent Feb. 12, similarly discusses the library board appointment.
“Hey just get ahead of this. Announce you will consider names but the law gives you final authority and you will make your own selection End of story lol. Headed to Frankfort Hang in there!”
Castlen did not respond to that text. Mattas was then appointed to the board in April 2024.
In August, former DCPL board member Chris Gendek resigned from the board without publicly stating why he was leaving.
Mattingly was appointed soon after in September.
In an email, Boswell told WKU Public Radio that his role as senator is, in part, to “speak up when appointments come around, because those choices impact everyone all across our community.”
“Everyone has the opportunity to share their concerns, and I am happy to share mine as well,” Boswell said. “I’m committed to protecting children, supporting parents, and keeping the library a resource for learning and reading.”
Rep. Johnson has not responded to WKU Public Radio’s request for comment.
Castlen’s appointments
Dorth, a part-time history professor at Owensboro Community & Technical College, said in an email he has no association with DCC4D, but said “it is prudent to protect children from sexually explicit materials.”
“We have heard from many members of the community about these issues and I believe we can come up with a compromise and solution,” Dorth said. “There have been discussions and accusations about banning books, which is not true. I simply support moving these books from children and young adult sections in the library and housing them in a more appropriate area.”
Mattas, a homeschooling mother and volunteer with Refuge International Owensboro, reiterated her role in reviewing challenged materials in an email, emphasizing that neither she nor library critics have called for bans on books.
She pointed to several reviews of books from BookLooks, analyzing the content of books containing LGBTQ+ themes and sex education lessons.
“Even though some may argue that some books are ‘sex education,’ it is not the library's role to sex educate people's minor aged children,” Mattas wrote. “Although some titles being questioned are lgbtq+ themed, the books are questioned because of the sexually explicit content, regardless of whether that content is homosexual or heterosexual. Other titles I have reviewed have included explicit male on female rape scenes, which did not involve homosexuality.”
In their responses to WKU Public Radio's questions, neither Dorth nor Mattas addressed themes surrounding race and ethnicity featured in several books challenged by DCC4D.
Castlen’s third library appointment has been less receptive to calls from library critics.
Al Mattingly served as Republican Judge-Executive of Daviess County from 2011 to 2023, describes himself as a lifelong Catholic and graduated from Brescia University, a private Catholic institution in Owensboro.
Chapman described his group’s “vehement opposition” to Mattingly’s appointment.
Mattingly is the only one of Castlen’s appointments suggested by the KDLA, rather than chosen outside the applicant pool.
During his time in office, Mattingly says he aimed for a diverse library board featuring different ethnicities and professional backgrounds.
Among them, he approved the appointment of his now-fellow board member Susan Montalvo-Gesser, an immigration lawyer and director of the Diocese of Owensboro’s Catholic Charities; and Rodney Ellis, Vice-President and Senior Commercial Lender at Independence Bank of Kentucky, Inc.
Mattingly said he believes the library’s critics have good intentions, but fears the ramifications of giving in to such requests.
He said his responsibility is to the community as a whole, not just Christian conservatives, and he trusts library patrons to manage the content they read themselves.
“I don’t think that church affiliation should enter into what is public,” Mattingly said. “To me, it’s a free and public library, then it should reflect all of the public.”
Mattingly pointed to his 12 years as judge-executive, which he said were informed by the same idea.
“I ran as a Republican and got elected as a Republican judge,” he said. “That didn’t mean I only governed Republicans. That didn’t mean I only listened to Republicans. It didn’t mean I only provided for Republicans.”
He added that in recent years, that style of governance “unfortunately” seems to be diminishing.
“It’s just reflective of a trend and direction that the world is going in,” Mattingly said. “At some point, you’re probably going to see the pendulum swing the other way. I’ve been around a lot of years. Things change, the way people look at things, it changes.”
Mattingly questioned claims from Whear and others that introducing children to sex education, stories involving LGBTQ people, human anatomy, or discussions around race and ethnicity is inherently harmful.
He pointed to previous discussions around The Bare Naked Book, published in 1986, which features drawn scenes of children in various states of undress in order to illustrate human anatomy.
The book illustrates body parts, including noses, eyes, and fingers. It also depicts genitals, alongside the phrase “Whatever you call, whatever you have, your genitals belong to you.”
Mattingly said one illustration featured a person with scars under their breasts, which critics thought depicted a transgender person after top surgery.
In Mattingly’s words, those critics argued “that must mean their condoning transgenderism.” He argued it could have just as easily depicted a survivor of breast cancer who’d received a mastectomy, adding that books seldom have one clear interpretation.
“Most of these books I’ve seen have very low circulation if any circulation, but people are afraid some minor or someone in young adults would walk by it and happen to see its title, pick it up, leaf through it and see something that would leave an impression on their mind and damage that child,” Mattingly said.
“It’s funny. To my knowledge, that hasn’t happened in the last 50 years since the library has been there, and the library has had books of this nature there a lot longer than the last two-and-a-half years.”
The ‘Tipping Point’
Future changes to the library’s materials – and the future of the library itself – could fall on Kline.
Activists on both sides describe informal voting blocks on the board that give a narrow majority to those opposed to many of DCC4D’s requests.
Among those more receptive to calls from conservatives are Mattas and Dorth.
On the other side, Montalvo-Gesser, Ellis, and Mattingly have remained firm against many calls from critics.
Montalvo-Gesser is term-limited and will be replaced, though she will serve until her replacement is chosen.
The Messenger-Inquirer reported Kline was among the applicants submitted to the KDLA by Waller. However, the department instead recommended Aloma Dew, a historian and environmentalist, and Sagan Storm, Brescia University’s director of institutional research and effectiveness.
Having declined two rounds of recommendations, Castlen was then free to choose his own candidate.
Efforts to reach Kline by time of this story's publication were not successful.
Castlen told the Messenger-Inquirer his decision was made to “keep an attorney on the DCPL board.”
“Montalvo-Gesser was an attorney, and my staff prepared a list of all those who have ever served on the board since 1995. There has always been an attorney on the board — at least that’s what it looks like to me,” Castlen said. “So, I decided about six months ago, well before Susan’s term expired, that I wanted an attorney on the board.”
He also told the Messenger-Inquirer the board’s lack of diversity was not a concern, adding he’s heard concerns from both sides of the aisle.
“The truth of the matter is we are a divided community,” Castlen said. “We have factions on both sides that have been very, very blunt and very, very direct.”
Castlen will seek final approval for Kline from the Republican-dominated fiscal court, which meets next on Oct. 2.
