Yes, It’s About the Books: Response to Mark Egger

As despicable and bigoted as Mark Egger’s letter is, I’ll give him this much: He said the quiet and “hidden” part out loud. He made it perfectly clear that the attacks on Samuels Public Library have nothing to do with “fiscal oversight and responsibility” and everything to do with the books, especially those written by, for, and about LGBTQ people. I can imagine the BoS (excepting Cullers) and the WCLB shaking their heads and admonishing Mr. Egger: “Sssshhhhhh! You weren’t supposed to say that! You just gave the game away!”

Egger seems especially obsessed with transgender people and frames their very existence in the most extreme, dehumanizing terms. He trots out a familiar strawman: “It is about protecting our children and proclaiming that we will not accept the insane ideology of the alphabet soup that promotes the chemical castration of pre-pubescent boys and the double mastectomies of healthy 14-year-old girls.”

I’m a progressive Democrat who has concerns about some aspects of youth medical transition. I know that many liberals like me believe in a more moderate, cautious approach for children under the age of 18 who identify as transgender. It’s not a black-or-white issue, and I’m willing to admit that I could be wrong. And that’s partly why I don’t have the right to dictate how other people and parents raise their children or live their lives, what books they can check out of the library, or what books the library carries.

What’s at stake here is not whether you agree with everything the library carries but whether you believe in free access to ideas, perspectives, and stories, even ones you disagree with. As I mentioned in another recent letter to the editor: “A good library has something to offend everyone.” The library carries plenty of books I might disagree with or find offensive. I don’t demand that those books be removed under the guise of “protecting our children.”

Egger is targeting pro-library candidates like Hugh Henry and Tony Carter not because they’ve pushed some radical agenda but because they’ve refused to bend to the demands of the book banners.

If Mr. Egger is so confident in his stance, I invite him to respond to me directly—not with slogans or scapegoating, but with facts, honesty, and the humility it takes to live in a society where none of us gets to impose our worldview on everyone else.

Cara Aldridge Young
Shenandoah District
Front Royal, VA

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