Monroeville turns out in force to spar over library’s Pride display removal

Monroeville residents showed up in force Tuesday evening after outcry over the removal of a Pride Month display at the Monroeville Public Library. A majority of speakers voiced support for the library’s right to put up its Love Is Love display. That included several members of the library board of directors, who presented council with a unanimous letter defending the library’s independence and status as an institution serving all local citizens. The letter also pushed back on Monroeville Ward 4 councilor Bill Krut’s mid-June assertion on Facebook that the Pride display amounted to “child sexual grooming.” The furore deepened when councilors Mike Adams (Ward 5) and Bob Williams (Ward 6) joined Krut to ask municipal manager Alex Graziani to order the Pride display’s removal. Graziani took responsibility for the decision Tuesday evening, while Adams, Williams, and Krut reiterated their stances in support of taking down the book display. It was to be replaced with a display commemorating July 4 and the 250th anniversary of America’s founding, which library staff opted not to do. “The Monroeville Public Library serves the entire community,” the letter read in part, noting that all library staff and volunteers must receive state-level background checks to work with children. “Public libraries have a responsibility to ensure that all members of the community can find materials that reflect their lives, interests, and experiences.” Monroeville Council chambers were packed with locals waiting to speak, and the crowd grew so large before the 7 p.m. start to the municipality’s regular Citizen Night that dozens of people were forced to wait outside. Even inside, an overflowing lobby craned to hear the proceedings from video monitors, and demonstrators with the Pittsburgh Overpass Project held large banners and Pride flags along the curb of Monroeville Boulevard. “Public libraries are a vast resource of information to combat the small minds of in