"Daddy, what does bisexual mean?"
It's Jan. 29. Today how Williamsburg Regional Library selects its books, and how parents can moderate what children read. James City County provides digest on its spending.
Editor’s note: We corrected this story to use author Oshiro’s preferred personal pronouns.
Robert Montgomery was unpleasantly surprised when his 10-year-old daughter turned from reading a library book by her favorite author to ask ,“Daddy, what does bisexual mean?”
He told us he then complained to the Williamsburg Regional Library, illustrating the challenge librarians face serving a diverse readership without giving offense or getting into the book banning business.
Talking to library Executive Director Sandy Towers about the issue, we learned a lot about how the library decides what books are appropriate for what age, and what parents can do to prevent their children from checking out materials they don’t believe they are ready for.
Montgomery said his daughter and son are fans of Rick Riordan’s mythological Percy Jackson series.
Montgomery said his daughter checked out “The Sun and the Star”, a book from a subsequent series co-authored by Riordan and Mark Oshiro. The book features Nico di Angelo, a character in the Percy Jackson series who is the son of Hades and was outed as homosexual against his will, and his boyfriend Will Solace, the son of Apollo.
In his email to the youth services director of the library, Montgomery explained “My wife and I would like our kids to be, well, just kids for now. From about their mid-teens, they will have the rest of their lives to ponder sexuality, changing societal norms, and how it fits into their own moral values and ethical judgments. While we realize society is rife with sexual content or sexualized innuendo, we are still striving for appropriate exposures as they mature.
“I was disappointed to have that discussion as a result of a book from the children’s section of our public library,” Montgomery’s email continued.
Oshiro is an author who has written young adult LGBTQ novels. They identify as they/them. Their website offers their services to other writers to check for potentially insulting references to “race/racism...queer/gay identities and their experiences, Being nonbinary...Homelessness....Poverty” and other potentially sensitive areas.
Towers told us the library places books based on evaluations by several professional review sites who grade their appropriateness for various age groups.
This book is in the children’s section of the library, intended for children who are elementary school age or younger. The Young Adult fiction section, which is separate from the children’s collection, is aimed at children in grades 9-12, Towers said.
“The Sun and The Moon”, she said, had four different reviews ranking it as appropriate for children aged 10 and up. That would dictate its placement in the children’s section.
Montgomery sent the library an email he shared with us in which he suggested warning labels for books that some parents might deem offensive.
But Towers said that places the library in the position of trying to determine what content might be offensive, which varies based on one’s personal beliefs.
She suggested parents who have concerns should fill out a form that spells out what they want to avoid, such as sexual references, leftwing or rightwing politics, and ask librarians to help them find appropriate books for their children. That form can be downloaded here:
“Maintaining a variety of titles with multiple viewpoints are factors (the library) considers to keep the collection responsive to the library’s diverse readership,” the library’s official collection development guidelines state.
“There are certain opinions, such as those involving religious, political, or moral attitudes, which may be controversial since these views may impact an individual’s fundamental beliefs,” The policy further states. “An impartial recognition of diverse points of view is the selection goal... The library has items with many views and contains a wide variety of materials. Inclusion and display of these materials does not indicate advocacy. The purpose of displays is to raise awareness of the collection and increase use of material. “
JCC launches financial digest for laymen
If you, like this scribe, lack an accounting degree and get headaches drilling through hundreds of pages of financial information, a new James City County budget publication may be of help.
The 12-page Popular Financial Report, introduced Tuesday by Budget and Reporting Director Cheryl Holland, offers easy to digest top level data about how the county spent your tax dollars last year, and where it got them.
The devil is in the details, of course, so the report offers links to the official county audit report and the official budget, allowing you to drill down into areas that pique your interest. This report is for the 2025 fiscal year that ended last June 30.
You can download the report below, but here are a few highlights:
1. County spending grew at about 5.5 percent a year from Fiscal Year 2023 through Fiscal Year 2025
2. Public schools consume the lion’s share of county spending – 40.2%
3. Public safety is the next largest expense, at 17.3%
4. The growth in county employees over the past decade slightly outpaces the estimated growth in county population. Employee headcount has been rising by 2% a year, to 763 in 2025. UVA’s Weldon Cooper Center estimates the county population growth rose by 1.3% a year to in the same time, to 81,826 last year.
Real estate taxes provide 52% of the county’s revenue, and home owners will not be surprised to know that the last jump in property assessments drove a 10.5% increase in county revenue. And that factors in a one-time 5-cent property tax credit designed to ease the pain of double-digit home valuation increases.
The county issued bonds last year that nearly tripled its capital projects fund balance to $160.9 million. Most of that will go toward the new government center and library annex, but it also funds capital projects for schools and other government projects.
JCC appoints 3 planning commission members
Two veterans and a new member were appointed to the James City County planning commission this week.
The planning commission advises the board of supervisors on land use issues.
Vincent Passero, a retired newspaper circulation executive and Army veteran, was appointed to represent the Powhatan district for the next four years.
At-large representative Jack Haldeman and Jamestown representative Frank Polster were brought back for four-year terms.
Passero told Williamsburg Watch he asked to join the commission to help get the county “back on track.”
“It just seems like the county is growing really, really fast and we’re losing sight of our historic heritage,” Passero said. “We need to grow smartly.”
Passero has been a James City County resident since coming to Fort Eustis in 2009.
Countdown to paid subscriptions next week
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Regional and state headlines
Democrats push restrictions on federal immigration enforcement in Virginia
House committee advances bill to study VMI’s public funding status
Passings
Thomas Elwood West, 79, January 21.
Lera Louise Jones, 94, January 26.
Beverley Ferguson Rackley, 85, January 27.
Who are these "professionals" rating these books for the rest of us?!!
How about we respect how every parent wants to raise their children, especially elementary age and make a special section for books that have sexually explicit content whether it is girl/boy, girl/girl, boy/boy or any other way someone identifies as and prefers their sex. It is up to the parent to decide when their child is ready to be exposed to sex not society. Quit pushing the sexualization of our children as normal. It is NOT!!!
Does daddy know 10 year olds can get their periods and get pregnant? Maybe he needs to stop avoiding sex and gender talk. Parents need to model healthy attitudes toward sexuality and gender identity not mask it in shame and judgment. Using fiction to talk about issues is so helpful for all of us. Now I’m going to get that book out!