ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — Books including scenes depicting sex, child birth, witchcraft, drug use and graphic violence have been the topic of heated debate for more than a year at St. Charles City-County Library board meetings.

Now, a patron has asked the board to consider a different type of text: the Bible.

Brian Roorda of St. Peters has filed a challenge to remove the King James Version of the Bible due to, he said, its repeated descriptions of acts of violence.

Roorda specifically cites a verse from the Book of Matthew in the New Testament, which suggests that anyone who causes a believer of Jesus Christ to stumble or sin should have a "large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."

Roorda, a longtime library district supporter, said he is challenging the book as a protest against a recent board decision to ban LGBTQ pride flags as "personal belief items."

"I don't actually want the Bible banned," Roorda said. "I don't believe in banning books."

The board will review Roorda's challenge at Tuesday night's meeting, said library district spokesperson Lori Beth Crawford. It will be the first time that an appeal has reached the trustees since the district implemented new rules on book challenges in July 2025.

Book challenges used to be rare at the St. Charles City-County Library system, which boasts a collection of nearly 1 million physical books, including copies of the Quran and the Torah across its 11 branches.

But that began to change in 2023 after conservative activists and parents pledged to go through the entirety of the library's collection and file dozens of challenges along the way. Since then, patrons have challenged 15 books and one film over their placement in the library.

Among them: "It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, Gender and Sexual Health," "My Mom's Having a Baby," "Bye, Bye Binary," "What's Happening to My Body? A Book for Boys," "The Little Coven," and "If You're A Drag Queen and You Know It." A patron also wanted the Japanese-language anime film "Penguin Highway" removed from the library's youth movie collection over concerns that it was not age-appropriate.

The district only removed one challenged book, "Bang Like A Pornstar: Sex Tips from the Pros," from the collection. Ten other books, which officials have declined to name, were taken off the public shelves in December 2023 because they contained "explicit photographs of sexual intercourse or sexual acts." Patrons can still check out the books but must pick them up from circulation staff.

The roots of Roorda's complaint are more recent.

Roorda said Monday that he decided to challenge the Bible after the library district board enforced a ban on the LGBTQ pride flag, a move that also prohibited staff from wearing pins identifying themselves as allies of the LGBTQ community.

Roorda said, on the night of that decision in March, the trustees refused to extend the public comment period beyond the initial 30 minutes despite a line of people waiting to talk. Roorda was among those wanting to speak.

Roorda, a regular at library district meetings for years, said his support for the district cratered after that decision.

"The library trustees have all the time in the world to listen to people wanting to ban books, but they didn't even have the decency to extend the time to hear from those of us wanting to speak," Roorda said. "I just want equal time as the book banners."

Roorda is challenging the King James Version of the Bible because the library's standardized form requires patrons to choose one particular book or item.

He chose to cite the Book of Matthew in the challenge because members of the public repeatedly quoted the same passage at a June 2023 board meeting where they lambasted a library employee's attire.

That meeting, which featured three hours of public comment, centered on a woman's complaint that an unnamed worker was wearing makeup, nail polish and a goatee.

Roorda said he believes the Bible verse was then used as a threat against the employee.

Roorda filed his challenge on June 30, which prompted a committee of library personnel to meet and review the Bible. The committee voted to retain the book in the library's adult nonfiction collection.

Roorda appealed the committee's decision, sending it to the library's trustees.

The trustees could vote Tuesday to uphold the committee's decision or could refer it to library CEO John Greifzu for further review.

The trustees could also decide to schedule a hearing on the challenge at an upcoming meeting, said Crawford, the spokesperson.

It would take a supermajority, or 6 of 9 trustees, to vote to ban the Bible.

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