Denton library board nominee faces pushback, but a former teacher says she’s no book banner

On Sunday, two social media posts warned Denton residents about the latest nominee for the Denton Library Board.

Both posts, one on X and the other on a local Facebook group, focused on Ellen Quinn Sullivan’s son, conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan, and on Mayor Gerard Hudspeth more than on the nominee herself. Both posts also mentioned Hudspeth’s recent library board nominee — Debi Scaggs, who has played a key role in the local effort to challenge books in Denton ISD libraries.

“I asked about it,” Ellen Quinn Sullivan said of Scaggs’ nomination, which the City Council did not pass. “I knew there was — for the lack of a better term — a brouhaha about Debi Scaggs. I’ve met the woman once or twice. I’m not sure if I was in a room with her that I know she was there. I’m not affiliated with her. I’m not trying to carry water for her or something, or to be Debi Scaggs-lite or something.”

Sullivan said she has “never suggested banning any books.”

The Denton Record-Chronicle reached out to Hudspeth and all City Council members for comment on Monday afternoon, but none had responded by Monday evening. The Denton City Council is scheduled to vote on board nominees at Tuesday’s meeting.

Sullivan and her husband are alumni of University of North Texas. They landed in Houston for about 40 years. They moved back to Denton about 17 years ago, and Sullivan said she has always been a library patron wherever she’s lived.

She reached out to City Council member Joe Holland, whom she said she knows casually through UNT alumni activities, and asked how to apply for the library board. Sullivan said she and her Denton family love living in the city. She said no one, including the mayor, had approached her to apply.

Social media posts took issue with Michael Quinn Sullivan, a hardline conservative activist know for his work as the publisher of Texas Scorecard and as a leader of the heavy-hitting Empower Texans, a now-disbanded conservative advocacy group that helped direct millions to select Republican campaigns between 2006 and 2020. A post in a local Facebook group was clear in its suspicions of Ellen Sullivan, though neither post named her.

“The nominee’s son, Michael Quinn Sullivan, leads Texas Scorecard and has a long history of promoting censorship in public libraries,” says a post by Peter Mungiguerra on the popular Denton Downtowners group and the private Denton Matters group on Facebook. “It’s safe to assume the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Given Scaggs’ ongoing efforts to restrict books in our community, this latest nomination raises serious questions about maintaining our libraries’ traditional role as neutral, welcoming spaces for ALL Denton families.”

On X, user Maxine Davis posted a similar message, adding: “Denton Mayor Gerard Hudspeth is attempting to nominate a MAGA extremist book banner to our library board.”

On Monday, Texas Scorecard posted a story in which a North Texas-based ministry said “harmful content” in school libraries exposes students to risk for exploitation.

Ellen Sullivan said she had to try not to “roll my eyes” over what she said are uninformed mischaracterizations.

“I thought, ‘Who is this person who has never met me and is calling me a book banner?’ It’s so nasty to talk that way and to assume that,” she said. “I’m very proud of my son, and I do have a conservative worldview. But I’m not operating on anybody’s agenda.

“I want to use common sense to work on this board, and to work with whoever [is on the board]. I don’t want them to call me names before they’ve even met me.”

Sullivan said that when she considers the appropriateness of library material, she doesn’t think about pulling books from the shelf simply because someone objects to them.

“I don’t believe in banning books,” she said. “I think there are probably books that are more appropriately shelved. For instance, would a preschooler enjoy War and Peace? I doubt it. And would someone in the adult section, would they want to read Cat in the Hat? Probably not. It’s not a matter of banning a book, it’s saying what’s appropriate given the audience we’re trying to address.”

If appointed, Sullivan said she would consider the work, mission and vision of the library board, and if board members had to reconsider a book — a rare occurrence in the Denton Public Library system — she would give her opinion and consider the opinions of the other board members. She doesn’t consider herself a firebrand, but an avid reader who has been a middle school teacher. She considers herself conciliatory, not confrontational.

“It’s so easy to be mean if you’re hiding behind something like a post, you know?” she said. “That’s why I think it’s important, especially for people who disagree, to sit down and look each other in the eye and talk, nicely. Be polite, like your mother said.

“Here’s the reason that I was interested: not to be another Debi Scaggs. I just thought, wait a minute. Everybody put the brakes on. Let’s just see if someone with a conservative mindset like me and somebody else on the board who has a liberal mindset can’t just sit at a table and talk about the issues. And not walk into the discussion with our proverbial arms crossed and a scowl on face and assume the other person is terrible.”