Censoring Libraries

As reported by The Guardian, a bill has been proposed, by Missouri Republican Ben Baker, that is being called the "Parental Oversight of Public Libraries Act". As proposed, each public library that receives state aid will establish a parental library review board. According to the bill, the board will consist of 5 members elected by voters within the library's geographical area. Through public hearings, the board will determine if material provided by the library is "age-inappropriate sexual material", and any such material will have to be removed from "public access by minors". Potential consequences for non-compliance include a loss of state funding for the library and/or fines or jail time for librarians.

You can read the proposed bill yourself here.

Bill supporters say they are trying to make a safe environment for their children, while the critics see it as an attempt to legalize book banning. Baker defended the bill by saying he wasn't trying to ban books because the bill doesn't take the books out of library, it puts them "in a section that's not for children."

While I can understand the professed intent behind the proposal, I can't make it all add up. Granted, I don't frequent public libraries in Missouri, but I have never been to nor heard of a public library that didn't have a separate children's section and usually a separate teen section as well. While children aren't banned from looking in the other sections, there generally isn't anything there to interest them. All the info I can find from the supporters of the bill seem to imply that children are perusing the shelves and finding Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five next to Where's Waldo.

Though it's obviously not presented this way, this bill would open the gates for the review board to determine that even children's books on topics such as LGBTQIA+ and addressing issues such as assault could be deemed "age-inappropriate", forcing libraries to comply with censoring their materials based on the opinions of a small group of parents. The proposed legislation also states that the board's decision is final and "not subject to any review by the governing body of the public library, the state, or any political subdivision thereof", and that opens up a whole can of worms for not only this legislation but setting a dangerous precedent for future proposals.

Not surprisingly, the American Library Association has already come out against this proposed bill. The ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom released a statement saying "Missouri House Bill 2044 clearly proposes policies and procedures that threaten library users’ freedom to read and violate our deeply held commitment to families’ and individuals’ intellectual freedom... We support the right of families and individuals to choose materials from a diverse spectrum of ideas and beliefs. Public libraries already have procedures in place that assist parents in selecting materials that fit their family’s information needs, while not censoring materials or infringing upon the rights of other families or patrons to choose the books they want and need. ALA is working strategically with the Missouri Library Association to identify the best means to address this legislation."

I really couldn't have said it better myself.

As former librarian and editor Jo Godwin famously observed: “A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone.” It is the responsibility of libraries to provide equal access to and information on all points of view. It is the responsibility of the individual to determine which materials to read, and thus the responsibility of parents to individually determine what is appropriate for their own children.