A Saline County resident brought her concerns about the Saline County Public Library to the Quorum Court on Monday.
Angela Gray told the justices of the peace that children are being indoctrinated through exposure to books by the Saline County libraries, and showed children’s books that Gray found offensive which she had checked out with her child’s library card.
“I checked these out online, then picked them up in a locker,” Gray said, noting that no one supervised her retrieving the books or challenged her child’s right to check out the books.
Gray asked the JPs to support a state bill that would strike from state law a defense librarians currently have protecting them from criminal prosecution for distributing obscene material during Monday’s meeting in Benton.
The House of Representatives is currently mulling over Senate Bill 81 by Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro.
SB 81 would remove schools and public libraries from the part of Arkansas state code that currently exempts them from prosecution “for disseminating a writing, film, slide, drawing, or other visual reproduction that is claimed to be obscene” under existing obscenity laws.
The state’s definition of obscenity is “that to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to prurient interest,” with prurient meaning overtly sexual.
The bill passed in the senate, but narrowly failed a vote in the House Judiciary Committee last week after nearly three hours of discussion and testimony, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
The bill was still in the House as of Tuesday.
County Judge Matt Brumley noted the bill was up for more discussion this week in the House and would likely become a law.
Opponents argue the bill would invest legislative bodies with judicial
power and disproportionally impact books written by and about LGBTQ people, the Democrat-Gazette reported.
Opponents also worry that the bill could lead to libraries and local elected officials being swamped with requests from people outside their communities to remove books.
Under current law, libraries must have a “written policy for addressing challenged material.” Sullivan’s bill would require libraries to form committees to review objections and decide whether to remove a book from shelves. These committees would be subject to open meeting laws, Sullivan said.
The bill would allow people to appeal decisions made by these committees to a body of elected officials.
In the case of school libraries, the superintendent would direct appeals to the school board. For a municipal or public library, the “executive head” of the city or county would present appeals to the “governing body of the county or city,” according to the bill.
Gray told the JPs that children are being indoctrinated by the American Library Association, which she called a “left-wing organization.” She asked the Quorum Court to investigate if the Saline County libraries are in alignment with the national library association’s rules.
Gray said she found the ALA’s tenet that children have First Amendment rights alarming.
“They say that as a parent you don’t have the right to know what your child is checking out,” she said.
Patty Hector, director of the Saline County Library, said parents can see what their children check out. The exception is children over 16 who can get themselves to the library, because they are allowed personal library cards.
Small children’s library cards are signed by the parents, Hector said, and the card states that the parent is applying for the right for their minor child to use the library.
“As long as the parent has their child’s library card, they can log in online and see what the child has checked out,” Hector said.
The library’s locker system which Gray said she used to check out books unsupervised is designed as a convenience, Hector noted.
“The locker checks out the book on the card that has reserved it once it is picked up, and they can be picked up after hours,” she said.
According to the ALA website, the purpose of the organization is “The object of the American Library Association shall be to promote library service and librarianship.” The stated mission is, “To provide leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.”
The website lists eight key action areas for the association: Advocacy for libraries and the profession; diversity; education and lifelong learning; equitable access to information and library services; intellectual freedom; literacy; organizational excellence; and transforming libraries.
