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Missouri book ban could jail librarians for loaning 'inappropriate' content
Librarians and free speech advocates are fighting back against a proposal in the Missouri House of Representatives that would ban certain books from the state's libraries with the threat of a misdemeanor charge.
Missouri House Rep. Ben Baker introduced the bill, dubbed the "Parental Oversight of Public Libraries Act," in January that calls for the creation of a panel made up of non-library workers who will determine the removal of "age-inappropriate sexual material," from their local branch.
Libraries that don't comply will lose their funding. Library employees providing material deemed inappropriate would be hit with a misdemeanor charge and liable for a $500 fine or a maximum jail sentence of a year, according to the bill's current language.
Cynthia Dudenhoffer, the president of the Missouri Library Association, said she was shocked when she first heard about the bill and said it was unnecessary. Each of the state's library systems, which account for a total of 365 branches, already have their own protocols in place to determine which materials are allowed for their younger members.
"Librarians take that stuff very seriously," she said to ABC News. "It's not like we buy things willy-nilly."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/missouri-book-ban-could-jail-librarians-for-loaning-inappropriate-content/ar-BBZwsII?li=BBnbfcL
Missouri House Rep. Ben Baker introduced the bill, dubbed the "Parental Oversight of Public Libraries Act," in January that calls for the creation of a panel made up of non-library workers who will determine the removal of "age-inappropriate sexual material," from their local branch.
Libraries that don't comply will lose their funding. Library employees providing material deemed inappropriate would be hit with a misdemeanor charge and liable for a $500 fine or a maximum jail sentence of a year, according to the bill's current language.
Cynthia Dudenhoffer, the president of the Missouri Library Association, said she was shocked when she first heard about the bill and said it was unnecessary. Each of the state's library systems, which account for a total of 365 branches, already have their own protocols in place to determine which materials are allowed for their younger members.
"Librarians take that stuff very seriously," she said to ABC News. "It's not like we buy things willy-nilly."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/missouri-book-ban-could-jail-librarians-for-loaning-inappropriate-content/ar-BBZwsII?li=BBnbfcL
So non librarians would get to decide what goes into libraries? What could possibly go wrong?
Also, they really need to get over Drag Queen Story Hour. The real people who are "triggered" here, aren't the drag queens.
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