Ohio bill would defund public libraries for displaying ‘harmful’ books
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Public libraries found displaying books “harmful to juveniles” could lose funding under a new Ohio bill that teachers and librarians said is part of a Stat… A bill in Ohio would defund public libraries for displaying ‘harmful’ books, or subject them to a policy that prohibits them from displaying matter harmful to juveniles and would result in the loss of state funding. The bill's primary sponsor, Rep. Al Cutrona (R-Canfield), states that these materials are considered "harmful to juveniles" and require parental consent. The Ohio Federation of Teachers has criticized the bill, claiming it is part of a "censorship dressed up as bills to protect children" and is vague and restricts materials, resources, and services provided by public libraries. Another bill, House Bill 556, would charge teachers and school librarians with felonies for distributing books and materials deemed "obscene". The bill also allows parents to opt their children out of explicit or written instruction, presentation, image or description of sexual concepts or gender ideology, and would allow students to opt out of “sexuality content” for their children’s access to certain content. Despite these bills' advances, both lawmakers maintain they are necessary.
Veröffentlicht : vor 10 Monaten durch David Rees in Politics
House Bill 622 would “require each board of public library trustees to adopt a policy that prohibits its libraries from displaying matter harmful to juveniles and to redistribute the public library funds of libraries that fail to do so,” the measure states. The legislation would allow Ohio residents to file a complaint against any library system, and those who violate the law would be stripped of their state funding.
“The bill will identify materials that are ‘harmful to juveniles’ and therefore required to receive parental consent,” said Rep. Al Cutrona (R-Canfield), the bill’s primary sponsor. “This legislation protects Ohio’s minors and supports the authority of parents to have a say in what their children are consuming.”
Cutrona’s bill uses the Ohio Revised Code’s definition of “harmful” materials, which includes content describing or representing sexual conduct and excitement, nudity and sexual abuse. Library patrons under age 18 would be banned from borrowing or viewing these books unless the library has received parental consent, the bill states.
The proposal would also require Ohio’s public libraries to hide these books by placing them behind blinder racks, behind a circulation counter or by wrapping the materials to conceal at least the lower two-thirds of the cover.
Now, the Ohio Federation of Teachers is speaking out against the proposal and another recently introduced measure, House Bill 556, which would charge teachers and school librarians with felonies for handing out books and materials deemed “obscene.” Melissa Cropper, Ohio Federation of Teachers president, said the bills are “censorship dressed up as bills to protect children.”
“These two bills go much further than other book and curriculum bans that have been proposed in Ohio because they will also apply to public library systems,” said Cropper. “Even though the bills are aimed at protecting children, they are so vague that they’ll create a chilling effect and restrict the materials, resources, and services that public libraries provide.”
Cropper claimed there has been a “coordinated effort to censor materials that Ohio students have access to,” with these bills “part of a backlash against elements of education that promote diversity, equity and inclusion.”
Another proposal limiting content distributed to students is House Bill 8, named the “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” which passed the Ohio House last June. The measure would allow parents to opt their children out of “sexuality content,” defined as “any oral or written instruction, presentation, image or description of sexual concepts or gender ideology.” Despite H.B. 8’s advances, Rep. Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon), H.B. 556’s primary sponsor, said his new bill is still necessary.
“H.B. 8 is a fantastic bill, and I hope the Senate takes it up and passes it quickly,” Mathews said. “H.B. 556 is more targeted just to the obscenity, looking at that space, and distinct from instruction. H.B. 556 would also be making sure that obscenity is not existing in the passive bookshelves of the library.”
Mathews stressed that the point of the legislation is to continue challenging students but “without obscenity.” The representative pointed to other classic authors and books that would still be permitted, such as Shakespeare, “The Scarlet Letter” and “1984.” Teachers “don’t need to have the dominant focus of those materials being ‘prurient interests’ — that is a high bar to become deemed obscenity,” Mathews said.
Still, both bills are concerning Ohio librarians like April Overly, a librarian at Worthington Libraries, who argued the proposals “would be too easily weaponized by bad faith actors,” and said politicians are infringing on intellectual freedom “by deciding which books, music, films, and other media we’re allowed to make available to our patrons.”
“Families should decide together what materials are appropriate for their children, but not every family is the same,” said Overly. “Our libraries strive to offer collections representing a multitude of views, opinions and life experiences so everyone can find something that meets their particular needs.”
Amy Bloomberg, a school librarian at Cleveland Heights High School, said H.B. 556 would threaten the school’s ability to provide engaging, relevant books for students “by instilling fear in teachers and school librarians and threatening felony charges based on the legitimate educational materials we choose to use.”
“The best way to inspire a lifelong love of reading in our students is to give them access to books that they want to read,” said Bloomberg. “This includes books where the characters face the same problems and feel the same doubts and emotions that our students have, and it includes books where the characters look and sound like our students.”