New legislation making its way through Georgia’s assembly seeks to punish libraries and librarians for “harmful materials.” If passed, the bill could force state libraries to self-censor controversial materials, specifically for kids.
Senate Bill 74, sponsored by Sylvania Republican Sen. Max Burns, would change current state law. As it stands, school and university libraries are exempt from a ban on the distribution of obscene materials to people under 18. But if Senate Bill 74 passes, those institutions would no longer be exempt.
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The bill would mean libraries and librarians could face a high and aggravated misdemeanor for distributing harmful materials to minors.
“At the end of the day, the objective is to protect Georgia’s children. The objective is to ensure that the materials that could be harmful or obscene are placed in adult sections,” Burns said. “And we’re asking our professionals, our librarians and our library staff to comply with Georgia law.”
The bill passed through a House subcommittee on Tuesday and could have a full committee vote soon, according to the Georgia Recorder. It passed strictly along party lines and has strong support from conservative groups.
Support and criticism for the bill
The Georgia Recorder spoke with the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, which has publicly supported the bill. Board lobbyist Mike Griffin said the effort was a “no-brainer” bill, saying it would keep pornography away from children.
“Kids are being exposed to pornography at such an early age, don’t be surprised that what they see or what they’re hearing in these education classes, they’re going to try it on somebody else,” he told the Recorder.
Georgia libraries have a different opinion, with some even showing up at the subcommittee hearing to voice their outrage.
One attendee, Mike Cooper, trustee of the DeKalb County Library System and president of the Friends of the Stone Mountain Sue Kellogg Library, told the Georgia news outlet that the bill would cause librarians who are fearful of legal action to bend to pressures from those who criticize books on their shelves.
“Let’s say somebody hears somebody make a criticism of a book,” he told the Recorder. “It is almost incumbent on the employee then to say, ‘Oh, we’re going to have trouble with that book. I think it needs to be investigated, and it needs to go before a review committee, or it needs to be removed, or whatever. That process has to be started by a librarian in a defensive posture.”
