By Sam Helmick, Iowa City; American Library Association president
I come to this conversation because, for generations, Iowans of all walks of life have sent up a righteous cry: Free people read freely.
That principle is not abstract in our state. Iowa has more libraries per capita than any other state in the nation. Nearly 70 percent of Iowans hold at least one library card. Eighty-eight years ago, in Des Moines, an Iowan drafted the Library Bill of Rights which is a document that has shaped the ethical foundation of library service across the country. Libraries are not peripheral to Iowa’s identity. They are central to it.
Again and again, Iowans have entreated their elected officials from the quiet places of our small towns and vibrant cities alike. They have traveled at personal sacrifice to the marble halls of the Capitol, not to ask for the chains of micro-governance, but to ask for leadership that marches toward a prosperous tomorrow.
House File 2309 represents a retreat into the shadows of suspicion.
This legislation seeks to transform our sanctuaries of learning and literacy into sites of surveillance. It places librarians, who are often volunteers and undersourced, who are often the caring weavers of a community’s dreams, under the threat of criminal penalties and significant financial liability. This financial liability extends to our communities too.
It suggests that the professionals entrusted daily with guiding children, supporting families, assisting seniors, and protecting patron privacy cannot be relied upon without the heavy hand of state intervention.
We must recognize what is truly at stake.
A threat to the freedom of the local library is a threat to the freedom of the local soul.
Libraries are not state propaganda centers. They are locally governed institutions, accountable to their communities. They reflect the needs, values, and priorities of the towns they serve. When the state dictates the contents of shelves from the heights of the Capitol, it does not strengthen families but rather erodes the very foundation of local trust and community conscience.
Iowans are conscientious people. We know how to raise our families. We know how to guide our children.
Parents and guardians already have the authority and responsibility to make decisions for their own households.
Librarians partner with families every day, offering tools, information, and choices rather than abstract mandates.
House File 2309 relies on the vague and expansive concept of “presumptive harm,” language that will almost certainly invite costly litigation. We have already seen how similar measures strain local budgets and divert taxpayer dollars into courtrooms rather than classrooms and community services. At a time when we should be investing in literacy, broadband access, workforce development, and civic engagement, we risk spending precious resources defending ambiguous statutory language.
This is not prudent governance.
As leaders, lawmakers should set aside the divisiveness of state-mandated walls. They should resist policies rooted in fear and instead affirm policies grounded in trust, local control, and constitutional principles.
You cannot build a Great State on the quicksand of fear, control, and censorship.
Libraries are among the most trusted public institutions in our communities. They serve readers and students, job seekers and entrepreneurs, seniors and newcomers. They provide access to information across the political, religious, and cultural spectrum. They protect patron privacy. They uphold intellectual freedom. They do this work every single day, quietly and professionally.
Let us refuse to be an Iowa that polices the mind. Let us instead be a state that empowers the spirit.
Give our library communities the breath of support not the chokehold of legislation that undermines their mission and autonomy.
I urge lawmakers to vote “No” on House File 2309 and to stand firmly on Iowa’s proud legacy of literacy, local control, and liberty.
Sam Helmick is the past president of the Iowa Library Association and current president of the American Library Association. They also serve as a community and access services coordinator at Iowa City Public Library.
