Despite some librarians and advocates’ warnings that a bill passed by a House subcommittee Thursday would endanger the continued existence of public libraries across the state, supporters said the measure is needed to prevent minors from accessing “harmful” materials.
HF 2309 prohibits public libraries from disseminating “material harmful to minors,” unless the library has gained parental consent allowing the minor’s access to this material. “Harmful” material is defined in the bill as materials that, taken as a whole, “appeals to the prurient interest of minors in sex, nudity or excretion.”
The bill additionally states if material depicts, describes or represents sexual acts including intercourse, masturbation, sadistic or masochistic abuse and other sexual acts, in a “manner patently offensive for minors” under currently defined standards for suitable materials.
Materials labeled as inappropriate for minors would be required to go in an “adult” section of the library, which would have to be separate from children and young adults sections, as well as any other sections of the library “accessible to minors without staff assistance.” Libraries’ catalog systems would have to include systems to both classify certain materials as harmful to minors, and prevent those under age 18 from placing holds or checking out these materials without parental consent.
Parents would be able to bring civil actions against a public library, library board or employee who violates these regulations. The measure also establishes that “willfully” disseminating or helping a minor access material deemed “harmful” without their parental consent would be a crime, with the individual charged with a serious misdemeanor, with the possibility of imprisonment of up to a year, and a fine between $500 and $2,500. Subsequent offenses would be charged as aggravated misdemeanors, punishable by up to two years of jail time and fines between $1,000 and $10,000. Willfully providing false information to parents about their child’s access to restricted materials, or the destruction, concealment or falsification of records would also be crimes under the proposal.
Leslie Noble with the Iowa Library Association said the bill would impose significant burdens on public libraries, especially in rural and small communities, which already are constrained by tight budgets and limited staff time.
“Compliance with this bill may all but be impossible without restricting minors’ access to library collections altogether,” Noble said. “This would result in reduced services to families and young people.”
Noble also called the bill a “regulation in search of a problem” that would hurt both public libraries and the communities when there are already measures in place to stop minors from accessing certain materials.
“Illegal content is already illegal,” Noble said. “Libraries do not provide unlawful materials, and existing state and federal laws prohibit the distribution of obscene or illegal content. Libraries have established policies and procedures to manage materials, address concerns and respond to challenges. Parents have the ability to guide and supervise their own children’s library use. This bill replaces local control and professional standards with a rigid, punitive framework that will harm communities across Iowa.”
The bill would establish restrictions on content more strict than current obscenity laws, referring to the Ginsberg v. New York 1968 U.S. Supreme Court decision as the basis to identity the constitutional limits of restricting content deemed “harmful” to minors without violating First and 14th Amendment rights.
The measure also removes a current exemption for libraries and educational institutions in Iowa Code on laws setting punishments for the distribution and exhibition of obscene materials to minors, and permitting minors to be on the premises of facilities where such materials are exhibited. Though obscenity laws state that the material must be considered as lacking “literary, artistic, political or scientific value” when considered as a whole to be considered obscene, the bill has some differences — saying these criteria must be evaluated when considered “for minors.”
It also states material is considered “presumptively harmful” if they meet two or more criteria listed in the measure:
- If it is marketed, labeled or rated as intended for adults, mature audiences or similar designations by the publisher, distributor or author.
- If it contains explicit descriptions of sexual acts.
- If it contains graphic, vulgar or obscene language describing sexual activities or genitalia.
- If it depicts or describes sexual acts involving issues like violence, incest, grooming, exploitation and abuse.
- If it is shelved by the library in an adult section, or is not cataloged by the publisher as juvenile or young adult material.
Materials classified as “presumptively harmful” would be under restricted access if the bill passes, unless the public library documents in writing a determination for why the material has serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for minors.
Many advocates said these restrictions would open libraries to costly litigation and would erode Iowans’ ability to read freely. Sam Helmick, president of the American Library Association who works at the Iowa City Public Library, said the measure would turn Iowa libraries from “sanctuaries of literacy and learning into sites of surveillance,” and said it threatens library workers, often volunteers, with criminal penalties and potential financial hardship for working to serve their communities.
Helmick said if passed, the measures dealing with “age appropriate” material and “presumptive harm” will be litigated and cost taxpayers significant money, pointing to ongoing legal challenges to the state’s 2023 law restricting books containing depictions of sexual acts from being available in K-12 school libraries.
“As leaders, you should set aside the divisiveness of state-mandated walls, which cannot be accommodated in our tiny libraries,” Helmick said. “Let us refuse to be an Iowa that polices the mind, and instead be a state that empowers the spirit.”
Rep. Samantha Fett, R-Carlisle, argued the measure would not add new costs for public libraries.
“The structures of our public libraries right now already have sections for children, young adult sections, adult sections,” Fett said. “So to say that this is going to cost too much money to protect children is an excuse.”
Supporters of the bill said libraries should be held to the same standards as other entities when ensuring minors cannot access harmful and inappropriate material. Teri Hubbard, a library board member in Sioux Center, said the measure is not a book ban and won’t restrict adults’ access to any materials, but “simply recognizes that minors and adults are treated differently when it comes to sexually explicit material.”
“Minors currently have unrestricted access in public libraries to materials containing graphic depictions of sexual activity and sexual violence,” Hubbard said. “We would not consider that developmentally neutral in any other public setting.”
Rep. Charley Thomson, R-Charles City, who introduced the bill, said opponents were mischaracterizing what the bill did.
“Somebody mentioned banning books — this doesn’t ban a single piece of paper,” Thomson said. “This restricts access to minors, and [leaves] the access decision up to the parents, where it should be.”
Other bills restricting libraries
Noble said this measure was “one of several unnecessary, counterproductive, anti-library bills in the Legislature this year.” Lawmakers were scheduled to hold subcommittee meetings on two other bills related to public libraries Thursday. HF 2270 proposes changing Enrich Iowa program funding requirements for public libraries compliance to not include compliance or adoption of policies and standards issued by private organizations unless authorized by the state. SF 2177 would prohibit public and school libraries from offering digital library services to minors unless the provider of this service adopts measures blocking minors from being able to access, receive, view or download obscene materials, child pornography and materials relating to the use of a controlled substance.
“Libraries and library workers are not the enemy,” Noble said. “We are the hearts of our communities, serving people every day. We provide resources for learning and entertainment, we offer programs that enrich minds and strengthen families, we provide community gathering spaces. Putting extra burden, like HF 2309, on our libraries hurts not just these vital institutions, but also the communities and the Iowans they serve.”
Robin Opsahl covers the Iowa Legislature and politics for Iowa Capital Dispatch, where this story first appeared.
