A group of public libraries and book publishers in Arkansas is pushing back against a growing movement to restrict what children are allowed to read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arkansas is one of four states that recently passed laws that make it easier to prosecute librarians over sexually explicit books, a designation conservatives often use to target books with descriptions of gender identity and sexuality. On <\/strong>Friday, a coalition led by the Central Arkansas Library System, based in Little Rock, filed a federal lawsuit<\/a> it hopes will set a precedent about the constitutionality of such laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Central Arkansas Library System argued in a filing in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas that Act 372<\/a> violates the First Amendment by making it a misdemeanor for libraries to give children access to materials that are \u201charmful to minors.\u201d The term \u2014 which means any depiction of nudity or sexual conduct meant to appeal to a prurient interest that lacks serious artistic, medical or political value and which contemporary community standards would find inappropriate for minors \u2014 is too broad, the suit contends. For example, the law would prohibit 17-year-olds from viewing materials deemed too explicit for 7-year-olds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The complaint also alleges that the law violates residents\u2019 due process rights by allowing local elected officials to overrule librarians\u2019 decisions about book chal\u201cThere\u2019s enormous angst and anxiety on the part of librarians in the state,\u201d said Nate Coulter, the executive director of the Central Arkansas Library System, which has 17 branches in seven cities. \u201cBecause not only do they feel like people in the state government don\u2019t respect their integrity, but they\u2019re seen as a hostile party. They\u2019ve been called groomers. They\u2019ve been accused of being pedophiles. They\u2019re basically targeted by a very divisive, angry group of people who are vocal about believing that somehow the library is the problem in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s unclear how prosecutors or judges would handle such criminal cases, but violations of Act 372\u2019s \u201charmful to minors\u201d provision could result in maximum jail sentences of one year. The law also eliminates protections for librarians and teachers who distribute material \u201cthat is claimed to be obscene\u201d as part of their job, a felony punishable by up to six years in prison; the lawsuit isn\u2019t challenging that part of the law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dan Sullivan, the Republican state senator who sponsored the measure, defended the possibility that a librarian could go to prison over children\u2019s books. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe don\u2019t exempt doctors from abuse laws. We don\u2019t exempt pharmacists from drug laws,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t know why we would exempt librarians from these laws about what\u2019s harmful to children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n lenges without providing explanations or permitting appeals from those who disagree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although the law doesn\u2019t go into effect until Aug. 1, the lawsuit says Act 372 is already having an effect in Crawford County, where public libraries recently moved books about disabled people, puberty, religion<\/a> and LGBTQ characters<\/a> out of the children\u2019s sections. When residents asked for the books to be moved back, Crawford County\u2019s attorney defended the move and cited Act 372, according to a letter<\/a> obtained by NBC News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The suit asks that a federal judge block prosecutors from enforcing Act 372\u2019s provisions regarding book challenges and materials \u201charmful to minors.\u201d It names the Crawford County government, Crawford County Judge, or CEO, Chris Keith and 28 prosecutors across the state in their official capacities as defendants. Keith declined to comment. The prosecutors either did not immediately respond to requests for comment or could not immediately be reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arkansas libraries are entering a nationwide maelstrom over children\u2019s access to materials that include descriptions of sexuality and LGBTQ characters or themes<\/a>. In the past two years, conflicts over restrictions on books<\/a> have expanded from school and classroom libraries to public community libraries<\/a>. As with school boards, library trustees meetings<\/a> in many cities have turned from sleepy affairs to impassioned political battlegrounds, leading to heated rhetoric<\/a> and legislation targeting librarians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year, 15 states considered bills that would open public librarians up to criminal charges for letting minors check out certain books, according to the EveryLibrary Institute<\/a>, a librarian advocacy group. The governors of Arkansas, Indiana<\/a> and Montana<\/a> signed bills into law, while in Idaho and North Dakota, similar measures passed but were vetoed by Republican governors. Last year, Oklahoma<\/a> was the first state to pass a law removing librarians\u2019 protection from prosecution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the battles unfold locally, librarians have become targets of those who believe children shouldn\u2019t have access to books with frank descriptions of sexuality, discussion of gender transitions or celebration of LGBTQ identity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In Moon Township, Pennsylvania, local elected officials<\/a> \u2014 who\u2019d objected to children\u2019s books about drag queens \u2014 questioned a public library about its Disability Pride Month display, because they thought the use of the word \u201cpride\u201d was a reference to LGBTQ people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Post Falls, Idaho, a library board called police to a meeting in February<\/a> to address a rowdy crowd that kept shouting \u201cshame\u201d and \u201cSatan\u201d at people who defended keeping LGBTQ-themed books available for children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Llano, Texas, county officials nearly shut down its library system this year over a dispute about<\/a> whether to keep books like \u201cLarry the Farting Leprechaun\u201d and \u201cI Need a New Butt!\u201d on the shelf because residents complained<\/a> the illustrations appealed to pedophiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clare Graham, the director of the Malvern-Hot Spring County Library in central Arkansas, has been watching in disbelief as such arguments roil communities in the state and beyond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe messaging is saying, \u2018If you are against this, you want kids to see porn,\u2019 and that\u2019s wrong, but that\u2019s the way it\u2019s been framed,\u201d Graham said. \u201cIt leaves me scratching my head, because we are a sanctuary for many, and we are a neutral space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Saline County, in central Arkansas, dueling billboards show the divisions over public libraries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Billboards sponsored by the Saline County Republican Women and the Saline County Republican Committee warn of \u201cX-RATED LIBRARY BOOKS\u201d and direct people to a website that primarily highlights books that include LGBTQ characters. One example is a children\u2019s book published by HBO\u2019s \u201cLast Week Tonight with John Oliver\u201d about a gay bunny<\/a> named after former Vice President Mike Pence\u2019s pet rabbit, which the website says<\/a> is inappropriate for children and part of the library\u2019s effort to \u201cdraw them away from Christian values.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In response, the Saline County Library Alliance, a group of residents opposed to book restrictions, put up a billboard urging residents to \u201cFIGHT THE LIES. STAND WITH THE LIBRARY.\u201d Bailey Morgan, who raised money for the billboards, said they fear the campaign against supposed explicit books will lead to funding cuts for the library, as has happened elsewhere in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n David Gibson, the chair of the Saline County Republican Committee, said the group\u2019s goal isn\u2019t to defund the libraries or ban books, but \u201cwe\u2019re not pretending for one moment that there is one good reason to have sexually explicit material for children to access.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last year, residents of Craighead County, Arkansas, near the Missouri and Tennessee borders, mobilized to cut library funding, objecting to LGBTQ-themed books they considered inappropriate for the children\u2019s sections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Vanessa Adams, the library director in Craighead County, said she took several of the most vocal critics \u2014 a mix of conservative activists and parents \u2014 out to lunch, hoping to strike a compromise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI learned that these people were very sincere and that they truly believed in what they said,\u201d she recalled of their concerns about books that were too mature for children. \u201cI remember saying to one of them, \u2018I may not agree with you, but I love your passion for this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adams proposed moving some books including nudity, like those about sex education, to a \u201cParent\/Teacher\u201d section, but that wasn\u2019t enough to stop the concerned residents\u2019 momentum. In November, voters chose<\/a> by an 8-point margin to slash the library system\u2019s funding in half. When the change kiSullivan, who introduced Act 372 in the state Senate, represents parts of Craighead County and publicly supported the effort to cut the library\u2019s funding. He said it inspired his bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most states have exemptions from prosecution for librarians who share obscene material with minors for legitimate or educational purposes, according to the EveryLibrary Institute<\/a>, and many states have similar exemptions for teachers, clergy, doctors or museum staff members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n