About 1,000 silent protesters read from their books in front of North Dakota libraries Saturday to protest a bill that would force the removal of sexually explicit and obscene content from school and public libraries.
Senate Bill 2307, sponsored by Sen. Keith Boehm, R-Mandan, would force the removal of that content from public areas of the library to areas “not easily accessible” to minors. The bill passed the Senate in February on a 27-20 vote and will now be considered by the House of Representatives.
Right to Read ND, an organization opposing library censorship, led the reading protests at 17 libraries across the state with the largest drawing an estimated 275 people at the Bismarck Veterans Memorial Public Library.
“I’m disappointed that we have to be doing this, but thrilled, and not surprised, that the library has such a crowd of folks showing up against book bans, against censorship,” said Simon Moore, executive director of the Bismarck Library Foundation.
Moore said there is no pornographic material at the Bismarck library and believes the same can be said for public libraries across the state.
“This is not about weeding out pornography. This is about taking control of local institutions,” he said. “This is about building a broader agenda of control, not just at libraries, but higher ed and what gets taught in classrooms, and ideas that folks want to weed out.”
Other events were in Minot, Fargo, West Fargo, Grand Forks, Devils Lake, Mandan, Dickinson, Steele, Forman, Jamestown, Bottineau, Walhalla, Williston, Park River, Valley City, and Watford City.
Supporters of the bill point to some books they don’t think are appropriate for children to access at public libraries. Tom Tracy, former superintendent of Kensal Public School north of Jamestown, said he was alerted a couple of years ago to a book called, “Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human,” in the Valley City Barnes County Public Library.
Tracy, a proponent of the bill, said he thinks the book is pornographic and obscene.
“It used to be that it was up to the parents to work with their own children on those very intimate type things,” Tracy said. “I think of my own children, and, boy, I’ll tell ya, that is not something I would ever, ever want them to look at.”
Melissa Lloyd, assistant director of the Valley City Barnes County Public Library, said a hearing was held to review that book and no one asked for it to be removed from the library. The book was moved from the young adult section to the adult section. Since the hearing, no one has checked it out, Lloyd said.
Tracy emphasized that the bill doesn’t ban books, but forces the material away from public view.
“They just want these books put in a place where they are not exposed to young children,” Tracy said.
Opponents of the bill say libraries already have local processes to review complaints about content. In addition, lawmakers approved a bill in 2023 that required the removal of sexually explicit content from children’s sections of public libraries.
Other opponents of this year’s legislation say they don’t want the government to determine what material is considered obscene.
“I think that parents should be allowed to make the decisions themselves for what their kids are going to read,” said Bismarck resident Julie Leno, who read aloud to her children during Saturday’s protest. “I don’t want anybody telling me what is appropriate just like I don’t think anybody would feel comfortable with me saying what’s appropriate for their kids to read.”
The bill would empower state’s attorneys to investigate complaints from citizens who have exhausted their local library content removal procedures. Those offices could issue opinions on content, which could lead to losses in library funding or criminal charges, if the content is deemed obscene and not removed.
Jonathan Frye, a Bismarck resident, said the 2023 library content removal law and Senate Bill 2307 amount to fear mongering.
“It is making people afraid of something that there is no need to be afraid of,” said Frye, who participated in Saturday’s event. “Places like public libraries and schools already have policies and procedures in place to screen the literaries that come in.”
