Republican legislators want to set up committee reviews of school library books to root out what they describe as 鈥済ross filth.鈥� The bill passed its first House committee hearings on Tuesday.
Supporters of the bill titled 鈥� held a news conference, putting copies of books they found inappropriate on a table. Some included nude drawings or detailed sexual descriptions, while others addressed LGBTQ subjects.
鈥淎s we come up and we let them know about books and things like this that are having filth, and their commentary and pictures and things like that, most school boards and school board superintendents are not always aware of the content or that the books are actually in their libraries,鈥� said Rep. Brian Biggs, R-Randolph and a co-sponsor of the bill.
The bill calls for school boards to create a 鈥渃ommunity library advisory board鈥� with five parents and five school district employees. The board would review all new library materials before they could be added to a school library.
In addition, 10 complaints about a particular title would trigger a review by the advisory board, and the State Board of Education would maintain a list of rejected titles. Parents and residents of the school district would have the ability to sue if the law isn鈥檛 followed.
Supporters of the bill focused their concerns on sexually explicit materials they say are currently in school libraries.
鈥淭here are people that want to expose your children in public school libraries to sexual images and concepts that are just deplorable and morally wrong,鈥� said Rep. Neal Jackson, R-Randolph.
But the language of the bill appears to allow books to be rejected for other reasons as well. The advisory boards would be tasked with reviewing whether a book 鈥渕eets high standards in literary, artistic, and aesthetic quality,鈥� as well as whether it鈥檚 鈥渁ppropriate for the age, grade level, intellectual development, and ability level of the students.鈥�
Rep. Marcia Morey, D-Durham, says she鈥檚 concerned the bill would open the door to a wider range of censorship.
鈥淲hat I'm worried about is you have a committee of 10, with someone writing 10 letters to take 鈥楾he Color Purple鈥� out of the library,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat's book banning.鈥�
Rep. Julie von Haefen, D-Wake, questioned whether the types of sexual books described by bill sponsors are actually in school library collections.
鈥淐an you give me one example of something pornographic that you yourself 鈥� not an anecdotal story 鈥� that you yourself have seen in our public schools?鈥� she asked.
Rep. David Willis, R-Union, referenced the table of books shown during the press conference. He did not say what schools currently have those books in their libraries.
鈥淣o one is going to get arrested for reading 鈥楾he Color Purple,鈥欌�� Willis said. 鈥淣o one's going to get arrested for reading 鈥�1984.鈥� You might get arrested if you're sitting there talking about how to penetrate yourself with toys as a nine-year-old 鈥� that's what we're talking about.鈥�
Asked how an advisory committee would have time to review the thousands of titles in a school library, Jackson suggested that third-party groups have created lists of objectionable titles that the committees could use.
鈥淭he work is already done,鈥� Jackson said.
