Library Board In Jonesboro Fails to Adopt Policy Protecting Kids From Graphic Sexual Material

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On Monday the Craighead County Public Library Board rejected a proposal to move books containing graphic sexual content out of the children’s section of the Jonesboro Public Library, according to KAIT News.

This is at least the second time that the library board has failed to adopt a policy addressing sexual content at the library.

You may remember last year the library made headlines after a lawsuit revealed that extremely graphic material was on the shelves in the children’s section of the Jonesboro library.

The proposed policy that the library board rejected on Monday said,

“The purpose of this policy is to protect minors from unintentional exposure to sexually graphic/explicit material in the Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library and to assist parents who wish to allow children to browse through books in areas designated for minors by ensuring some areas of the library are free of detailed descriptions of sexual encounters. 

“Any material in the library placed in areas that are designated for use particularly by minors shall not contain text describing or images depicting sexually graphic/explicit acts.”

This proposal wouldn’t have eliminated sexually-explicit material at the library altogether, but it at least would have moved sexually-explicit material out of the children’s area.

Arkansas’ law against obscenity contains an exception for schools, museums, and public libraries, and to our knowledge libraries in Arkansas have never faced any consequences for loaning pornographic material to children.

Libraries have the ability to remove pornographic, obscene, or inappropriate material from their shelves — especially in areas of the library where there might be children. Unfortunately, the public library in Jonesboro is not taking steps to do that.

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Arkansas Should Wait Until After June to Consider a Texas-Type Abortion Law

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The Bible says that there is safety in the multitude of counselors. To date, I have consulted with 16 strongly pro-life attorneys about whether or not Arkansas should pass a Texas-type abortion law at this time. Two believe we should.  Fourteen believe Arkansas should wait until this summer to pass any more abortion-related laws. That’s when the U.S. Supreme Court will decide if they are going to overturn Roe v. Wade. Fourteen pro-life attorneys I have consulted with believe passing any more abortion-related laws at this time can jeopardize Act 309 of 2021, which makes abortion illegal except to save the life of the mother.  Their advice is that we not pass a Texas-type abortion law at this time. They have also advised that the passage of a Texas-type abortion law is unlikely to stop any abortions in Arkansas. Judges in our courts are different from the ones in Texas.

In addition to the attorneys who have concerns, none of the major national pro-life organizations have expressed strong support of a Texas-type abortion law. National Right to Life, the Alliance Defending Freedom, Americans United for Life, and others have been mostly quiet on this issue. I have heard them choose their words carefully by saying that they don’t oppose the Texas abortion law. If an Arkansas version of the Texas law was a good idea, these national groups would be saying so. There are really good reasons for their silence, and we need to pay attention to that. 

Someone has to sound the alarm and tell Arkansans that it can do a lot more harm than good if we proceed with passing more abortion laws before the U.S. Supreme Court rules this June. After that, we will know what kind of legislation, if any, Arkansas needs to pass to end abortion.

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Why Does Arkansas Law Let Librarians Distribute Obscene Material to Children?

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Over the past several months the public library in Jonesboro has made headlines for pro-LGBT and graphic, sexually-explicit material in the library’s children’s section.

Last week someone asked Family Council, point-blank: How is it that public libraries can give this kind of material to children? Doesn’t that violate the state’s obscenity and pornography laws?

Here’s the answer:

Arkansas’ obscenity law contains an exception for public libraries.

In 1981 the Arkansas Legislature passed Act 28. The law makes it a crime to distribute obscene material in Arkansas.

However, the law also contains an exception for schools, museums, and public libraries. It isn’t against state law for one of these institutions to distribute obscene material.

Arkansas also has a state law against “selling, loaning, or displaying pornography to minors.” However, to our knowledge that law has never been used against public libraries like the one in Jonesboro.

So why does Arkansas law let librarians distribute obscene material to children?

The answer isn’t clear, but it seems to be a combination of different court rulings as well as successful lobbying by organizations that represent schools, libraries, and museums.

That said, there’s nothing to stop communities from taking steps to remove obscene or objectionable material from their libraries.

Library boards and librarians have leeway to establish selection criteria and make decisions about the kinds of material available on the library’s shelves.

Library patrons generally can use a Material Reconsideration Form to ask libraries to get rid of obscene or inappropriate material.

Either way, there are steps that communities can take to make sure children aren’t exposed to harmful material at their local libraries.

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