Fayetteville Judge Blocks Part of State Law Protecting Children From Explicit Library Material

Library, , ,

On Friday U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks blocked two sections of Act 372 of 2023, a good law that generally prohibits giving or sending a child harmful material that contains nudity or sexual activity.

The law also eliminates exemptions for libraries and schools in the state’s obscenity statute, and it clarifies how library patrons can work to remove objectionable material from a library’s catalog.

The law was slated to take effect August 1, but in June a coalition of libraries in Arkansas led by the ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging portions of Act 372.

Friday’s preliminary injunction prevents the State of Arkansas from enforcing Section 1 and Section 5 of Act 372.

Section 1 of Act 372 makes it a Class A misdemeanor to give or send a child harmful sexual material that contains nudity or sexual activity.

Section 5 of Act 372 clarifies how library patrons can work to remove objectionable material from a library’s catalog.

The ruling did not affect Sections 2, 3, 4, and 6 of Act 372, which eliminate exemptions for schools and libraries in the state’s obscenity statute, address inappropriate material in public school libraries, and permit the disclosure of certain library records.

Family Council has heard repeatedly from people who are deeply troubled by obscene and inappropriate children’s books that some librarians have placed on the shelves of their local libraries.

For example, the Jonesboro public library has been at the center of multiple controversies over its decision to place books with sexually-explicit images in its children’s section and for failing to adopt a policy that separates sexual material from children’s content.

The library in Jonesboro went so far as to post on Facebook that it isn’t the library’s responsibility to protect kids from obscenity.

Other public libraries in Arkansas have failed to separate sexual material from children’s material as well.

Some of the people who testified publicly against Act 372 last spring signaled that they want to be free to share obscene material with children at a library. That simply isn’t right.

Act 372 is a good law that will help protect children in Arkansas. We believe higher courts will recognize that fact and ultimately uphold this law as constitutional.

READ MORE

U of A Library Promotes Pro-LGBT Movies, Documentaries

LGBT,

On Tuesday the University of Arkansas’ main research library issued a statement highlighting pro-LGBT movies and documentaries the library offers.

In a statement, the library said,

In celebration of LGBTQ Pride Month, the Mullins Library Multimedia Department has compiled a list of streaming and physical videos available to all students, staff, and faculty. Physical items are available for checkout in the Multimedia Services Room (MULN 463).

The statement goes on to list more than a dozen pro-LGBT movies and documentaries available through the library.

The list includes films like Call Me By Your Name, which has been heavily criticized for its themes and sexual content.

The university library issued similar statements celebrating LGBT Pride Month during June of last year and in 2021.

More and more, we see institutions, government agencies, and corporations in America rushing to celebrate “pride month” and promote homosexual and transgender behavior — and yet there seems to be backlash brewing against the movement among many Americans.

Writing at Breakpoint.org, commentator John Stonestreet recently noted,

Americans feel they are no longer allowed to turn on the TV, open social media, shop for clothes, buy groceries, or walk down the street without being assaulted by sexual propaganda all year round, not just in June. It’s as if a whole segment of the nation is simply unaware that many people feel assaulted, and many others are simply not that interested.

Of course, the U of A library is just the latest library in Arkansas to curate pro-LGBT content.

Libraries in Craighead County, Pulaski County, and elsewhere have included pro-LGBT and sexually explicit material in their library catalogs.

Communities can take steps to remove objectionable material from their local 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 remove inappropriate material.

And voters can call on their elected officials to enact laws protecting children from objectionable material in public libraries.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

Photo Credit: Brandonrush, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

READ MORE