Gov. Sanders Appoints Former Senator Jason Rapert to State Library Board

In this file photo from 2021, Sen. Rapert (left) speaks with Sen. Alan Clark and Family Council President Jerry Cox (right) at the Arkansas Capitol Building.

On Monday Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders appointed former state senator Jason Rapert to a six-year term on the State Library Board.

According to its website, the State Library administers state and federal funds appropriated for libraries and library development, including State Aid To Public Libraries funds and federal Library Services and Technology Act funds.

During his time in the Arkansas House of Representatives and Arkansas Senate, Jason Rapert sponsored several good pieces of legislation — including Act 1213 of 2015 authorizing a privately funded monument of the Ten Commandments on the Arkansas State Capitol Grounds and Act 180 of 2019 that now prohibits abortion in Arkansas except to save the life of the mother.

Jason Rapert is a staunch conservative and a proponent of the biblical worldview. He will be a much-needed addition to the library board in light of recent concerns some people have voiced about inappropriate material in local libraries.

Saline County Quorum Court Votes to Put County Judge Over Library

The Saline County Quorum Court voted on Monday to give County Judge Matt Brumley authority over the county library.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette writes that Monday’s measure prevents the county library board from hiring or firing library employees or regulating their salaries. The measure also subjects the library to an annual audit, and it effectively places the quorum court in charge of the library’s budget.

The move in Saline County comes after extensive controversy over the placement of inappropriate children’s books in the library’s catalog.

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.

Following the controversy in Jonesboro, voters opted to cut the library’s millage in half last November.

Other public libraries in Arkansas have included graphic children’s books in their catalogs and failed to separate sexual material from children’s material as well.

Public libraries are supposed to be for everyone.

Families should be able to take their children to the library without worrying what their children might see.

Taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize graphic novels that depict explicit images of minors engaged in sexual acts.

Hopefully, the Saline County Quorum Court’s vote this week will help ensure that library material in their community is appropriate for all ages.

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

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

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.