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

Feb 15, 2022Jerry CoxFamilyCurrent Events, Family, Jonesboro, Library, Obscenity, Pornography

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.

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

Feb 15, 2022Jerry CoxCurrent Events, FamilyFamily, Library, Obscenity, Pornography

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.

A Nordic Baby Boom?

Feb 14, 2022John StonestreetFamilyFamily

Several Nordic countries that, for decades, have had among the world’s lowest birthrates experienced a baby boom during the pandemic. In the second half of 2021, Iceland saw an incredible 16.5% more births than usual, and Finland and Norway experienced 7 and 5% more births, respectively. 

Typically, a global crisis results in lower fertility rates. In the U.S., for example, the birthrate dropped by 4%. In China, it was a staggering 15%. For years, Nordic countries have offered generous incentives to increase child births, to little effect, as have other European nations that did not see a similar boom during the pandemic. So, money can’t explain it.

Perhaps for some, the pandemic highlighted what really matters. 

One Icelandic mom of teenagers said: “We would just have conversations about everything and nothing and have fun and laugh. … I think that was the tipping point for me. I realized I wasn’t ready to be done with the mom thing.”

The mom thing—and the dad thing—is a good thing.