In 2023, the Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature came after school libraries, passing a law that barred them from offering any books that describe a sex act.
Now, the righteous right is coming for Iowa’s public libraries. Who could have predicted it?
“When you start taking books out, where does it end? Is it going to end with the school district or is the public library going to be the next here in Iowa that will be asked to remove materials?” asked Janette McMahon, the library director at the DeWitt Community Library in a Gazette article in July 2023.
“This is a snowball that's going to be very hard to stop,” she said.
Previously on Iowa Legislature, we learned the lawmakers will not maintain our rights. With the attack on public libraries, they’re taking aim at the liberties we prize.
Do you recall the quaint notion we learned in school that our constitutional freedom of speech means even unpopular speech is shielded from government censorship? We also have individual rights the majority can’t take away. Separation of church and state was a thing. Those were the days.
Public libraries should be our monuments to how much we care about knowledge, creativity and free expression. Now, they’re just the latest target assailed by the perpetually outraged.
ADVERTISING
No rights matter if “Gender Queer” is on a library shelf. Have you seen those illustrations? If not, Republicans would love to show you. It’s like they carry them around just in case someone has the audacity to resist banning books.
It’s bad enough to ban school library books. But we’re talking about public libraries that serve all of us. Taking our books from shelves is an offense against our liberties. You can read all about it, at least for now.
The Republican bill is very simple.
In Iowa law, there is a definition of obscene material.
“Obscene material” is any material depicting or describing the genitals, sex acts, masturbation, excretory functions or sadomasochistic abuse which the average person, taking the material as a whole and applying contemporary community standards with respect to what is suitable material for minors, would find appeals to the prurient interest and is patently offensive; and the material, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, scientific, political or artistic value.
But current law also carves out an exception.
728.7 Exemptions for public libraries and educational institutions. Nothing in this chapter prohibits the use of appropriate material for educational purposes in any accredited school, or any public library, or in any educational program in which the minor is participating. Nothing in this chapter prohibits the attendance of minors at an exhibition or display of art works or the use of any materials in any public library.
Republicans running the Golden Dome of Wisdom, now redder than a crimson flush of embarrassment, would simply delete 728.7 from the Iowa code.
Without that exemption, public libraries may face a squadron of lawsuits from people and groups who believe they’re offering obscene materials. Some national groups will have deep pockets. Many libraries can barely stay open for lack of funding.
Back in the day, when book disputes arose, they were hashed out in local discussions. But that leaves out the part where lawmakers get to grandstand for political gain.
Evelyn Nikkel, who lobbies for something called PELLA PAC, said the exemption must go because it’s been used to “stack our libraries with obscenities intentionally aimed at desensitizing our vulnerable young people and making deviant behavior seem normal,” according to IPR news.
The bill is supported by the usual suspects — the Family Leader, Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition and Iowa Baptists for Biblical Values, plus a few more groups. Surely, Moms for Liberty is around here someplace, hoping to see more liberties slashed.
A second bill would deny state funding through the Enrich Iowa program for any library that joins the American Library Association. I hear it’s a “godless, Marxist group.”
Ouch. I rolled my eyes so hard I think I strained something.
I was at liberty, as a kid, to spend many hours in our public library while my mom ran errands. I would inevitably emerge hauling a stack of books. They were about the U.S. space program, history, presidents, politics, science, and whatever caught my eye.
Nobody questioned my selections, including a book about human anatomy which I must admit did get a little racy. I was gently told occasionally the books I picked were above my reading level. I was not deterred.
I recall reading “Berlin Diary,” by William L. Shirer, which made me want to become a foreign correspondent. OK, so I didn’t make it out of Iowa, but this state does seem foreign to me now.
My kids spent a lot of time at the public library. They were always excited to go. They also left with armloads of books.
But if you yank away the exemption, and libraries are saddled with costly lawsuits and funding cuts, some Iowa kids may not get the opportunity to explore the stacks and all of the other stuff libraries now offer. But I guess that’s what crusading book banners want. Just think of what kids might find.
They might find books by authors of color detailing how racism persists. There are LGBTQ authors who explain their struggle for acceptance. There are history books that might make us uncomfortable and literature that (gasp) mentions sex. I bet there are books that include the words diversity, equity and inclusion. To the ramparts!
So, bill backers want to make us believe this all about obscenity and protecting kids. But it’s really about stopping them from learning about different worldviews. There are experiences and ideas that run counter to what conservatives want us to believe. We might get some notion into our heads that banning books is harmful and dangerous.
Backers insist it’s not a book ban because you can still buy the books. Check with a family struggling to make ends meet for a second opinion.
And how long will we be allowed to buy the books? How long will we be able to possess those books? The snowball, as the librarian said, is hard to stop once it gets forward momentum.
This is a Statehouse that flat out doesn’t care about your liberties, unless you’re a hog baron polluting our water, a corporation pining for another tax cut or Christian conservatives making a mockery of constitutional protections.
They can do whatever they want under this regime. We’re stuck living in a damaged state. Iowa’s history of civil rights protections and great schools is being packed away and kept from public view, along with our books. Where does it end?
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
www.thegazette.com
Now, the righteous right is coming for Iowa’s public libraries. Who could have predicted it?
“When you start taking books out, where does it end? Is it going to end with the school district or is the public library going to be the next here in Iowa that will be asked to remove materials?” asked Janette McMahon, the library director at the DeWitt Community Library in a Gazette article in July 2023.
“This is a snowball that's going to be very hard to stop,” she said.
Previously on Iowa Legislature, we learned the lawmakers will not maintain our rights. With the attack on public libraries, they’re taking aim at the liberties we prize.
Do you recall the quaint notion we learned in school that our constitutional freedom of speech means even unpopular speech is shielded from government censorship? We also have individual rights the majority can’t take away. Separation of church and state was a thing. Those were the days.
Public libraries should be our monuments to how much we care about knowledge, creativity and free expression. Now, they’re just the latest target assailed by the perpetually outraged.
ADVERTISING
No rights matter if “Gender Queer” is on a library shelf. Have you seen those illustrations? If not, Republicans would love to show you. It’s like they carry them around just in case someone has the audacity to resist banning books.
It’s bad enough to ban school library books. But we’re talking about public libraries that serve all of us. Taking our books from shelves is an offense against our liberties. You can read all about it, at least for now.
The Republican bill is very simple.
In Iowa law, there is a definition of obscene material.
“Obscene material” is any material depicting or describing the genitals, sex acts, masturbation, excretory functions or sadomasochistic abuse which the average person, taking the material as a whole and applying contemporary community standards with respect to what is suitable material for minors, would find appeals to the prurient interest and is patently offensive; and the material, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, scientific, political or artistic value.
But current law also carves out an exception.
728.7 Exemptions for public libraries and educational institutions. Nothing in this chapter prohibits the use of appropriate material for educational purposes in any accredited school, or any public library, or in any educational program in which the minor is participating. Nothing in this chapter prohibits the attendance of minors at an exhibition or display of art works or the use of any materials in any public library.
Republicans running the Golden Dome of Wisdom, now redder than a crimson flush of embarrassment, would simply delete 728.7 from the Iowa code.
Without that exemption, public libraries may face a squadron of lawsuits from people and groups who believe they’re offering obscene materials. Some national groups will have deep pockets. Many libraries can barely stay open for lack of funding.
Back in the day, when book disputes arose, they were hashed out in local discussions. But that leaves out the part where lawmakers get to grandstand for political gain.
Evelyn Nikkel, who lobbies for something called PELLA PAC, said the exemption must go because it’s been used to “stack our libraries with obscenities intentionally aimed at desensitizing our vulnerable young people and making deviant behavior seem normal,” according to IPR news.
The bill is supported by the usual suspects — the Family Leader, Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition and Iowa Baptists for Biblical Values, plus a few more groups. Surely, Moms for Liberty is around here someplace, hoping to see more liberties slashed.
A second bill would deny state funding through the Enrich Iowa program for any library that joins the American Library Association. I hear it’s a “godless, Marxist group.”
Ouch. I rolled my eyes so hard I think I strained something.
I was at liberty, as a kid, to spend many hours in our public library while my mom ran errands. I would inevitably emerge hauling a stack of books. They were about the U.S. space program, history, presidents, politics, science, and whatever caught my eye.
Nobody questioned my selections, including a book about human anatomy which I must admit did get a little racy. I was gently told occasionally the books I picked were above my reading level. I was not deterred.
I recall reading “Berlin Diary,” by William L. Shirer, which made me want to become a foreign correspondent. OK, so I didn’t make it out of Iowa, but this state does seem foreign to me now.
My kids spent a lot of time at the public library. They were always excited to go. They also left with armloads of books.
But if you yank away the exemption, and libraries are saddled with costly lawsuits and funding cuts, some Iowa kids may not get the opportunity to explore the stacks and all of the other stuff libraries now offer. But I guess that’s what crusading book banners want. Just think of what kids might find.
They might find books by authors of color detailing how racism persists. There are LGBTQ authors who explain their struggle for acceptance. There are history books that might make us uncomfortable and literature that (gasp) mentions sex. I bet there are books that include the words diversity, equity and inclusion. To the ramparts!
So, bill backers want to make us believe this all about obscenity and protecting kids. But it’s really about stopping them from learning about different worldviews. There are experiences and ideas that run counter to what conservatives want us to believe. We might get some notion into our heads that banning books is harmful and dangerous.
Backers insist it’s not a book ban because you can still buy the books. Check with a family struggling to make ends meet for a second opinion.
And how long will we be allowed to buy the books? How long will we be able to possess those books? The snowball, as the librarian said, is hard to stop once it gets forward momentum.
This is a Statehouse that flat out doesn’t care about your liberties, unless you’re a hog baron polluting our water, a corporation pining for another tax cut or Christian conservatives making a mockery of constitutional protections.
They can do whatever they want under this regime. We’re stuck living in a damaged state. Iowa’s history of civil rights protections and great schools is being packed away and kept from public view, along with our books. Where does it end?
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
Opinion: The righteous right takes aim at Iowa’s public libraries
A librarian organizes books that have been returned on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022, at the Ladd branch of the Cedar …
www.thegazette.com
