A bill filed this week in Missouri would give a specially appointed parental board oversight over public library materials deemed inappropriate for minors and proposes legal ramifications for librarians who don’t comply—leaving library leadership, workers, and supporters up in arms.
When the Missouri General Assembly convened for the year on January 8, Rep. Ben Baker (R-Neosho) introduced H.B. 2044, the Parental Oversight of Public Libraries Act, which proposes to keep “age-inappropriate sexual material” in libraries out of the hands of minors. If passed, the bill would mean that any library staff that violates it would face a $500 fine or a year in jail, and state aid for offending libraries would be cut as well.
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