Library Commission working group to track bills restricting access to library materials

Since the Texas Legislature reconvened for its 88th session in January, the city’s Library Commission has been tracking a number of bills concerning restriction of library materials. At last Monday’s regular meeting, commissioners expressed their concern about some of the newly introduced bills and decided to form a working group to keep track of their progress.

Chair Mark Smith shared his apprehensions about three bills in particular. The first two bills revoke a section of the Texas Penal Code governing the distribution of “harmful materials” to minors, effectively eliminating affirmative defense on the matter. House Bill 1253 increases the punishment for distribution of “harmful materials” from a class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony.

According to Smith, these bills are extremely misleading, specifically by implying that libraries are distributing pornographic material to minors, which he said is inaccurate in terms of both the content and purpose of libraries. “It’s a way to give a chilling effect to libraries, and to keep librarians from ordering the materials that they need,” he said. 

The commissioners also discussed how the issue of restricting library materials has become an increasingly common occurrence throughout the country. They noted that the First Amendment right to freedom of expression encompasses intellectual freedoms such as the ability to receive a wide variety of information from multiple perspectives. 

Libraries must remain content-neutral in the content they offer to the public, and must maintain the primary goal of facilitating access to “all points of view on current and historical issues.” So naturally it raises librarians’ concern when governmental bodies attempt to place barriers between library users and library content, as removal based on content could easily lead to censorship.

Smith emphasized that the Austin Public Library “wants the Legislature to get out of the library business.”  

“We just want to be able to provide resources. We’re not trying to indoctrinate anybody, not trying to groom anybody, our goal is just to be able to provide the materials that people want,” he said. 

Commissioner Courtney Rosenthal proposed some ideas for approaches that the library commission and library staff can take to prepare for and mitigate the harm that could be caused by these types of restrictive bills.

On the individual level, Rosenthal suggested that library users and staff stay informed using websites such as the Texas Library Association, which is tracking bills from the 88th session that connect to library-related matters.

Another idea Rosenthal had was to reach out to other city library commissions and connect over their shared concerns and canvass potential solutions together. 

But the most immediate goal for the commission was to form a working group to track progress with the bills and report updates and suggest action items for the commission. 

The commissioners agreed that a small collaborative group would be the best approach, and voted to form a working group consisting of Smith and commissioners Rosenthal and JC Dwyer.

“We can agendize this as a topic in each meeting during the (legislative) session and figure out where we are,” Smith said, “and if a resolution is in order then we can handle that at that time.”

Photo by ParentingPatch, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Austin Monitor’s work is made possible by donations from the community. Though our reporting covers donors from time to time, we are careful to keep business and editorial efforts separate while maintaining transparency. A complete list of donors is available here, and our code of ethics is explained here.