A proposal that would require school libraries to notify parents of every book their child checks out was advanced by Georgia state senators, while a proposal to subject school librarians to criminal charges for distributing material containing obscenity waits in the wings.
The measures are part of a broad and continuing push by Republicans in many states to root out what they see as inappropriate material from schools and libraries, saying books and electronic materials are corrupting children. Opponents say it's a campaign of censorship meant to block children's freedom to learn, while scaring teachers and librarians into silence for fear of losing their jobs or worse.
Georgia senators are also considering bills to force all public and school libraries in the state to cut ties with the American Library Association and to restrict school libraries' ability to hold or acquire any works that depict sexual intercourse or sexual arousal. Neither measure has advanced out of committee ahead of a deadline next week for bills to pass out of their originating chamber.
"This is part of a larger national and Georgia trend to try to limit
access," said Nora Benavidez, a board member of the Georgia First
Amendment Foundation and lawyer for Free Press, a group that seeks to
democratize the media. "The logical endpoint of where this bill, as well
as others, are taking us is for children to have less exposure to
ideas."
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