An Iowa Senate subcommittee has advanced a bill (SF 2119) that would remove protections in state obscenity laws for schools and libraries. Current law broadly exempts educational and library materials from obscenity claims.
Amber Williams, with Inspired Life, supports ending those exemptions. She said libraries would face more accountability for what they put on their shelves.
“This bill is about consistency under the law, and it is about ensuring that public institutions operate under the same legal boundaries that apply to everyone else,” Williams said. “If material is obscene for minors, its location should not give it immunity.”
Opponents of the bill said libraries do not carry obscene books, but deleting the exemption would expose libraries to frivolous lawsuits from people targeting certain books they consider inappropriate.
“If an individual disagrees with the content of an item in our collection, they can circumvent a library’s book challenge process and take the library to court instead by claiming it is obscene,” said Chris Stone, director of the Hiawatha Public Library.
Sen. Lynn Evans, R-Aurelia, moved the bill forward, saying if libraries are following obscenity laws, the exemption should be unnecessary. Next, it heads to the full Senate Education Committee.