I had a nice note from a legislator last night who I had reached out to on House Bill 1239, Bethany Soye’s lock up the librarians bill which unfortunately and embarrassingly passed the House of Representatives to subject librarians, teachers, museum workers, etc, to up to a year in jail if a minor checked out something that someone believes is objectionable.
The legislator who dropped me a kind note offered that “I voted no. Was hoping we would defeat the bill so we did not have to add a prison pod for all of those librarians!“
That gave me a chuckle. But unfortunately, it’s not that far off the truth. The bill is now moving over to the Senate as led by Carl Perry in Aberdeen who is priming the bill to move librarians from the book stacks in their local communities to join Andy Dufresne in the Shawshank prison library as this legislative session’s attack on education continues.
Along those lines, it’s a good reminder to start working the phones to communicate to your state Senators to stop the march of trying to shut down libraries in South Dakota, because no one is going to want to work at them. As one legislator in the House related – all my librarians in my District called me and told me they’re quitting if this passes.
The South Dakota Library Association had a note on Facebook yesterday which I wanted to share to assist you in registering your complaints with your Senators:
– Please take a moment to thank legislators who voted against criminalizing librarians, teachers, and museum workers. We appreciate the legislators who stood up and spoke on behalf of librarians and educators. https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Vote/81599
– Next– Please contact your State Senators. Find them here: https://sdlegislature.gov/legislators/find
– Collection development needs to be determined at the local level.
– Threatening library staff, teachers, professors, and museum staff with jail is not the answer.
Please send emails and phone calls to your Senators directly. Use your stories about your local librarians.
If you do need help formatting a letter, please use our OneClick advocacy website located here: https://www.sdlibraryassociation.org/page/Advocacy#HB1239
Otherwise, you can reach the State Senate message line at 605-773-3821.
You can find your Senators with this tool, and once you know, send them a message and tell them not to criminalize librarians for checking out books, and to vote NO on House Bill 1239.
WTF Are we doing here…Budget issues must be solved.
Didn’t you know? They’re not there to solve problems. They’re in Pierre for scorecards and crusades.
Do we have no better tools to work with our local school districts to get some bad books out of the library, besides jail? Is there a better way than jail?
Will it be music next? Say, Drake, I hear you like em’ young?
Wait for the bill next year banning High School pep bands from playing J. Geils’ “Centerfold”
Those who support public education including teachers, paras, administrators, board members, parents plus all of their family members can do something about the right-wing fringe legislators by paying attention in the lead up to the next election and block-voting them out of office. Unfortunately too many teachers and other backers of public education don’t even bother voting let alone publicly backing candidates.
Perry is one of the worst. Dumb and spineless!
Confucius say, “Man with no books is spineless.”
This legislation is a response to the past four years of Transgender story time at libraries across the country and the proliferation of child access to questionable sexually oriented subject matter on the shelves. Parents and legislators want something done to keep that from ever happening again. Their method may not be the best approach, but the result they’re insisting on, a prohibition on child access to sexually oriented material in libraries, is justified.
Fueled by debunked and disgraced Mom’s for Fascism. Look for a book burning event near you!
It sounds like you can’t make a reasoned argument dealing with the facts at hand. No one is calling for the government to burn books. Go fear monger elsewhere.
Fear mongering…a hallmark of the libbies.
Ironic comment, given the basis of this bill. Are you afraid of kids reading some books?
Ya, how about The Anarchist’s Cookbook.
Fear mongering: A hallmark of far right lunacy.
Where is this happening in South Dakota? Why should the SD Legislature create laws because of something going on in California. How will this law get interpreted? Song of Songs/song of Solomon in the Old Testament is pretty spicy.
Your argument is insane or disingenuous. It’s like saying, “no one’s ever been enslaved in South Dakota. Clearly, then, there is no reason for slavery to be illegal here.”
So your party of small government has to pass state laws in reaction to what is allegedly going on in other states? You didn’t even attempt to refute my premise of this not being a SD issue. I’d say the people like you that see phantoms of liberal policies around every corner in SD are the ones being insane and disingenuous.
So this blog doesn’t want 16 year olds to marry with parental consent. But is fine with 3rd graders checking out porn from a library?
Please tell us where this porn in libraries is located. Human sexuality is not porn.
Check out the Song of Solomon. Obviously where the porn is!
I would expect perverts to attack the Bible.
And Borgia Popes, along with every modern TV preacher, weren’t/aren’t also perverts? Interesting take there buddy.
That isn’t even the argument at all. Don’t be disingenuous. Nobody has even said it’s ok. Instead of making outlandish disparity in the ages, keep it the same. A 16 year old is adult enough to marry but not adult enough to check out a spicy book from the library? By the way, this bill doesn’t deal with the content within the library, it just criminalizes the librarian if someone manages to get a hold of it. There is a reason that the people in these institutions have been exempt. They should remain protected.
This blog doesn’t want 16 year olds to be married into sex trafficking or violence. But the Rushmore Republican does.
Educate yourself and do better. Unless you are one of these who want to marry and control a 16 yo minor.
Where are the 3rd graders parents? And where’s the porn in the Library? Did a book have the gall to describe a woman’s undressed angle perchance?
Leviticus 15:16: When a man ejaculates semen.
The fringe may have just written God’s word out of public libraries.
As long as any of us have been alive, banning books was considered anti-American thought control. Not with this bunch. Their Big Brother justification ALWAYS starts with… “it’s for the children”.
They want the legislature to exert control over teachers, administrators, librarians and parents. After they’re done with books, they will try to control your computer, TV, movie theater and your evil little iPhone. (Oh yes, we know what goes on with that thing.) You know it must be done… for the children.
Yep. They did it with comic books in the 50’s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seduction_of_the_Innocent. And Tipper Gore with music in the 80’s
No one is calling for banning books. Parents want to restrict child access to lewd material in public libraries. Only a pervert with bad intentions would be against keeping sexually explicit material out of the hands of children.
These busybodies should raise their own damn kids and keep an eye on them instead of trying to throw librarians in jail. Only a close minded, bible black tyrant, that never left their small town would support this measure
Wow, what a religious bigot you are.
Only bigots in here are those that hate libraries and only want their version of Christianity preached.
Meaning you.
This should be on the parent as much as the librarians. It is called preventive parenting. Explain to your children that certain books are not allowed in your home, and you do not want them to read them until they are an adult, if then.
Secondly, someone must have a list of books that some want banned, then provide that list to your child so they know which ones they are.
Parents are taking responsibility, by calling their elected officials to address it.
“Help me, I’m too lazy to watch my kid when he reads a book. I think I saw him read the word boob, can you help me please”
This blog has become a Pervert Political Action Committee.
Or it’s full of people against lazy, hypersensitive, bullheaded, stuffed shirts? Or those that recognize the inherent issues in defining and censoring offensive material? Or those who lived through the Satanic Panic and saw how stupid everyone panicking was?
Take your pick smartass.
Sounds like the guy struck a nerve.
Person 1: says stupid thing
Person 2: “That was stupid.”
You: ha, person 1 sure struck a nerve!
You’re an idiot.
All of these “Sky is Falling” good Christians that want to wed 16 year old children, and ban books
or lock up librarians, must have overlooked the
fact that all of their children with a smart phone certainly know how to spell Porn.
Whoops….Look!
Naked human beings doing what naked human beings do.
If I were you, I would ban those damn cel phones
from your children. Let me know how that works out.
Talk about a porn portal.
And yes, they are looking at porn.
Attacking Christians has become all too common on this site.
Too many christians on this site believe the government is the enforcement arm of their religion.
I’m Christian and I don’t feel like anyone has attacked me. I see a lot of “Christian’s” trying to impose the religion on people. That’s legalism by the way. I see a lot of Christian’s who don’t understand the purpose of free will and why it was gifted to us. I see a lot of Christian’s who don’t understand the governments role isn’t to further Christianity but rather to help all the people of the state. Done correctly, it certainly can further the kingdom, but not by cramming it down anyone’s neck.
I should have said a form of legalism. Not necessarily the legalism as described in bible every time.
No one, 9:11, is attacking any Christian on this site.
All of these attacks are aimed at FAKE Christians.
And this state is full of them.
You, I suspect fit the bill.
Yep, The Truth Hurts…..
Exactly. Just like all of those TV preachers, the loudest moralists often have the darkest secrets.
Totally agree with the Truth Hurts and elk on this!
Judges 19:23–24
English Standard Version
“And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not do this vile thing. Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now. Violate them and do with them what seems good to you, but against this man do not do this outrageous thing.”
If that passage was from any other library book, this legislature would ban libraries.
This young woman seems like those church-ladies on the teevee. Very judgy but probably not living up to her own standard.
And about that bill on 16-year-olds getting married… I am curious about something. If she is getting married at 16, how long has this 40-year-old dude been dating her?
There has been censorship in recent years as libraries have removed “Huckleberry Finn,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “1984,” “Of Mice and Men,” “Lord of the Flies,” “The Great Gatsby,” “The Grapes of Wrath,” Anne Frank’s “Diary,” and many more classics. These are condemned by the left and the over-the-top progressive members at the American Library Association.
In the internet age, it’s foolish to try to stop through legislation the flood of sewage showing up in libraries. I’d much prefer to try to put the good books listed above back on all shelves, and force the decision-makers to explain why they were pulled in the first place.
Please note the following facts:
The amendments to 22-24-31are similar to Arkansas Act 372 which was found to be unconstitutional by U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks on December 23, 2024. See: Arkansas Act 372 ruled unconstitutional for more information.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks wrote “If the General Assembly’s purpose in passing Section 1 was to protect younger minors from accessing inappropriate sexual content in libraries and bookstores, the law will only achieve that end at the expense of everyone else’s First Amendment rights. The law deputizes librarians and booksellers as the agents of censorship; when motivated by the fear of jail time, it is likely they will shelve only books fit for young children and segregate or discard the rest.
The Court finds that Section 1 of Act 372 is unconstitutional for two reasons. First, it is overbroad because it regulates substantially more speech than the Constitution allows and therefore violates the First Amendment rights of Arkansans. Second, its terms are so vague that they fail to provide librarians and booksellers with adequate notice of what conduct is prohibited, thus violating their due process rights.”