The Missouri House of Representatives approved last Tuesday to eliminate the resources for public libraries in that entity from the state budget, in another episode of the culture war waged by conservative groups that in recent months have dedicated themselves to banning books in the United States Joined.

Civil organizations that oppose that attack maintained that the disappearance of 4.5 million dollars for public libraries is retaliation for the lawsuit against a state law passed in 2022 that has resulted in the prosecution of librarians and other educators who gave access to books. to the students.

Although the budget still has to go through the approval of the state Senate and the Missouri governor’s office, it is a fact that government funding for libraries located primarily in rural areas is in jeopardy.

In addition, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri (ACLU-MO), the Missouri Association of School Librarians (AML), and the Missouri Library Association (MLA) acronym) filed a lawsuit to overturn a state law passed in 2022 that bans sexually explicit material in schools.

They contend that school districts have not only been removing books from their shelves, but librarians and teachers have been charged with up to a year in jail or a $2,000 fine for providing such material.

According to the British newspaper The Independent, PEN America reported that this recently approved norm led to the withdrawal preemptively for fear that right-wing activists will file lawsuits against them, which would be a waste of money. Between August and November, state authorities banned more than 300 books in at least 11 school districts..

Threats to Missouri libraries have been replicated in state legislatures and local governments across the United States, with activists campaigning against titles linked to LGBT people or materials that discuss sexuality and honest depictions of racism and discrimination, the newspaper reported.

Based on information from the EveryLibrary portal, it is detailed that this year there are more than 100 bills in the legislatures of at least 31 states in that country that threaten to cut the budgets of many libraries, to “implement book classification systems , regulate the type of books and materials in its collections and modify the definitions of obscenity that prevail over the protections of the First Amendment”.

A few days ago, the MLA released a statement rejecting the cut proposed by the chairman of the budget committee, Republican Cody Smith, because, in his opinion, state aid sent to the 160 library districts in Missouri was being spent to fund litigation against the state.

The organization clarified that the State aid to libraries is directed toward providing relevant collections, literacy-based programs, and technology resources to their communities. Our rural libraries are the most dependent on this funding to serve their communities, and will be hurt by this drastic budget cut..

For its part, the ACLU-MO stated that retaliating against two private, volunteer-run organizations punishing patrons of Missouri public libraries is abhorrentand asked that the local governments with a misguided effort to silence organizations that oppose the overreach of the legislature.

Veto LGBT and diversity issues

Magazine Vice reported that in addition to Missouri, there are states where various anti-obscenity initiatives “became law in the past year, including Oklahoma and Tennessee. It has become easier for an adult to challenge books with LGBT representation and diversity.

Last week, the American Library Association (ALA) released data showing that by 2022, the number of book challenges has nearly doubled, with 32 percent of all book challenges involving multiple titles.

Another example of the war that conservative groups have waged against the book is that in Texas, Llano County officials are considering plans to cease operations entirely in its library system, after a judge ordered one of those facilities to return the books it had checked out.

Among the titles removed from that library’s shelves by county employees were They Called Themselves the KKK: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group, by Susan Campbell Bartoletti; three books in the series I Need a New Butt!, by Dawn McMillan; titles by Maurice Sendak, and a book titled It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health, as well as illustrated children’s books.

In defense of librarians and libraries in the face of a wave of legislative threats last month, Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada, president of the ALA, condemned the noisy minority that fans “the flames of controversy surrounding the books.

Many library workers face threats to their employment, personal safety and, in some cases, threats of prosecution for providing young people with books that they and their parents want to read.

Pelayo-Lozada concluded: Our nation cannot afford to lose the library workers who empower their communities and safeguard our freedom to read..