Jail the Librarians

How education falls

The “jail the librarians” bill in Georgia passed the Senate. Senate Bill 74 proposes misdemeanor charges for school librarians who knowingly distribute books deemed harmful to minors. Charges will put your license in jeopardy.

You can read more about it here, but this is the full bill. It’s short and awful.

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Part 3 of Article 3 of Chapter 12 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to sale or distribution of harmful materials to minors, so as to repeal an exemption for libraries and librarians from the provisions of Code Section 16-12-103, relating to selling, loaning, distributing, or exhibiting materials harmful to minors; to provide that any violation of such Code section shall be a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature when committed knowingly; to provide for a defense for librarians who make good faith attempts to identify and remove material harmful to minors; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date and applicability; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

Other offenses categorized as misdemeanors of high and aggravated nature:

• pimping

• battery against a pregnant woman

• your THIRD DUI

And if you’re wondering what the endgame is, it’s to defund all libraries and eventually all public services. If you want evidence, look no further than Fairhope County in Alabama who just had their PUBLIC library defunded due to challenges regarding books like Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson which details the trials of a girl who is being groomed by an older man. You can speculate as to why someone would not want their young girl to read a book that would keep them from such a fate. You can buy the book from a Black Bookstore here.

Call and email your Congressman to fight this in the house.

If you aren’t sure what to write here’s what I sent below.

---

Congressman (insert name),

I'll keep this very brief and say that I believe that there is a need to take a stand against book banning in Georgia before the already present anti-CRT laws, the recent K-12 executive order and current meetings among Moms for Liberty result in a complete eradication of the right to read in Georgia.

Unfortunately SB74 made it through on Crossover Day. https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/1815780. This so-called "jail the librarians" bill would charge librarians with misdemeanors if they distribute harmful materials to minors. Who determines what is harmful? Let's call this what it is, which is an attack on libraries so that they can eventually be fully defunded. I hope and trust you will be voting 'no' on this bill once it makes it back to the floor. If it makes it back to the floor.

As a school librarian I want to make sure that students have access to all the information they need to make good decisions and feel good about themselves. I also want to make sure I continue to have a job in 4 years. There are states that have already implemented anti-book bans. The bills are below.

Examples:

California: https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/1674195

Vermont - https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/1660601