BILL IS BACK: Sen. Dan Sullivan's bill to regulate library on the agenda for the House Judiciary Committee tomorrow.

Arkansas librarians can breathe a sigh of relief. 

After more than three hours of discussion Tuesday that included plenty of racy language, a House committee voted down Sen. Dan Sullivan’s bill to create a process for elected officials to declare library materials inappropriate and to establish penalties for librarians that furnish obscene materials to minors. 

Advertisement

Known as SB81, the bill passed the state Senate on Feb. 22 by a vote of 27-6, with the chamber’s six Democrats casting the only votes against it. 

On Tuesday, Sullivan (R-Jonesboro) and Rep. Justin Gonzalez (R-Okolona) presented their bill to the House Judiciary Committee, but it was Sullivan who did most of the talking. Sullivan said the bill would allow complaints about materials to be heard not just by library boards but by elected officials on city councils and quorum courts. 

Advertisement

Sullivan repeatedly cited an American Library Association’s policy that he said has been adopted by a majority of Arkansas libraries and does not allow the library to withhold materials from patrons based on age. The policy does not restrict pornography and obscene material from minors, he said. 

Reps. Ashley Hudson (D-Little Rock) and Andrew Collins (D-Little Rock) said the bill was asking legislative bodies such as city councils and quorum courts to perform judicial functions by making determinations about obscenity. Sullivan said that wasn’t the case. 

Advertisement

Sullivan said his bill was misunderstood and that rumors about the bill’s impact had gotten out of hand. He said he couldn’t count how many times he’s been called a Nazi or a fascist because of the bill. 

Collins pointed out that the bill doesn’t require library patrons or local citizens to be the ones making complaints. The bill would lead to people traveling the state and making challenges to library materials, he said. 

Advertisement

A number of citizens signed up to talk about the bill, including a student from Crossett who wisely pointed out that banned books would still be available in bookstores. So the impact of the bill would be that students who can afford it could buy books that include sexual topics but students who can’t would be out of luck. 

Proponents of measures to crack down on what’s available in libraries read sexy excerpts that they said are inappropriate for minors and evidence Sullivan’s bill is necessary. 

Advertisement

Gloria Mortin of Fayetteville, a member of Moms for Liberty of Washington County, referenced a book that talked about a strap-on penis today. She notably read a passage in a previous committee meeting that included the line “I’m going to eat her pussy, Earl.” 

Missy Bosch spoke in favor of the bill and said she had done two years of research on the topic. Bosch is the conservative rabblerouser who got herself banned from Cabot Public Schools after threatening a librarian and whose attempt to set up a charter school was denied by the state Board of Education last year.

Advertisement

The most colorful language of the day came from Derrek Arce of Siloam Springs, who read excerpts with lines about kissing, sex and the line, “I used to love oral.” He also read a list of sexual definitions such as “water sports: peeing on people in a way considered sexy,” “scissor sisters: a sexual position for two women,” “rimming: licking the bottom,” and “scat: eating poop.” 

Arce said it was necessary to remove the books he believed were offensive rather than for uninterested parties to simply not read them. Other kids would still read the books and then “it spreads like gangrene,” he said. 

Arce, who was involved in the removal of several books from the Siloam Springs library recently, spoke strongly against those who would not take his position and suggested certain communities were more prone to child sexualization. 

Advertisement

“If you oppose us opposing the sexualization of children, that’s just nonsense,” he said. “Those who want to sexualize children are either perverts or pedophiles. That’s what it comes down to. And if any one community seems to be targeted, perhaps it’s not because everyone opposes that community, but because that community are the ones most trying to sexualize children.” 

After more than three hours of discussion, the committee voted by a voice vote that sounded fairly split, but chair Carol Dalby (R-Texarkana) did not hesitate to say the noes had won.

The story has been updated to reflect Bosch’s position on the bill.