By Nicole Maxwell
A bill aimed at protecting public libraries from politically charged book ban attempts is making its way through the Roundhouse.
HB 27, the Librarian Protection Act, sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Cates, D-Rio Rancho, seeks to prohibit public libraries from getting state funding unless they adopt a policy prohibiting the removal of books or other materials based on partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
รขโฌลI bring this bill to you today because I have concern about our public librarians throughout our state, and I believe that this is a bill that will help protect them,รขโฌย Cates said during a committee hearing. รขโฌลAs you know, librarians have spent their careers in education and being able to serve their community, and theyรขโฌโขre all about process, not about politics, and I want to be able to let them stay in that process-oriented manner of decision.รขโฌย
The bill also does not allow a public libraryรขโฌโขs funding to be reduced for complying with the bill.
รขโฌลThe bill clarifies that it is not intended to curtail the right of individuals to challenge library materials. รขโฌหBanรขโฌโข means the removal of library materials. รขโฌหChallengeรขโฌโข means the attempt to remove said materials,รขโฌย the billรขโฌโขs Fiscal Impact Report states.
รขโฌลThe Public Education Department notes that if the bill is not passed, public libraries in New Mexico may be subject to increasing numbers of challenges to books and other library materials, based upon partisan, political, or religious views, hampering their general mission of provision of information, books, and other resources to the public,รขโฌย according to the report.
The process for challenging books and other materials would remain intact, however, blanket bans based on political or other ideological reasons.
The bill passed the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee 4-to-2 with Reps. Stefani Lord, R-Sandia Park, and John Block, R-Alamogordo, voted against the bill.
Lord said she was against the bill because it does not directly prohibit children from accessing materials shelved in the adult section due to adult content potentially not being appropriate for children.
About a year ago, Estancia Public Library Director Angela Creamer set up Freedom to Read, a policy that includes how the library would handle someone coming in and asking for materials to be removed.
รขโฌลI think a lot of politicians maybe forget that librarians are men and women that are also parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, and we care about our community just as much as anybody else,รขโฌย Creamer said. รขโฌลPersonally, I donรขโฌโขt think the government should be raising our children. I think parents and caregivers, guardians and grandparents and relatives raise the children. So I think it goes back to trust.รขโฌย
The Rio Rancho City Council in 2023 passed legislation protecting public libraries and librarians from repeated, but ultimately unsuccessful book banning attempts.