Reconsider part of SB81

Dear editor:

I am a retired school librarian who has served at all levels of Pre-k -12 public education (elementary, middle and high school) as well as director of library services for a school district and as executive director of a national association of school librarians. I have interacted with thousands of school librarians. Their greatest commonality is a passion for creating readers and developing competent and discerning researchers.

School librarians accomplish this through the careful selection of both print and digital resources. School librarians stay abreast of the latest media and technology as well as the skills that their students need to stay safe online. In many schools, the school library program serves as a gateway to parental involvement by welcoming volunteers into the library.

Through the efforts of school librarians, the library serves as a safe haven for all students. I invite you to take a moment to reflect on how your child’s education has been enriched by the services of the librarian in your child’s school, then I urge you to review SB81. The legislation codifies a process, already long in use in school districts, to determine if material deemed “obscene” will remain in the school library.

Embedded within the bill is a section criminalizing the distribution of material deemed to be “obscene” to a minor by school or public librarians. No matter the legal course this legislation takes, I would like you to consider how necessary it is to demoralize present and possibly future school librarians by labeling them as potential criminals?

I urge you to take a moment to reach out to your elected leaders and ask them to reconsider the wisdom of this provision of SB81.

Julie Nix Hot Springs