Janet Anderson, Director, Minot Public Library, Minot

House Bill 1205 (relating to prohibiting public libraries from maintaining explicit sexual material) and Senate Bill 2360 (relating to obscenity control; to provide a penalty; and to provide an effective date) both passed their respective houses last week with a “Veto-Proof” majority.

Supporters of these bills have repeatedly said that they intend to “protect” youth from “pornography,” and they have brought in several people to testify about the adverse effects of pornography on children. However, none of these supporters have yet defined what “pornography” is or answered concerns about the unintended consequences of these bills.

As someone who has been in the library field for over fourteen years, I think you would have difficulty finding library workers who think pornography is suitable for youth and should be readily available to children of all ages. Yet, this is what some legislators and others would like you to believe.

One such legislator, Senator Myrdal, went as far as to say the following about an e-mail I sent to her and other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee: “I got an e-mail from a library director that stated, and I’m reading it, “about 8 in 10 teenagers, or young children, who watch porn said they do so to learn about how to have sex, with many saying they felt online porn provided helpful information.” That’s from a librarian promoting pornography to children. So, we obviously have a problem.”

Unfortunately, this was not what the e-mail contained. Instead, I shared the following: “Further, Common Sense Media (a source many libraries use in selecting materials) released a report in January that indicated “About eight in 10 teens who watched porn said they did so to learn how to have sex, with many saying they felt online porn provided helpful information.” Wouldn’t you rather your children learn this through books and educational databases if they are not comfortable talking to an adult about sex?” and then I included a link to the study conducted by Common Sense Media.

In addition to misunderstanding, misinterpreting, and miscommunicating with constituents, supporters of HB1205 and SB2360 have created bills that will negatively impact readers in an enormous way. While they say that they are removing porn from children, what they consider to fall into this category vastly differs from what most of us consider pornography. Additionally, knee-jerk reactions to “protect children” cannot be applied to all situations and people. A book that’s inappropriate for a six-year-old isn’t necessarily inappropriate for a sixteen-year-old. Yet, HB 1205 states: “A public library may not maintain in its inventory books that contain explicit sexual material,” which is defined to include, among other things, visual depictions of sexual activity.

Meanwhile, SB2360 states, “A person is guilty of a class B misdemeanor if the person willfully displays at newsstands or any other business establishment frequented by minors, or where minors are or may be invited as a part of the general public, any photograph, book, paperback book, pamphlet, or magazine, the exposed cover or available content of which either contains explicit sexual material that is harmful to minors or exploits, is devoted to, or contains depictions or written descriptions of nude or partially denuded human figures….”

SB2360 is especially alarming because it applies not only to libraries but also to Main Street Books, Barnes and Noble, and even Walmart and Target. Any place that sells Harlequin romance books or Fifty Shades of Grey could be at risk for criminal charges. Furthermore, books about puberty, books on motherhood, Manga, and even the Bible would fall under these categories.