Louisiana Attorney General Audits Sexually Explicit Books In Public Libraries- Proposes Legislation To Restrict Kids Access!

Louisiana Republican Attorney General, Jeff Landry has conducted an audit on “sexually explicit” books in the state’s public libraries and proposed legislation to restrict minors from accessing adult content.

In his 54-page “Protecting Innocence” memo, the Attorney General noted disturbing details of sexually explicit content readily accessible to children in the state’s public libraries. The report cites specific examples from some books displaying pornographic content.

“About six months ago, our office started getting calls from concerned parents and librarians about sexually explicit material within the public libraries that minor children, in our public libraries, had unfettered, unrestricted access to,” Landry said in a Tuesday news conference, attended by concerned parents and legislators. “This began a debate between parents and librarians across our state about how we could keep sexually explicit material out of the hands of children while still ensuring that librarians are able to promote healthy viewpoints within our public libraries.”

“Fun Home,” “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” and “Blankets,” were some of many books containing graphic visuals and scenes depicting masturbation, sexting, and oral sex, amongst other explicit imagery.

“Let me be clear so that there is zero confusion,” Landry noted Tuesday, “nowhere in this report do we call for the censoring or banning of books. This is about what’s appropriate for children. This is about giving parents the ability to control the information that their children see or have access to in public libraries.”

Landry’s proposed legislation suggests separating sexually explicit books from the children’s section and creating a new library card system restricting minors from accessing the adult section without parental approval.

“This is not a political issue. This is about giving parents and officials the tools they requested to protect Louisiana’s children from sexually explicit material that is inappropriate for their age,” he noted. “This doesn’t mean that we’re banning or censoring voices. It does mean that some books should be relocated away from small children and that the ability of those children to check out certain materials should be limited to what their parents and guardians allow.”

Laundry’s initiative was supported by two Republican lawmakers- State Rep. Julie Emerson and State Senator Heather Cloud, both have filed separate legislations requiring public libraries to limit minors’ access to sexually explicit content.

“Quite frankly, library policies across our state and our nation are pretty antiquated,” Cloud said in a news conference. “Even Netflix knows that we need an age-appropriate rating system and parents are able to set those guides for their children’s viewing material at home.”

“It’s a one-size-fits-all card,” Cloud said about the state’s current library system. “Basically, if my 10-year-old nephew has a library card, and he visits our local library he has full access to all the books in the library.”

Cloud’s bill will be discussed in the upcoming April 10th legislative session.