Displays at Fargo libraries show books that could be removed under two N.D. bills

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – Workers at Fargo’s three public libraries put together displays to show which books could no longer be offered if two bills in the North Dakota Legislature become law.

“We do not have adult porn available in our public schools, so why are we finding persuasive, obscene pornographic images and materials in our schools? In testimony we heard a child being shown pornographic material is actually a reportable abuse of a child for a counselor in our state,” Republican State Senator Janne Myrdal of Edinburg said.

“If we choose to live in a free and open society, we have to know that all of us will run into things that we don’t agree with and we find offensive,” Fargo Public Library Director Tim Dirks said.

Signs on book carts say “Read ’em before they’re gone.” Library staff say books like “The Grapes of Wrath” a Harper Collins study bible, “Where The Crawdads Sing” and an exam study book for the National Council Licensure Examination for nurses could be removed if two bills in the North Dakota Legislature become law. Dirks says his workers are doing a good job showing the impacts of the bills.

“The duty of the library is to have views from across the spectrum that other folks on different sides may find offensive,” Dirks said.

A Senate bill would charge a person with a class B misdemeanor with jail time and a fine for willfully displaying sexually explicit materials the average person applying contemporary North Dakota standards would find offensive in places children visit. That includes showing or describing sexual activity. That measure is now in the House.

The House bill would require libraries to develop a policy and process for keeping prohibited materials out by January 2024. That is now in the Senate.

“We rate movies. There’s a filter there and we need to have a little bit stronger language in code because we don’t have that filter,” State Representative Mike Lefor of Dickinson, the House bill’s sponsor, said.

The President of the North Dakota Library Association feels the House bill isn’t needed since most public libraries in the state have a review process if someone deems something offensive.

“Fifty public libraries across the state out of our 83, there’s been 24 challenges in the last five years,” Kerrianne Boetcher said.

Click here for more information on the House bill and here for the Senate measure.