Fargo Public Library Director Says Vetoed Library Bill Would Have Been ‘Unenforceable’

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – Across all three Fargo libraries, there is a collection of about 270,000 books. From children’s books, young adult books, and more. But under a Senate bill, libraries and public schools would have to relocate or remove books that are explicit sexual material to an area in the library not easily accessible to minors.

“Our Northport branch is a single room. So that can easily be seen as easily accessible, so then where do they go? Based on the broad language in the bill, that would define obscenity. And then most of the small libraries in the state of North Dakota are single rooms as well,” said Tim Dirks, Director of Fargo Public Library.

In 2023, a similar law had passed to remove explicit material from library shelves, but the bill expanded to public schools and would have taken effect January of next year.
North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong had vetoed the bill, stating that in today’s world, explicit content is hard to avoid.

“It takes the role of the parent away, it takes the role of the local library board for the local library away, and it puts it in the hands of the legal system. So all decisions in regards to collections and this kind of thing happen within the state’s attorney’s office or legislative management. And I think that’s wrong,” said Dirks.

Libraries would have to build a committee to make a decision on the removal of a book if an individual makes a complaint. But Gov. Armstrong shares in his veto letter, “Any individual can force these steps to occur with a complaint about any book. And nothing in the law requires that individual to be a North Dakota citizen.”

“Given that the discussions that I had, that Senate Bill 2307 was vague and essentially unenforceable, I had no intention to change anything in terms of what the Fargo Public Library does, in terms of its collection, and based on age or what have you,” said Dirks.

Dirks shares his thanks to the governor for vetoing this bill and hopes no bill like this one comes back.