Oklahoma Republican lawmakers have introduced several bills this legislative session that seek to place new restrictions on school library standards. The bills come as Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor reviews dozens of books found in public school libraries to determine whether they violate state obscenity laws.
| Bill | Description |
|---|---|
| House Bill 3092 | By House Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, would require school libraries to “be reflective of the community standards for the population the library media center serves” when acquiring new materials. |
| Senate Bill 1640 | By Sen. Kay Floyd, D-Oklahoma City, would codify the existing school materials challenge policy into law. |
| Senate Bill 1142 | By Sen. Rob Standridge, R-Norman, would require schools to remove all library books that have “as their primary subject the study of sex, sexual preferences, sexual activity, sexual perversion, sex-based classifications, sexual identity, or gender identity or books that are of a sexual nature that a reasonable parent or legal guardian would want to know of or approve of prior to their child being exposed to it.” Any parent who believes a school has such a book can submit a written request for its removal and it must be removed by the school within 30 days. Staff may be fired and the school could be subject to a $10,000-per day fine for failing to remove the material within 30 days. |
| House Bill 4012 | By Rep. Sherri Conley, R-Newcastle, would create a district-level community standards review committee for school materials, allow parents to appeal school board decisions on books to the state board of education, and require a rating system similar to movies for books in schools. |
| House Bill 4013 | By Rep. Sherri Conley, R-Newcastle, would expand the definition of obscene materials to include books, articles, magazines, drawings, paintings and any written matter. |
| House Bill 4014 | By Rep. Sherri Conley, R-Newcastle, would allow parents to review their children’s library records. |
| House Bill 4317 | By Rep. Wendi Stearman, R-Collinsville, would prohibit the state board of education from adopting school library and literacy subject matter standards that are developed by a national organization, and provides six standards that include students understanding how to access information, developing critical thinking skills to determine a source’s reliability, the ability to locate information of personal interest, understand the difference between objective fact and opinion, researching differing opinions, and understanding copyright laws that must be included in any standards developed. |
| House Bill 4328 | By Rep. Wendi Stearman, R-Collinsville, would require schools to post all library materials online, as well as curriculum materials, teacher training materials, and lesson plans. A school could lose accreditation for failing to comply. Much of the bill’s language is copied word-for-word from model legislation offered by the conservative think tank The Manhattan Institute. |
| Senate Bill 1654 | By Sen. Shane Jett, R-Shawnee, would ban schools from carrying books on “lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender issues or recreational sexualization,” defined as “any form of non-procreative sex.” The bill also prohibits schools from administering surveys on sexuality or gender. |
| Senate Bill 1823 | By Sen Shane Jett, R-Shawnee, would prohibit businesses from knowingly targeting minors with content or messages with obscene material or sexual conduct under the Oklahoma Consumer Protection Act. |
