Bill passes to limit minors’ access to some library materials

Published: June 08, 2023

By: Jenna Bridges, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — A bill that would limit minors’ access to library materials that might be considered sexually explicit received final legislative passage Thursday.

While lawmakers are rushing to pass their bills before the session ends at 6 p.m. Thursday, the final version of Republican state Sen. Heather Miley Cloud’s library bill, Senate Bill 7, passed the House 68-26 and the Senate 21-13. The final version was worked out in a conference between House and Senate members.

Now, the bill will be sent to Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat. With less than two-thirds of the House and Senate in support of the bill, it is possible that he could veto it and the Legislature would be unable to override the veto.

Cloud’s bill would require public libraries to adopt a system that would allow parents to decide if their children could check out material that community members might consider sexually explicit, either at the library or online, through restrictions set on the minor’s library card.

If the bill becomes law, libraries would be required to adopt the policy no later than June 1, 2024.

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