The North Dakota Senate and House of Representative have developed and passed two bills regarding the restriction of books in public libraries and other organizations. View these proposed bills at: ENGROSSED House Bill No. 1205 FIRST ENGROSSMENT – Sixty-eighth Legislative Assembly of North Dakota – LC Number 23.0407.03000 (ndlegis.gov)
ENGROSSED Senate Bill No. 2360 FIRST ENGROSSMENT – Sixty-eighth Legislative Assembly of North Dakota – LC Number 23.0672.05000 (ndlegis.gov)
Voting on these bills will take place early during week of March 13-17!
The goal of the Kindred Public Library Board of Trustees and Library Directors is to provide a safe place for children, youth and adults who visit the Library and who seek out reading material for enjoyment, education and information. As part of pursuing these efforts, we have established local policies to assure suitable materials are available to appropriate audiences. These controls are:
- Materials within the Library are sorted on shelves in separate areas by age,
- Board bylaws outline selection procedures and considerations used when materials are added to the Library’s collection,
- Additional guidance for Library staff in selecting materials within the above policy is the Miller obscenity test which is the result of the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision,
- Board bylaws provide a Reconsideration policy where any patron can request to review the classification of a particular book in the Library’s collection,
- The Library’s public computers have a variety of filters for Internet searches in compliance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA).
The bottom line is we believe that library collections are best managed at the local level rather than legislating at a state level. Our local controls are ones that work effectively and successfully for the Kindred Public Library and for all public libraries. Additional legislation is not needed.
If you are interested in reviewing these Board policies or talking with one of the Library Directors about the bills and related Library operations, email KindredPublicLibrary@gmail.com.
Names and emails for local legislators are provided for those interested in contacting them regarding their vote:
- Cass County House of Representatives: Brandy Pyle, bpyle@ndlegis.gov; Jonathan Warrey, jwarrey@ndlegis.gov
- Cass County Senate Representative: Mark F. Weber, markweber@ndlegis.gov
- Richland County House of Representatives: Alisa Mitskog, amitskog@ndlegis.gov; Cynthia Schreiber-Beck, cschreiberbeck@ndlegis.gov
Richland County Senate Representative: Larry Luick, lluick@ndlegis.gov
Kindred Public Library 