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Iowa lawmakers advance bill prohibiting partnerships between public schools and libraries
It’s latest effort in Legislature to limit children’s access to certain books
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DES MOINES — Iowa public and charter schools would not be able to enter into agreements with public libraries providing students with access to books and other materials under a bill advanced by Iowa lawmakers Wednesday.
The legislation, House Study Bill 636, was advanced by the Iowa House Education Committee, 14-9, on Wednesday evening, with Republican state Reps. Chad Ingels, of Randalia, and Thomas Moore, of Griswold, joining Democrats in voting against the bill. A subcommittee had advanced the bill 2-1 along party lines earlier in the day.
It is the latest effort by Republicans in the Legislature to limit children's access to content and materials they view as obscene.
State Rep. Helena Hayes, a Republican from New Sharon, said she believes students should have access to books, but pointed to an Iowa law passed in 2023 that bans books with sexual content from public school libraries and said student access to public libraries goes against that legislation.
The 2023 law is the subject of ongoing litigation in federal court over arguments that it violates First Amendment free speech rights.
“The schools operate under certain standards of statutory law. Any contracts that come into that should also comply with them,” Hayes said. “I think that's pretty standard and respected.”
Republican Rep. Brooke Boden, of Indianola, who chaired the subcommittee, also signed on to advance the bill and said she has heard interest in the legislation from other members on the Iowa House Education Committee.
Currently, some school districts in Iowa partner with public libraries to help supplement their own facilities or to access additional educational materials. Along with banning these agreements, the legislation also would bar bookmobiles, or mobile libraries, from hosting events on public school property.
Thirteen people out of a large group of attendees testified during the 15-minute-long subcommittee. Eleven spoke against the bill and two spoke in support of it.
Multiple groups representing education advocacy organizations and school districts said prohibiting these partnerships would decrease student access to libraries in rural areas and reduce efficiencies created by shared facilities.
Linda Smithson, president of the Iowa Association of School Librarians and the library director for the Clinton Community School District, said the legislation would restrict access to books and libraries, as multiple schools across the state do not have their own libraries and use public ones.
She said her own school district uses this partnership. She also noted that between eight and 10 schools in rural Iowa house the communities’ public libraries.
“This bill would prohibit partnerships between schools and public libraries, partnerships that already work to reduce the barriers for our students,” Smithson said. “Transportation, internet access, family availability all affect whether our students can reach a public library.”
Christopher Rants, representing Des Moines Public Schools, said five schools in the district do not house their own libraries. Instead, the district partners with Des Moines Public Libraries to allow students in grades seven through 12 to use their student IDs as a library card, which parents are notified about.
He said this model aligns with the goals of the state’s Republican administration to increase government efficiency and asked lawmakers if the state would provide more funding or guidance if the bill is enacted.
“Des Moines Public Schools has listened to what we've been told by the state,” Rants said. “I hope the Legislature will give us some guidance or funding or something on what you want us to do if you don't want us to partner with the public libraries. We're trying to be efficient and following state guidance, but we don't have physical space for a library.”
Democratic state Rep. Elinor Levin, of Iowa City, declined to sign off on advancing the bill in subcommittee, arguing that it would restrict students’ access to books.
“Why would we want students to have less access to books? Why would we not want to engage that excitement in reading?” Levin said.
Supporters say bill would shield minors from sexually explicit materials
Katherine Bogaards, representing Protect My Innocence, said the legislation was necessary to ensure minors are barred from accessing sexually explicit materials through public schools, calling the partnerships “loopholes.”
“Once again, Iowa is facing a situation where schools are enabling access to materials that have been shown to be harmful to minors,” Bogaards said.
Jeff Pitts, representing the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, said he was able to find a book he characterized as “sexually explicit” on a shelf 2 feet off the ground at the Des Moines Public Library’s downtown branch earlier that day.
Last year, Republican lawmakers introduced legislation to prohibit sexually explicit material in public libraries by repealing a section of the Iowa Code that says the state’s obscenity laws don’t prohibit the use of “appropriate materials for educational purposes” in public libraries. The bill failed to make it to the governor’s desk.
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