It's another attack on Ideas

Small Iowa towns have a few things in common. They have a gas station, a bar, a sprinkling of different church flavors, and a town library.

Now, almost all of Iowa’s 500 public libraries are governed by a board of trustees. Library trustees make policy and oversee the collection. They are volunteer boards that function independently but are appointed by city councils.

That all could change if House Study Bill 678 becomes law. This bill allows city councils to override decisions made by library boards and would strike down ordinances which require voter approval before changing the governance of public libraries.

In an October article about Pella attempting to get voter approval for the changes outlined in this bill, I predicted, “During the next legislative session, GOP lawmakers may use this local controversy to go a step further by forcing this change statewide and destroying library board local control.”

On November7, 2023, Pella citizens were asked to change the governance of their library. A few citizens were angry the adult section of the library had “Gender Queer a Memoir” by Maria Kobabe available.

I spent four years in Pella before graduating from Central College. It’s a beautiful community, and Central College is a wonderful small college. It’s conservative. Donald Kaul, in his “Over the Coffee” column for the Des Moines Register once called Pella, “Tehran without veils.”

I wouldn’t go that far but I would say Pella is a small town with about 30 churches. In the 1970’s the only business open on Sunday was George’s Pizza. George defied unwritten rules. Pella may not be Orange City conservative, but you might think twice about mowing your lawn on Sunday.

When these conservative voters were asked to allow the city council governance of the library instead of a board of trustees, 51% voted no. Even in a town with bedrock conservative values, voters recognized this change was a bad idea.

This is really another attempt to control ideas Republicans don’t like. It’s a sequel to Senate File 469 passed last year with only Republican votes that says school libraries and classrooms may only contain “age-appropriate” materials,” and further says age-appropriate “does not include any material with descriptions or visual depictions of a sex act” as defined in a separate code section. The author of the age-appropriate amendment was Sen. Ken Rozenboom, who represents Pella.

Dec. 29, District Judge Stephen Lochner issued an injunction on the enforcement of this portion of Senate File 496 saying it was “incredibly broad and unlikely to satisfy the First Amendment under any standard of scrutiny.”

The Majority party needs to remember it once preached small government and let this bill die.

• House Study Bill 678 is a backdoor attempt to regulate ideas by making the governance of libraries political.

• It’s government overreach at its worst. Libraries should be a repository of many ideas, even ideas rejected by partisan politicians of either party.

• City Councils have enough things to worry about like city streets, sewers, and building codes. They don’t have time nor inclination to decide on library collections.

• Library trustees are appointed by the city council so elected officials do have a say on who governs the library. The trustees are people interested in the library. That’s why they applied to be on the board.

The Legislature should be focused on real problems like hunger, mental health access, and affordable health care. Leave public libraries alone.

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City, taught for 11 years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association Regional Director for 27 years until retiring.