Speakers decry Iowa bill giving politicians more control over libraries

DES MOINES — A proposal to give city councils more authority over public libraries would bring partisan political decision-making into library operations, including book selection, dozens of public library officials and supporters warned state lawmakers Thursday at the Iowa Capitol.

The legislator who managed the bill during Thursday’s hearing said his goal is not to address the selection of books, but instead to provide elected local officials with more authority over the spending of taxpayer dollars.

Dozens of public library officials and supporters from across the state crammed into a small room in the Iowa Capitol to express their staunch opposition to the proposed legislation, which would eliminate the requirement that a city’s voters approve any “proposal to alter the composition, manner of selection or charge of a library board,” or its replacement. Instead, a city council would be able hire a library director, use library funds for library projects and initiatives by passing an ordinance without voter approval.

Librarians, library board members and public library supporters warned lawmakers against the bill’s potential impact of placing partisan political decision-makers in charge of public libraries.

“Our town has fewer than 500 people, so I come from a very rural area. This bill is a train wreck. It opens up all sorts of possibilities for very disastrous consequences if you get an activist city council that starts seesawing on what they believe for a library to be or not be,” said Wade Dooley, who described himself as a sixth-generation farmer in Marshall County and chair of the Albion Library board of trustees.

“Our city council has barely any training to be a city council. Now you also want them to run a library. I’m sorry, but that’s not a good idea. This bill should be squashed.”

None of the 19 people who spoke during the public comment period of Thursday’s hearing spoke in favor of the bill, and no lobbying organization is registered in support of the bill, according to state lobbying records.

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Rep. Carter Nordman, a Republican from Panora, said he is not at all concerned about library book selection. He said some city leaders have contacted him with concerns over library board spending and councils’ inability to address that.

“I have a stack of stories from city administrators and city councils that have nothing to do with content. Matter of fact, all of them say we don’t care about the content in the library. The library board can take care of that,” Nordman told reporters after the hearing. “(Library boards) essentially get full autonomy. None of them are elected and they’re spending taxpayer dollars.

“Now, if a city wants to continue to allow them to do that, and they think they’re doing a great job, then sure,” Nordman said. “But we have a lot of instances around the state where the city council feels very different on the way the library board is going. And ultimately, the library board wasn’t elected; the city council was. And so the buck stops with them when it comes to taxpayer dollars. They should have that authority.”

Currently, a library board is appointed after approval of a city council and sets library policies. Like any city function, a public library receives a yearly appropriation under a city’s budget.

Nordman said he would be willing to consider an amendment that would give city councils more authority over library boards, but carve out content selection.

“I’m open to the conversation, for sure. And that’s what the process is about. We’ll have a conversation in committee next week, and if that’s something that the committee and my (House Republican) caucus wants to do, we’ll definitely look at it, for sure,” Nordman said. “But for me, it’s really not about the content. And for most of the city administrators and city council members that I’ve heard from, it’s not about the content. It’s about the personnel issues and the taxpayer dollars being spent.”

The proposed legislation comes months after voters in Pella defeated a similar proposal at the local level. A referendum on the November 2023 ballot asked voters whether to give its council the authority to change library policies. That referendum came after the library rejected requests to remove the book “Gender Queer,” a graphic novel that contains sexual images in describing the author’s realization of identifying as neither male nor female.

Pella voters rejected the proposal, with 51 percent of voters opposed.

Three people who said they are Pella residents spoke in opposition to the bill.

“There was a very thorough and extensive and long litigation of this issue, public discussion of this issue,” said speaker Dave Timmer. “At the end of that long discussion, with lots of public participation, we decided not to adopt a resolution that would have done what this bill does. And a lot of us feel that the goal posts are being moved now. So I urge you to oppose this bill.”

Nordman and fellow Republican Rep. Jane Bloomingdale, of Northwood, signed off on advancing the bill, making House Study Bill 678 eligible for consideration by the full House Local Government Committee. Rep. Jerome Amos. Jr., a Democrat from Waterloo, declined to sign off.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com