The government having a say in whether every book we read is harmful sounds incredibly dystopian, but a bill currently in the State House of Representatives makes that a possible future.
SB 74 removes the protections librarians currently have against the charge of distributing harmful materials to minors and makes their primary defense the removal of books deemed a violation. Originally drafted by Republican Senator Max Burns, the bill has been in the legislature for nearly two years and has recently passed the House Judiciary Committee.
Teenagers have sufficient agency to self-select their books; in fact, a school in Australia found that 91% of children aged 6-17’s favorite book is one they selected themselves. Megan Hellrung, a sophomore at Milton High School, thinks that it is “so rewarding to find a hidden gem of a book at the library.”
Milton Library staff member Liane Mucha says that “as soon as a child has interests, they will want to help choose their books … it’s part of growing up.” This bill imposes fines of up to $500 on librarians for leaving a book accessible to children.
Georgia follows the Miller test for obscenity, meaning any content deemed obscene has to “when taken as a whole predominantly appeal to the prurient, shameful, or morbid interest of minors; Is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community; and when taken as a whole, lacking in serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.” This means that any book removed by this bill has no value to minors according to the Georgia State Legislature. Books like Juno Dawson’s “This Book is Gay” provide explanations of gender identity, sexual orientation, and other LGBTQ+ topics, including sexual health.
The book is already banned in Cobb County.
This bill opens the door to more books being removed from public libraries. Four of the top ten most frequently challenged books of 2024, as reported by the American Library Association, were challenged for LGBTQ+ content, suggesting that diverse stories may no longer be available in Georgia libraries if the current definition of sexual content stands.
Hellrung believes, “Diversity in media, especially books, helped me discover stories I never would have picked up in the first place.”
