Minnesota House committee advances bill that would ban book bans in the state
ST. PAUL, Minn. — As challenges to certain books are on the rise nationwide, state lawmakers want to close that chapter in Minnesota with a ban on book bans.
A proposal that advanced out of the House education committee on Wednesday would prohibit public schools and libraries from removing or restricting access to a book or other material "based on its viewpoint or the message, ideas, or opinions it conveys."
Rep. Cedric Frazier, DFL-New Hope, the bill's author, said he was troubled by a movement across the country to remove books from shelves. An analysis from the American Library Association found there were challenges to more than 1,900 unique titles across the country in 2023, which is a 20% increase over the previous year, which broke a record.
Most of the book challenges were written by or about a person of color or a member of the LGBTQ community, the association said.
"I don't have an issue with taking a look at materials and determining whether or not those materials are age-appropriate or just inappropriate for our students," Frazier said. "What I have concern with and what this bill seeks to address is particular books based on particular authors, their background and lived experiences or their political ideology are being targeted."
Last fall, the Carver County Library Board rejected a request to remove "Gender Queer" from its libraries. The petitioner alleged allowing children access to it was "sexual grooming." Kendra Redmond, a Bloomington resident with kids enrolled in public school, said a group is petitioning her school board to ban 28 titles.
"This set off alarm bells for many parents. Public and school libraries exist to serve their richly diverse communities, not the personal beliefs of some," Redmond told the committee.
But the proposal does not extend to the classroom. It explicitly states that parents still have the right under existing law to seek "alternative instruction" if they object to content being taught. Some Somali families with children in St. Louis Park public schools recently sought this exemption for picture books with LGBTQ characters, threatening legal action if the school board did not meet their request.
Terry Morrow, director of legal and policy services at the Minnesota School Boards Association, said guidance on library policy was the number one request of the 331 districts throughout the state in the last two years.
He noted that the association's model policy allows for parents to direct a school library not to let their child check out a certain book and that it establishes a process for reconsideration of books that any member of the school community can request.
"We're just trying to work in a way that the process is good, and that we focus on appropriate books and we're not put in a position where inappropriate books end up on our school bookshelves," he told the committee.
Reps. Patricia Mueller and Peggy Bennett, a current and former teacher, both underscored reports showing half of MInnesota's school-aged children fail to read at grade-level and urged lawmakers to focus on bridging those gaps before prioritizing legislation like this.
"It doesn't matter if it's an inappropriate or appropriate book, a banned book or an unbanned book— if you can't read it, it's not going to do you any good," Bennett said.
The bill also establishes a library "bill of rights" stating that "all public libraries are forums for information and ideas" and requiring that they adhere to certain principles. If libraries don't adopt this policy, they would not be eligible for state funding, according to the language adopted in the committee on Wednesday.
Lawmakers advanced the bill to another committee; Frazier acknowledged the bill will likely continue to change throughout the legislative process.