We are asking you to reach out to your state Senator and Representative to urge them to vote “No” on SB7 should it come before them.

SB7 is a troubling bill for Louisiana libraries and our Freedom to Read. SB7 insinuates that our Parish libraries are full of sexually explicit materials and that children are being exposed to images and ideas that will harm them. This cannot be further from the truth. No library in Louisiana shelves obscene materials. Libraries have internet filters in place to guard against obscenity and harmful images. Suggesting otherwise in SB7 is simply a political ploy on the part of the sponsors to earn media attention.  

Louisiana libraries have strong protections in place to keep kids' materials separate from books for adults, including age-restricted library cards, separate shelving areas, and policies that require children to be accompanied by a parent or guardian. SB7 is a “solution in search of a problem.” Librarians across our state believe that parents can guide and direct the reading, listening, and viewing choices of their minor children so long as those rights do not interfere with the same rights of other children’s parents. 

That's why we are asking you to reach out to your state Senator and Representative to urge them to vote “No” on SB7 should it come before them. 

As written, SB7 is flawed.  It usurps your individual rights protected by the Constitution. SB7 takes away your rights to freely access non-obscene material. The Attorney General admits that the materials in question are not obscene. It would codify into law a novel definition of "sexually explicit materials."  As an American citizen, you have the right to choose what you can see.  Don’t let big government take that away.  As reported in the Louisiana Illuminator, multiple Parishes have had book challenges but only five Parish libraries have received requests for the removal of titles. Why introduce SB7 when the system is working? 

Despite Landry's many assertions that his campaign is not political, it is obviously nothing but political.  SB 7 uses the Attorney General’s new redefinition of what prohibited sexual content means to advance the Attorney General’s political purposes. His "Protecting Innocence" report acknowledges that his novel definition of "sexually explicit materials" falls short of materials that are prohibited by criminal laws. The government is attempting to take over an individual citizen’s right to make decisions. That's unAmerican. The right to read in Louisiana libraries should not be weaponized to advance political agendas.  The First Amendment to the US Constitution is very clear. Congress and the states cannot make laws that limit our freedom to read.

We should not let the government decide what we are allowed to access and read. Please take the important step of telling your elected officials to vote NO on SB7 this session. Louisiana libraries already protect and support children and families. Louisiana libraries are for you.