Montana school librarians and educators are under attack at the Montana Legislature. House Bill 234 would subject every employee of a school - including school librarians - to criminal prosecution under obscenity laws for any books, ebooks, and educational resources in their library. 

We were able to remove public librarians from this bill, but we need your help to fight for school librarians.

HB 234 would criminalize our school librarians, teachers, and educators for following the guidance of their locally-elected school boards. Since the 1980s, Montana law has made sure that the folks who serve in school librarians can do their jobs safely. HB 234 would make those public employees subject to 6 months jail time and costly lawsuits over anything a person might find “obscene”, from classic literature to anatomy textbooks. The House Judiciary Committee already took the important step of taking the public libraries and museums out of HB234. Now it is time for the full House to vote No on HB234 and protect education in Montana.

It's not a reasonable thing to make criminals out of our school librarians and educators. Please join the Montana Library Association, the Montana Federation of Public Employees (MFPE), and EveryLibrary in opposing HB234 now. The bill is going up for a vote in the House very soon. Please take a moment and tell your Representative to help stop this bill before it goes any further. Use the form on this page to send your message today. 

(updated Jan 31, 2023 following the vote in the House Judiciary Committee)