Illinois has enacted a law which many articles have characterized as “outlawing book bans.” More precisely:
Illinois public libraries that restrict or ban materials because of “partisan or doctrinal” disapproval will be ineligible for state funding as of Jan. 1, 2024, when the new law goes into effect.
Here’s the full text. It encourages libraries to adopt the American Library Association’s “Library Bill of Rights.” This sounds like a good idea on the face of it, but it may accomplish less than expected and have unintended consequences.
The law applies, as it should, to books supporting any party or doctrine, not just ones that are currently in the news. It protects Mein Kampf and In Defense of Looting just as much as it protects Gender Queer. It gives support to books promoting any bizarre doctrine.
Libraries have to be selective. Most have to turn away the majority of donations or pass them on to other recipients. There isn’t room enough on the shelves for everything. Where is the line between curating and banning?
It’s easy to self-publish a book today. With print-on-demand technology, an author can do it at little or no up-front cost. Lots of garbage is being published. Illinois libraries can turn books away for being badly written or factually inaccurate. They can limit the flood with requirements such as an ISBN. I wonder, though, if the law will enable nuisance lawsuits by authors claiming their books have been “banned” on partisan and doctrinal grounds.
The bill doesn’t preclude bans based on the manner of presentation. Many challenges, perhaps most, claim not that a book promotes undesirable ideas, but that it’s “sexually explicit.” These claims are often dubious, but the Illinois law doesn’t limit them. Libraries can already use the First Amendment against viewpoint-based challenges, and arguments that a book isn’t age-appropriate are more likely to stick. The new law may not do much more than give the books’ opponents another reason to frame their arguments in non-ideological terms.
The new law might help, create new problems, or not make much of a difference. It’s not as clear as many people think.
Miscellany
China’s government is trying to ban the song “Glory to Hong Kong” worldwide. Hopefully social media and music sites won’t give in and this link will keep working.