On Wednesday, April 16, the people who have been showing up at Washoe County Library Board of Trustees meetings to decry the inclusion of books with LGBTQ+ and ethnic/racial themes finally got one of their wishes: Jeff Scott, the library director since December 2015, no longer had the job, after his resignation following a negative evaluation from the trustees.
Putting aside Scott’s actual job performance—although it should be noted that his fellow Washoe County Library employees consistently thought he’d done a good job—he’s long been in the figurative crosshairs of right-wing community members because of his embrace of inclusivity. As a recent This Is Reno editorial by Bob Conrad and Kristen Hackbarth eloquently put it: “He battled far-right fanatics who claim one thing—freedom—but manifest another—tyranny. Local conservative activists push for their ideological dominance over library activities and operations. In certain Library Board of Trustees meetings, it is blatant.”
Similar struggles are playing out at libraries across the country, which is why the proponents of Assembly Bill 416 say the legislation is badly needed.
Assemblymember Brittney Miller, a teacher from Clark County, is the lead sponsor of the bill, which was approved by the Assembly Judiciary Committee on April 11 and, as of this writing, was due to next be considered by the full Assembly. If it becomes law, the bill would prohibit school and public library boards, employees and volunteers from limiting access to library materials. If someone wants a book removed, they’d need to take the matter to court.
AB 416 would also criminalize harassment, threats or coercion toward library employees regarding the removal of books, and make it illegal to disseminate the personal information of school and library employees.
“We see other states have aggressively and successfully been able to ban books, and get banned books pulled off the shelves,” Miller said. “There are over 4,000 books that are on these book-ban lists or these censorship lists, which is really sad, because so many of them are classics that we all grew up reading as kids, or even were part of our curriculum in school.”
That 4,000-book figure cited by Miller comes from PEN America, a nonprofit that fights for free expression, and tracks book-ban efforts across the country. The organization, in the introduction to its most recent banned-looks list, says: “PEN America has documented nearly 16,000 book bans in public schools nationwide since 2021, a number not seen since the Red Scare McCarthy era of the 1950s. This censorship is being mobilized by conservative groups—and has spread to nearly every state—and predominantly targets books about race and racism or individuals of color and also books on LGBTQ+ topics as well as those for older readers that have sexual references or discuss sexual violence. In the 2023-2024 school year, PEN America found more than 10,000 book bans affecting more than 4,000 unique titles, with about 45% of the bans occurring in Florida and 36% in Iowa.”
While Nevada has seen far fewer book-removal requests than Florida and Iowa, Miller said teachers and librarians from various parts of the state have expressed the need for AB 416.
“Last year, some retired librarians, current librarians and people who are even on the library boards from the rural areas approached me with these concerns, as a lot of this has started to happen more frequently,” Miller said. “What’s really sad is some individuals have asked not to be identified. Even though they were at the table with us … they didn’t want to be identified because of what they’ve already gone through and a fear of further retribution.”
In a statement submitted to the Assembly, the Nevada State Education Association said AB 416 was badly needed.
“Unfortunately, AB416 is necessary to safeguard intellectual freedom,” said the statement from the teachers’ union. “Students should be able to access a wide range of ideas, perspectives, and information at school. Restricting materials limits their ability to think critically and form their own opinions. As censorship efforts have targeted materials about marginalized communities, it is important for Nevada to respect and affirm diversity by ensuring a variety of cultures, experiences, and viewpoints are represented in the materials taught to students.”
To nobody’s surprise, many of the same people who have been pushing for book restrictions are pushing back against AB 416.
“Apparently, our Legislature is completely unaware of some of the material that is available in our school libraries,” said Bruce Parks, the chair of the Washoe County Republican Party, in testimony submitted to the Assembly regarding AB 416. “I am opposed to censorship, but we have common sense restrictions on what movies, music and video games are available to children based on age for good reason. I doubt anyone would disagree that 12-year-olds should not have access to pornography, but that is a condition that exists currently in our school libraries. … This bill puts an undue hardship on citizens by involving the courts in what should be between the community and the schools. This will require citizens to bear the cost of hiring attorneys, paying court costs, and possibly other fees related to contesting what is available to our children in school libraries.”
Other critics of the bill claimed that it would diminish the ability of parents to have a say. Miller said that’s simply not the case.
“In no means, in no way, does this take anything away from parents,” she said. “Parents have and should instill their values and put limits on their children. Key word: their children, not everyone else’s. If you’re a parent, you can go to the courts and petition. If you’ve gone to the librarian or the teacher, and they’re like, ‘No, this book is fine,’ and you still have a concern that it is obscene or something, you can go to the courts. There’s nothing that removes parental control or the ability to influence or anything like that. I want parents to parent their kids.”
Miller said the bill’s intent is to protect the freedom of library patrons to access the materials they want and need, regardless of ideology.
“The pendulum always swings,” she said. “… The First Amendment is for everyone in this country, and justice and rights shouldn’t be delivered based on which county you’re in, or your library trustee board.”
Miller posed a hypothetical: What if a group in charge was anti-religion, and they pushed to remove books valued by Christians?
“And what if they all came in and they said, ‘You know what? We don’t want the Bible here. We don’t want these books about religion. Take this book about the Pope and Martin Luther, and take all these books off the shelf,’” Miller said. “Would people still at that point think that (a library or school board) should have that ultimate right?”
With teachers and librarians in favor of AB 416, and Democrats in control of both the Assembly and the Senate, there’s a good chance the legislation could make it to the governor’s desk. However, the governor is Joe Lombardo, a Republican who’s become increasingly MAGA in recent months, as evidenced by his bizarre claim in a leaked recording that the people who showed up at recent “Hands Off!” rallies against the Trump administration were paid to be there. However, Miller said people shouldn’t automatically assume Lombardo would veto AB 416.
“I talk to his chief of staff on a regular basis, because as chair of judiciary, I have the second-highest volume of bills,” she said. “… Last session, the governor pleasantly surprised many of us by signing one of my bills that was to let people in jail vote. A lot of people had an assumption he wouldn’t sign that.
“Again, the First Amendment protects all Nevadans and all Americans, regardless of our religious or political persuasion. … We wouldn’t want people coming in and saying, ‘You know what? That’s it. We’re going to shut down these stations that play Trump. We’re going to shut down these stations that do this. We’re going to pull these books that talk about that.’ It’s the same First Amendment protecting everyone. I just hope that the governor realizes that and signs it.”