Under the parental oversight of public libraries bill, which has been proposed by Missouri Republican Ben Baker, panels of parents would be elected to evaluate whether books are appropriate for children. Public hearings would then be held by the boards to ask for suggestions of potentially inappropriate books, with public libraries that allow minors access to such titles to have their funding stripped. Librarians who refuse to comply could be fined and imprisoned for up to one year.
Titles including Sherman Alexie’s award-winning The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five and Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, a young adult novel about the rape of a teenager, have all come under fire in Missouri over the last decade.
“Every reader and writer in the country should be horrified, absolutely horrified, at this bill. The fact that a librarian could actually be imprisoned for following his or her conscience and refusing to block minors from access to a book, that tells you all you need to know about the suitability of this act within a democratic society.”
Oh, look. Exactly what all of us on the non-censorship side said would happen.
I’ve been following this guy for a while on Instagram, and since this original post he’s expanded his series to include a variety of cultures beyond the American West.
WoW orc on a daeodon.
A take on the 80s Dino Riders.
Skeletal styracosaurus.
Spartan and armored T-rex.
WWII Ankylosaurus.
Aztec Eagle Warriors and Therizinosaurus.
Mongolian warriors and mammoths + sabertooth tiger.
