[New post] Naperville state rep pushes bill to deny state grant money to public and school libraries that ban books
Barrington Hills Observer posted: " The Illinois House has approved a measure sponsored by state Rep. Anne Stava-Murray, of Naperville, that would allow the Illinois Secretary of State's Office to deny grant funding to public and school libraries if they ban books or fail to devise polici" The Barrington Hills Observer
State Rep. Anne Stava-Murray, D-Naperville, is the chief sponsor of a bill that would allow the Illinois Secretary of State's Office to to deny grant funding to public and school libraries that ban books.
The Illinois House has approved a measure sponsored by state Rep. Anne Stava-Murray, of Naperville, that would allow the Illinois Secretary of State's Office to deny grant funding to public and school libraries if they ban books or fail to devise policies against removing titles from their stacks.
The 69-39 party-line vote in the Democratic-led House reflected the partisan divide on the book-banning issue both in the state and nationally. The bill is now being considered by the Senate.
Illinois has not seen as many cases of book bans or attempted bans as states that lean more Republican, according to some research. But according to the secretary of state's office, citing figures from the Chicago-based American Library Association, there were 67 attempts to ban books in Illinois in 2022, up from 41 the year before.
Democrats say book bans often discriminate against the LGBTQ community and other marginalized groups, while Republicans have argued that some titles need to be out of the reach of children if they contain pornography or obscene imagery.
Republican state Rep. Martin McLaughlin called the bill "a complete go-around and end-around on the local control and authority" of elected library boards.
"I think it's (a) very blatant attempt to strong-arm our local communities and how they want to direct their libraries to operate and function," said McLaughlin, of Barrington Hills. "I don't understand why we have local elections anymore if a bill like this passes."
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