Virginia Library Association Letter to The Honorable R. Steven Landes regarding HB 2191The following letter was sent on January 19. The Virginia Library Association is working closely with the Virginia Association of School Librarians, the American Association of School Librarians, the American Library Office of Intellectual Freedom and the American Library Office for Library Advocacy and will keep you posted on any additional statements from these organizations. PDF version The Honorable R. Steven Landes January 19, 2017 Dear Delegate Landes, The Virginia Library Association, representing more than 1,000 members from academic, public, special, and school libraries across the Commonwealth, is a leading advocate for intellectual freedom, including the freedom to read as a basic tenet. We write to express our reservations about HB2191, a bill to amend and reenact 22.1-253.13:7 of the Code of Virginia, relating to school boards and procedures. We are specifically concerned about the bill’s language relating to the labeling of sexually explicit instructional materials or related academic activities. We raised our voices in concern last year when a similar bill, HB516, was introduced, and then again when the proposed amendment to 8VAC-131-270, requiring public schools to "include a notice to parents identifying any sexually explicit materials that may be included in the course, the textbook, or any supplemental instructional materials” came to our attention earlier this winter. The proposed requirement in HB2191 and the amendment to the Department of Education regulation are nearly identical to the requirements contained in HB 516, which was, as you are aware, vetoed by Governor Terry McAuliffe in the spring. Aside from the First Amendment concerns this proposed amendment raises, we also believe it threatens the quality of education for students across the Commonwealth. Of particular concern to us is that this attempt to label books is being included in a bill that is also addressing sexual abuse of students by teachers, mixing the right to read with legislation addressing criminal action. We continue to believe that the concerns that led to the drafting of HB 516, the amendment to education regulations, and now HB2191, are best addressed through local Board of Education policy rather than prescribed by regulation of the Commonwealth of Virginia, both to protect the interests of all stakeholders and to provide for flexibility when necessary.
We hope you will stand on the side of intellectual freedom and the right to read, and reject this proposed regulatory change. Respectfully, |