Share This Article
Arkansans have until June 15 to give the state Department of Education feedback on a proposed set of standards requiring libraries to restrict children’s access to certain materials in order to receive state aid.
The rules would govern the availability of content some consider inappropriate for children, as well as library directors’ education and training and the conducting of financial audits.
The rules proposed by the library board last week are the latest in an ongoing fight over library books that’s been playing out in Arkansas and other states in recent years.
Here’s what to know about the proposed restrictions:
How are public libraries funded?
Most but not all Arkansas libraries receive state aid, and many have local taxes that support libraries’ operating budgets. Arkansans can propose and vote on ballot initiatives to change the proportion of local tax revenue libraries receive.
The State Library Board disburses more than $1.37 million among eligible libraries every three months. In May 2025, the board decreased aid to some libraries to allow previously ineligible ones to receive funds.
The change came after a 2024 law sought to remove the requirement that libraries with less than 1 mill of dedicated property tax support could not receive state funds. A mill is equal to $1 for every $1,000 of assessed property value.
Librarians repeatedly asked the state to put forth rules reflecting this change, and only this year did the current State Library Board push for the Department of Education to finish the rules. The board delayed disbursing funds in February in anticipation of the new rules but released the money in March.
What would the proposed rules require for libraries to receive funding?
If approved by the board and a legislative panel, the rules would require libraries to ensure that children under 16 cannot check out “sexually explicit materials,” which depict or describe sexual contact and behavior as defined by federal law. It would also restrict access to materials that contain images or descriptions of human genitalia.
Such materials would have to be placed in sections of the library designated for patrons 18 years and older.
The rules include an exception for children 11 and older to access “age-appropriate information designed to prepare minors for the sociology of puberty” with parental consent.
The proposal “seems an attempt to do by executive fiat what [the state] tried and failed to do by legislation” last year, Central Arkansas Library System Executive Director Nate Coulter said in an interview.
A Senate-backed bill to abolish the Arkansas State Library included similar content restrictions, but a House committee voted it down.
Coulter also noted that the federal definition of “sexually explicit” cited in the rules differs from state standards.
State law defines “harmful to minors” as “any description, exhibition, presentation, or representation, in whatever form, of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse” if the content “appeals to the prurient interest,” is “patently offensive” or lacks literary or political value.
Federal law defines sexual content as a variety of physical contact “with an intent to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, or arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person.”
Act 372 of 2023 would have changed how libraries handle content challenges and relied on the state’s definition of “harmful to minors.” A federal judge blocked parts of the law in 2024 after Coulter and 17 other plaintiffs sued on First Amendment grounds. The case is under appeal, with oral arguments scheduled for June 11.
The rules would also require libraries to “not knowingly promote or advertise sexually explicit materials.” State Library Board members Emmaline Pilkington and Sydney McKenzie, both wives of Republican lawmakers, said they found LGBTQ+ Pride displays concerning. Library directors said Pride displays do not consist of sexually explicit content.
Craighead County’s libraries’ funding was cut in half by a conservative-backed ballot measure in 2022 that spawned partly from backlash over a Pride display.
How would the content rules be enforced?
That’s not clear, and the proposed rules don’t specify how the restrictions on sexually explicit materials would be enforced. As of Thursday afternoon, the Arkansas Department of Education had not responded to the Advocate’s request for details on how officials would determine if libraries weren’t complying.
Library directors said last week that some libraries are too small, with many having only one room, to relocate certain materials so children can’t reach them. They also said policing cardholders’ access to digital materials would be difficult.
Board members suggested that libraries update their software, if possible, to prevent cardholders under 16 from checking out certain books without parental permission. They suggested a waiver system for libraries whose software does not have this capability.
Board members also discussed requiring shelves with adult content to be of a certain height, but they dismissed the idea after library directors said it would negatively impact patrons with disabilities.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks wrote in his ruling against Act 372, the 2023 law regarding library content challenges, that shelf height restrictions were among the measures the law would force librarians to take in order to avoid misdemeanor charges.
What has happened with previous attempts to restrict library content?
Efforts to keep certain books, particularly LGBTQ+ content, away from minors often lead to legal action.
Crawford County was a defendant alongside the state in the lawsuit against Act 372. The county’s five library branches moved children’s books with LGBTQ+ topics to segregated “social sections,” accessible only to adults, between December 2022 and January 2023 after local residents objected to their availability. County officials later cited Act 372 as a reason to keep the books separated.
The county lost a separate First Amendment lawsuit in 2024 and was ordered to return the books to their original sections.
Another lawsuit is pending over the Saline County judge firing the county’s library director after she refused to relocate LGBTQ+ and “sexually explicit” books.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas declined to comment on whether it would sue over the proposed library funding rules since they are not finalized.
Have other states seen similar efforts?
Other Republican-led states have put forth efforts to limit minors’ access to content deemed inappropriate in the past few years. The American Library Association tracked more than 5,600 books banned from public, school and academic libraries last year, and an additional 920 censored through access restrictions.
Alabama’s equivalent of the State Library Board has repeatedly altered its code to restrict minors’ access to certain content, including materials that deal with transgender identity and healthcare. A bill that would have allowed local governments to fire library board members failed to pass the Alabama Legislature in April.
There have also been efforts to restrict access to materials in Mississippi, Idaho and Missouri, among other states.
What’s next for the rules?
The Department of Education will accept feedback on the draft rules via email until June 15 and in person on June 8. Feedback can be submitted through the agency website.
State Library Board Chairman Clay Goff said the panel should vote to advance the rules at a special meeting after the public comment deadline.
The Arkansas Legislative Council and its rules subcommittee will then review the rules before they go into effect.
Goff said he hopes the new standards are in place by Sept. 30.
Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. This article was published with permission from the Arkansas Advocate. Contact Editor Andrew DeMillo for questions: [email protected]. Follow Arkansas Advocate on Facebook and Twitter.
