West Fargo library officials warn proposed Senate Bill 2307 could add costs, age checks and physical separation of children’s materials

Summary

At the February meeting of the West Fargo Public Library Board of Directors, Library Director Jenna said Senate Bill 2307 is the library’s “major bill of concern,” warning it could require age verification for online databases, mandate a physical separation of children’s collections and direct dissatisfied patrons to the attorney general.

At the February meeting of the West Fargo Public Library Board of Directors, Library Director Jenna (last name not specified in the transcript) told the board she is tracking several state and local bills that could affect library operations, focusing on Senate Bill 2307 as the “major bill of concern” for the library.

Jenna said the state library appropriation (House Bill 1013) was moving through the Legislature and that the West Fargo library received $44,625.95 in state aid in 2024. She also summarized several Century Code “cleanup” bills (House Bills 1254 and 1420 and Senate Bill 2219) that mostly align statutory language with current State Library practice.

The board discussion centered on Senate Bill 2307, which Jenna said is written to “ultimately to protect minors from obscene materials” and would, as drafted, make a staff member guilty of “a class b misdemeanor for willfully displaying a book, magazine, DVD, etcetera, which contains explicit material deemed harmful to minors,” using the Miller test. The bill,…

West Fargo library officials warn proposed Senate Bill 2307 could add costs, age checks and physical separation of children’s materials

Summary

Subscribe to keep reading