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Library drafts Collection Development Policy changes to comply with HB 1197; board to review in November
Summary
The director presented draft language amending the Collection Development Policy to implement HB 1197 requirements, including references to intellectual freedom standards, the Miller obscenity test, an expressions-of-concern challenge process, and a Jan. 2025 publication deadline; the board asked staff to refine the language and return in November.
The board reviewed draft amendments to the Mitchell Public Library—s Collection Development Policy intended to implement requirements arising from HB 1197. The director said she inserted language that applies the library—s selection criteria and references the Miller obscenity test as a basis for determining whether material meets a statutory definition of obscenity.
The director described a proposed expressions-of-concern challenge process: if a challenge alleging a material is obscene is sustained, the library would either restrict the material to adult-only checkout or remove it from the collection; the director said she had reviewed the draft with Justin Johnson, who was "comfortable with this language." The director also noted that another city attorney (from Vermillion) recommended creating a separate policy to meet the bill—s language, while counsel consulted by the director advised incorporating amendments into the existing policy.
Board members discussed whether to add explicit language about filtering software for public-access computers. The director said Justin Johnson did not require a separate filtering policy but that a paragraph in the computer use policy acknowledging filtering could be added; the director said she will bring finalized language to the November meeting to meet a January 2025 publication deadline.
No formal motion to adopt the policy was taken; the director will return with the revised policy for board action at the November meeting.
