ACLJ Is Fighting Back To Protect Children From Pornography in School and Public Libraries

Across the country, a troubling trend is unfolding: Public and school libraries are coming under fire – not for exposing children to inappropriate materials but for trying to protect them from such content. Yes, you read that right: Librarians want to expose children to sexually explicit content without your knowledge.

Library associations and advocacy groups, such as the ACLU, are suing school districts and public libraries for removing books with sexually explicit content or for implementing commonsense measures like age ratings and content-based shelving. Incredibly, these lawsuits argue that children have a constitutional right to access this content – even when it includes nudity, graphic sexual descriptions, and scenes depicting illegal acts.

This trend is part of a longtime strategy employed by the American Library Association (ALA) and other groups to expose children to inappropriate content in the name of diversity and intellectual freedom. In 2020, the ALA hosted a webinar on book challenges. In that webinar, legal counsel for ALA, Deborah Caldwell-Stone, instructed that when book challenges arise due to inappropriate content:

The thing that needs to happen most . . . is sustained messaging that reframes this issue that takes it away from the idea that these are inappropriate for minors or are sexually inappropriate for minors and promote them as diverse materials and programming that are about inclusion and fairness and protection of everyone’s right to see themselves.

In summary, rather than encouraging librarians to appropriately screen books before placing them on library shelves and/or placing age restrictions on inappropriate books, the ALA is instructing librarians to intentionally expose children to sexually explicit content and to vehemently oppose the removal of these books in the face of legitimate concerns by parents and members of the community when the sexually explicit content is discovered.

As a result, when concerned parents or school boards act to protect children from these materials, they’re met with lawsuits accusing them of “banning books” or attacking free speech – claims that often misrepresent the nature of the books being challenged.

The role of school board members, public library boards, and librarians in selecting age and developmentally appropriate material is more important than ever, and parents should be able to trust that the books selected by their children’s librarians do not contain pornography or sexually explicit material, excessive profanity, and other lewd or vulgar content. That is why the ACLJ is fighting back by representing parents, community members, school boards, and public libraries on how to take action to protect children from exposure to sexually explicit material. The ACLJ also stands ready to defend public schools and library boards against the lawsuits being filed by public interest groups and library associations.

Unlike movies, video games, or streaming content – which are subject to ratings and parental controls – books often contain no warnings about explicit content. Parents and readers (including young children) remain unaware of the sexually explicit content that has made its way into books marketed to minors and sitting on school library shelves. Unlike a community public library, parents do not even have the opportunity to accompany their children in a school library to assist in choosing an age and developmentally appropriate book during the school day.

Contrary to the legal arguments strategically launched by the ACLU and other groups, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that the government can regulate access to sexually explicit material that is obscene to minors. The Court has specifically rejected the notion that defining obscenity and regulating minors’ access to such content violates minors’ constitutionally protected freedoms. As one judge properly noted, “nothing in the First Amendment prevents states from taking steps to shield children from [sexual] content.” Book People, Inc. v. Wong, 98 F.4th 657, 659 (5th Cir. 2024) (Ho, J., dissenting).

This is not about banning books. It’s about protecting children, empowering parents, and restoring parental control over the upbringing of their families. At the ACLJ, we will continue to stand with communities that take legal and moral responsibility for the well-being of the next generation.

The ACLJ has already been contacted by several school systems, and we are working with them to develop constitutional policies that protect minors and are tailored to withstand legal challenges.

Contact us now at ACLJ.org/HELP if you are on the board of a school or public library and you would like assistance in protecting children from harmful books.