Report From Ohio: “Bill Looks to Restrict ‘Harmful’ Books From Children Under 18 In Public Libraries”
Additional Coverage June 4, 2024 Proposed Ohio Bill Would Defund Libraries For Having ‘Harmful’ Material (Via News 5 Cleveland)
—- End Update—
From WFMJ:
Representative Al Cutrona introduced the unnamed bill last week that looks to restrict some books in public libraries across the state. If passed, books that are deemed “harmful” would need to be put in a different section of the library and anyone under 18 would need a parent to check them out.
Harmful according to the Ohio revised code means “any material or performance describing or representing nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sado-masochistic abuse in any form.”
[Clip]
“Anytime you take books away from anybody it discourages reading,” Jim Wilkins, the Executive Director with the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library said. “We don’t buy harmful things, or we try not to, but what somebody objects to a particular book somebody else wants to read so who are we to say what you should and shouldn’t have.”
Read the Complete Article
Resources
- Direct to Full Text of Bill
- Direct to Track the Bill
Filed under: Libraries, News, Public Libraries

About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.