While many states have considered or passed laws making it easier to remove books from libraries, others have bucked that trend. In New Mexico, some local efforts to remove books have prompted state lawmakers to try to protect librarians from that kind of pressure.
At an Albuquerque public library last month, a small group gathered to talk about book bans. Librarian Garren Hochstetler had put the call out, concerned about the removal of library books in other states, like neighboring Texas.
“I’m hoping we don’t get anywhere near that, and we can stay a place where reading is much more free, that First Amendment guarantee is respected, and people are respected,” he told the group.
He was encouraged by a big turnout at an Albuquerque school board meeting against banning books with LGBTQ content.
Now he is urging support for a bill in the New Mexico Legislature to protect librarians from that kind of pressure. The Librarian Protection Act is sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Cates (D-Rio Rancho).
“It is something that is very important to me that our librarians are able to do what they have been educated and trained to do,” she told KUNM. “And to drag them into political culture wars is not serving anyone.”
The American Library Association, which advocates for libraries and library workers, said there were complaints against more than a thousand library books in the first eight months of last year.
Cates filed the bill after a failed attempt to remove books, several with LGBTQ content, from libraries in the City of Rio Rancho.
Cates said library staff in smaller communities worry they won’t have the backing to stand up to similar pressure.
“And so we felt like we needed a state bill to give them the protection that I feel librarians deserve,” she said.
The bill would withhold state funding from public libraries that ban books because of “partisan or doctrinal disapproval” or an author’s race, nationality, gender identity, sexual orientation, politics or religious views. It does allow books to be removed according to the process each library already has. Those vary across the state but can involve library boards, not just a single librarian.
The bill passed its first committee on a party-line vote. Republican Rep. Stefani Lord opposed it because of books she considers too sexually explicit.
“I don’t want children to have access to pornographic material,” she said. “And again, I’m not talking about romance, I’m not talking about anybody’s opposing view, I’m not talking about anybody’s gender identity or politics or religion or anything else.”
She said librarians should have the power to unilaterally remove books.
“I just don’t understand why there’s not an exclusion that, if a book is extremely graphic, a librarian can’t just say, ‘You know what? This is absolutely above and beyond and so egregious that I want to pull the book,” she said.
Alex Garlick, assistant professor of political science at the University of Vermont said he has tracked, “an increased call for ‘parental rights,’ particularly expressed over local schools and local libraries” since about 2020.
He said New Mexico’s action will be watched elsewhere.
“First, it could have a policy impact at the state level, of protecting librarians in a state like New Mexico, but then it could also demonstrate what could be a politically useful tool,” he said. “Something that could work in New Mexico could work in other states, as well.”
According to the American Library Association, there are bills in some 20 states to restrict access to books this year. But New Mexico is one of four with bills to protect what it calls “the Right To Read.”
As the proposal is debated in Santa Fe, librarian Garren Hochstetler and the newly named Freedom to Read New Mexico group are trying to grow the movement here.
“It’s showing up to public meetings, it’s doing writing, it's having conversations with your parent group, with your family,” he said. “That’s what makes the change.”
In last year’s shorter, 30-day session, the Legislature ran out of time before it could pass a similar bill. Hochstetler said he hopes advocacy can help propel it across the line this year.
The act is set to be heard next in the House Education Committee.
