Wyoming Proposes Extreme Anti-Library Bill
The proposed bill text would itself be deemed "sexually explicit" were it to be read by anyone under the age of 18.
When Idaho politicians began to work on a bill that would require parental permission for those under 18 to be in adult areas of the library and that would permit parents to sue libraries for not moving books they deemed inappropriate from teen collections, it wasn’t done quietly. Idaho news outlets did a solid job covering it, and librarians in Idaho were not quiet about it. They begged for support.
So when the bill passed and there was a parade of social media posts, shocked to see such legislation pass, it was hard not to be deeply frustrated. I recognize that I swim in this world, but the difference in action to raise awareness and beg for support in defeating this bill was different. It was very loud. It was very public.
Its passage was still met with surprise from otherwise intelligent people.
The bill has given rise to a host of changes to public libraries throughout Idaho, which have curtailed the rights of young people to use these institutions of democracy. It’s helped lead to some libraries in the state, like Kootenai County’s Community Library Network, believing they should get rid of their interlibrary loan system because some patrons might want to borrow books from other libraries that they deem inappropriate. Most parents in the library district–over 90%–allow their children full access to materials, despite what the board continues to do, say, and believe. The bill also led to a lawsuit. Among the plaintiffs is Donnelley Public Library’s director, an ardent champion of libraries who spent weeks explaining that this law would cause her library to become accessible to adults only.
Now, some Wyoming conservatives aim to pass their own anti-library bill, with even more extreme provisions than that of their northwestern neighbor. It’s getting some good coverage, but since this is happening outside the legislative session, it’s hard not to worry about how little attention this will get outside of the same circles already paying close attention.
“Sexually Explicit Materials in Libraries-Requirements” is a draft bill from the Joint Judiciary Interim Committee, targeted for the 2026 legislative session. It came up for discussion during the committee’s meeting last Tuesday. The room was packed with librarians, educators, parents, and advocates. The bill would require that public and public school libraries certify that their collections accessible to those under the age of 18 have no “sexually explicit” materials. The draft takes great pains to describe what exactly is meant by “sexually explicit,” carefully avoiding the opportunity to address the prevailing federal standard for obscenity, the Miller Test. Instead, we get a bill that would itself be deemed “sexually explicit” were it to be read by anyone under the age of 18.*
Libraries and schools would be liable if such materials were in their collections, with a $50,000 fine for each violation. Anyone would be allowed to claim there are “sexually explicit” materials in the collection and thus begin the process of suing those institutions.
The bill’s language, paired with the ludicrous financial penalties, would create what is tantamount to removing the young adult section of every public library and public school library in the state. It would put tremendous pressure on library workers to figure out what is meant by “sexually explicit,” even with what are themselves explicit descriptions in the bill. If even one or two books were deemed against the law, it would also bankrupt just about every library or school in the state.
Who gets to make the final decision on whether or not a book is “sexually explicit” once a lawsuit begins is indeed a good question.
The state’s Legislative Service Office attorneys have suggested that the proposed law utilize the prevailing standard for “obscenity,” rather than lurid descriptions of what may count as a “sexually explicit” act. But, as has been the way of right-wing legislators nationwide, the Miller Test isn’t strong enough; it’s that third prong, that materials cannot be considered obscene if on the whole they have artistic, literary, or scientific merit, that they continue to chip away at. Creating a definition of “sexually explicit” allows them to bypass the standard, similar to how Florida officials wanted to rely on the Ginsberg rules for obscenity in a (failed) 2025 legislative proposal. At least one Wyoming state legislator said that the Supreme Court was simply “not thinking” about how the Miller Test might apply to children and books, so it’s their responsibility to do so now, 50+ years later.**
The president of the Wyoming Library Association, Lindsey Travis, was at the meeting last week when the bill was being discussed. Per reporting from the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, “She estimated that it would take around 90,000 hours, more than 10 years, to review the 10,000 books in the teen section of the Sweetwater County Library, of which she is the president.”
That waste of resources and talent is the entire point.
One committee person suggested using artificial intelligence to ensure libraries do not have these “sexually explicit” materials in areas where those under 18 are accessing materials. As if any library would risk a $50,000 per item fine through technology that’s frequently faulty and that could be manipulated by those with the means.*** Using AI to determine whether or not materials are against new state laws isn’t new. This is how some schools in Iowa culled their collections upon the passage of SF 496, one of the bills Wyoming legislators used as inspiration for their own. SF 496’s book ban provision was once again blocked by a federal court earlier this year (though it is still being written about as if it is fully a go right now).
Laws like these are not only about gratifying the genital obsessed party’s weird fixation on sex as it relates to minors. They’re also about financial ruin for public institutions of democracy and civic engagement. These politicians and party sycophants want the opportunity to create a deeper fissure between the haves and the have-nots, and they want the chance to create similar institutions that are privatized so that they can cash in. This is happening in states like Wyoming at a rate most likely don’t realize–the gulf between the working-class Wyoming resident and those who own pricey vacation homes on a chunk of land is growing.^
Schools aren’t going away because of vouchers. Public schools instead get bankrupt so that private interests can cash in on education; many of those private interests are new startups with blatant anti-intellectual, anti-science, anti-fact agendas. Public libraries will be bankrupt in exchange for the rise of private libraries, returning us to the era of subscription libraries. Those subscription libraries will, of course, only stock what best suits the interests and whims of the owner, rather than the good of the people.
Wyoming public libraries are already hurting, but the pain will worsen.^^ A significant tax cut for Wyoming property owners means that libraries that depend on that money to operate will lose out. Indeed, Wyoming legislators want to eliminate property taxes altogether, which would spell financial ruin for public institutions statewide. No amount of tax districts would plug this hole; no large-scale donors would step up to the plate without demanding something in return. Public institutions can’t rely on significant private donations to sustain themselves anyway. They’re there for the public by the public.
Last week’s meeting about the “books related to genitals and hands and masturbation” bill went on for over two hours. Nearly every single bit of feedback the committee received was negative. So while the committee has elected to table the discussion until the fall, they hope people will forget that it’s possible. That it’s actually a priority to roll out one of the most destructive and intellectually dishonest bills targeting libraries in the country.
Wyoming library supporters and advocates for intellectual freedom for all were out already. They’ll continue to show up. But the responsibility to keep this piece of legislation and the child sex obsessed politicians behind it at the top of mind falls to all of us. Whether or not you live in Wyoming, you should care about this because it will impact each and every one of us.
This isn’t about parental rights.
It never was.
Notes:
*How long can a group of legislators linger over words like genitals and anus before it becomes clear they have an unhealthy hyper-fixation? Can you imagine what the parts that didn’t make the draft bill look like? This isn’t normal!
**If current law doesn’t allow your party to ram through their priorities, write a new law to undermine it and reinterpret history to fit the agenda.
^I cannot recommend enough that everyone pick up Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream by Megan Greenwell. One of the people followed throughout is a doctor who left a lucrative career in suburban Texas and moved to a small town in Wyoming to practice. His story is about the closure of the small town medical clinics that communities depend upon and highlights what’s happening in these rural states–they’re being swallowed by the rich, most of whom don’t even live or work in those states.
***This is how folks like Steve Wandler hope to capitalize on the book ban movement. Wandler is behind BookmarkED/OnShelf, the app making its way through Texas schools that utilizes “cutting-edge AI” to help library workers identify banned books. Wandler advocated for the state’s new Senate Bill 13, which would allow unqualified parents to make decisions about the books available in school libraries.
^^Really, read this link, as the library workers are going to be taking on janitorial duties because of how bad the budget cuts are for them.
On a different note: this fall is a busy season for me, as I’ve booked several speaking and workshop sessions nationwide. While I will still write here where and how I can, it may not be at the biweekly cadence I try to maintain. But perhaps I’ll see you in person at the Association of Rural and Small Libraries Conference in mid-September, at the UAW Member Mobilization Initiative, at the Minnesota Library Association Conference, or the Illinois Association of Teachers of English Conference; perhaps I’ll see you online at events for Lake Bluff Public Library or the Washington Library Association’s Presidential Summit. I’m happy to provide more details on any of these privately via email.