Republican-run Legislature is now targeting Iowa's public libraries

New plan would rob us of a measure of our freedom and political power.

Photo by Austin Goode on Unsplash

This was as predictable as the sun coming up. Republicans in the Iowa Legislature are now trying to control our public libraries.

Lawmakers in both the House and Senate have advanced bills that would undermine local library boards by making it possible for city councils to take over certain functions like picking a library director.

Currently, library trustees are appointed by mayors and confirmed by city councils. But some libraries apparently aren’t banning the right books, so Republicans want to exert even more political control.

These new bills would give local politicians the right to take control of libraries without having to ask the people in their cities for permission through a public referendum, as it is now.

Republicans in both chambers say this isn’t about censorship. But this is no coincidence. These bills are being pursued just a few months after the people of Pella narrowly defeated a public referendum that would have allowed local politicians to take more control over the library after it refused to take the book “Gender Queer” off the shelves. And it’s only been a year since the GOP-controlled Legislature cracked down on school libraries by passing a law that’s banned hundreds of books across the state, many of them with LGBTQ themes.

Iowans aren’t dumb. We can see what’s happening. This is the next step toward controlling what Iowans, of all ages, can read.

What happens if city councils don’t properly clear their shelves of books Republican legislators and their most radical supporters don’t like? We don’t have to guess. Already, the Republican majority has made it their mission to bring local governments to heel if they don’t do what lawmakers want.

• They didn’t like how local governments were regulating where fireworks could be sold, so they took much of that power away.

• They didn’t like that some city councils wanted to limit the proliferation of ocean-clogging plastic bags, so they took that power away.

• They didn’t like that Republicans couldn’t get elected in a handful of liberal counties, so they tried, but haven’t succeeded—yet—in trying to change how supervisors are elected in those places.

• Some Republicans don’t like that cities are trying to keep their streets safer by using automated traffic cameras, so they’ve been on a crusade for years trying to kill them, even in places where they save lives and are operated responsibly.

Does anybody think that if city councils don’t bow to the personal and religious preferences of the powers that be in the Republican legislative caucus, they won’t propose even more library control laws?

I like that I can go to my library and get a book without worrying whether some politician has given his stamp of approval.

I also like that, through the power of the referendum, I have some level of control over how my library is governed. If the city council wants that power, they have to ask me and the rest of the people of Davenport first.

Now, legislators want to take that power away.

It’s already tough enough for Iowans to have a direct say in how we are governed. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, about two dozen states have rules that let their citizens share this power through citizen initiatives or public referenda. But Iowa is not one of them.

Historically, this has served Iowa well. But not lately. These days, Republicans hoard power and use it to micromanage local governments, punish enemies and reward friends.

Now, these politicians want to control the day-to-day operation of our libraries, too.

Frankly, people are tired of politicians intruding into practically every aspect of our lives. We don’t need them to stalk our public libraries, too.

It’s possible these bills won’t survive the funnel this week. Let’s hope so. But nobody should fool themselves into believing our libraries aren’t at risk. No matter what happens this week, Iowans should prepare themselves to stand up to this attempt to rob us of our intellectual freedom and diminish our political power.

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