§225. Library policy; definitions; minor's access to sexually explicit materials; immunity;
penalties
A.The legislature recognizes the fundamental right of parents to make decisions as
to the care, custody, and control of their children. This fundamental right includes the right
to decide the upbringing and education of children under their control. Parents have the right
to guide and direct the reading, listening, and viewing choices of their minor children. Many
libraries lack adequate policies addressing the access of minors to sexually explicit materials.
In furtherance of this fundamental right, it is the intent of the legislature to require libraries
to adopt and implement policy language to limit the access of minors to sexually explicit
materials.
B.As used in this Section, the
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§225. Library policy; definitions; minor's access to sexually explicit materials; immunity;
penalties
A. The legislature recognizes the fundamental right of parents to make decisions as
to the care, custody, and control of their children. This fundamental right includes the right
to decide the upbringing and education of children under their control. Parents have the right
to guide and direct the reading, listening, and viewing choices of their minor children. Many
libraries lack adequate policies addressing the access of minors to sexually explicit materials.
In furtherance of this fundamental right, it is the intent of the legislature to require libraries
to adopt and implement policy language to limit the access of minors to sexually explicit
materials.
B. As used in this Section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(1) "Digital content" means any book, e-book, audiobook, video book, essay,
newspaper, magazine, film, or any other library material that is provided in a digital format.
(2) "Library patron" means a person residing in the parish in which the parish or
municipal library is located who has reached the age of majority and who holds a library card
from the library.
(3) "Sexual conduct" means any of the following:
(a) Masturbation or lewd exhibition, actual, simulated, or animated, of the genitals,
pubic hair, anus, vulva, or female breast nipples.
(b) Sadomasochistic abuse, meaning actual, simulated, or animated, flagellation, or
torture by or upon a person who is nude or clad in undergarments or in a costume that reveals
the pubic hair, anus, vulva, genitals, or female breast nipples, or in the condition of being
fettered, bound, or otherwise physically restrained, on the part of one so clothed.
(c) Actual, simulated, or animated touching, caressing, or fondling of, or other
similar physical contact with, a pubic area, anus, female breast nipple, covered or exposed,
whether alone or between humans, animals, or a human and an animal, of the same or
opposite sex, in an act of apparent sexual stimulation or gratification.
(d) Actual, simulated, or animated stimulation of a human genital organ by any
device whether or not the device is designed, manufactured, or marketed for that purpose.
(e) Actual, simulated, or animated ultimate sexual acts, whether between human
beings, animals, or a human being and an animal.
(4) "Sexually explicit material" means textual, visual, or audio material, produced
in any medium, that depicts or describes sexual conduct.
C.(1) No later than January 1, 2024, each library established pursuant to the
provisions of this Part or pursuant to the authority of a home rule charter as provided in
Article VI, Section 5 of the Constitution of Louisiana shall adopt a policy to limit the access
of minors to sexually explicit material. No later than June 1, 2024, each library shall
implement the adopted policy.
(2) The policy shall include, at a minimum, all of the following:
(a) A requirement that community standards for the population served by the library
be considered when acquiring library material that would be accessible to a minor through
donation or purchase. However, nothing in this Section shall limit the acquisition of material
by a library that implements the system provided for in Subparagraph (b) of this Paragraph.
(b) A library card system that requires a minor's parent or guardian to select whether
the minor is permitted to check out sexually explicit material physically available in the
library. The provision of this Subparagraph shall be satisfied by either of the following:
(i) A library card that restricts a minor from checking out any library material in a
collection that the library board of control has, through majority vote in an open meeting,
identified as containing sexually explicit material pursuant to a request for reconsideration.
(ii) A library card that restricts a minor from checking out any library material that
the library board of control has, through majority vote in an open meeting, identified as
sexually explicit material pursuant to a request for reconsideration.
(c) A library card system that requires a minor's parent or guardian to select whether
the minor is permitted to check out digital content. The library shall list in the library's
policy each digital content source accessible by a minor that contains library material
accessible for checkout that the library board of control has, through majority vote in an open
meeting, identified as sexually explicit material pursuant to a request for reconsideration.
(d) A procedure that allows a library patron to request the reconsideration of whether
a library material should be included in a library collection accessible to a minor. The
procedure shall, at a minimum, include all of the following items:
(i) A process to review a reconsideration request made by a library patron. The
review process shall include but is not limited to a written determination approving or
denying the request, notification to the library patron making the request of the written
determination, and the process to appeal the determination to the library board of control.
(ii) A requirement that a request for reconsideration of a library material that may
include sexually explicit material be reviewed by the library board of control. The library
board of control shall determine whether the library material meets the definition of sexually
explicit material by majority vote in an open meeting.
(3) The adoption of the policy required by this Subsection may be by amendment to
an existing library policy. The policy required by this Subsection may adopt the definitions
in Subsection B of this Section by reference.
D. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to impose liability on an employee or
agent of a library or a member of the library board of control.
E.(1) The governing authority of a parish or municipality with a library that fails to
adopt and implement a policy required by Subsection C of this Section may withhold, during
the period of noncompliance, the payments required by R.S. 25:220. The governing
authority shall provide the library board of control sixty days' written notice prior to
withholding any payments pursuant to this Paragraph.
(2) The State Bond Commission shall not consider any application authorizing the
incurrence of debt or any application authorizing the levy of any tax where the proceeds of
the debt or tax directly benefit a library that fails to adopt and implement the policy required
by Subsection C of this Section until the library adopts and implements the policy.