CSSB 238(EDC): "An Act relating to access to library material; and relating to affirmative defenses to the offenses of enticement of a minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and distribution of indecent material to minors."
00 CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 238(EDC) 01 "An Act relating to access to library material; and relating to affirmative defenses to the 02 offenses of enticement of a minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and 03 distribution of indecent material to minors." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 11.41.452 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 06 (f) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under this section that, at the 07 time of the offense, the defendant was acting in the course of employment as an 08 employee or official of a school, museum, or public library. 09 * Sec. 2. AS 11.51.130 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 10 (c) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under this section that, at the 11 time of the offense, the defendant was acting in the course of employment as an 12 employee or official of a school, museum, or public library. 13 * Sec. 3. AS 11.61.128 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 14 (f) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under this section that, at the
01 time of the offense, the defendant was acting in the course of employment as an 02 employee or official of a school, museum, or public library. 03 * Sec. 4. AS 14.56 is amended by adding new sections to read: 04 Article 7. Access to Library Material. 05 Sec. 14.56.450. Public library material policy. (a) A librarian employed by a 06 public library may curate library material for inclusion in the public library according 07 to the policy approved by the governing body of the public library. 08 (b) The director shall establish and update as necessary a model policy on the 09 curation and reconsideration of library material within a public library. The policy 10 must provide standards for the selection and curation of library material, establish 11 criteria for the removal of existing library material, and provide protection against 12 attempts to censor library material. At a minimum, the policy must 13 (1) recognize that a public library serves as a center for voluntary 14 inquiry and the dissemination of information and is the marketplace of ideas; 15 (2) promote the free expression of, and free access to, ideas by 16 prohibiting the censorship of library material; 17 (3) prohibit the removal of library material from a public library based 18 on the origin of, background of, or views expressed by the library material or of those 19 contributing to its creation; 20 (4) recognize that library material is provided for the interest, 21 information, and enlightenment of all people and should present a wide range of points 22 of view; 23 (5) establish a procedure, based on professional standards, for a 24 librarian to review the inclusion of library material within a public library on an 25 ongoing basis, which must include consideration of 26 (A) the relevance of the library material; 27 (B) the condition of the library material; 28 (C) the availability of duplicates of the library material; 29 (D) the availability of a more recent library material; and 30 (E) the continued demand for the library material; 31 (6) establish a model form and a procedure for an individual to request
01 a public library to reconsider library material; the procedure must 02 (A) allow an individual who has held a current library card 03 issued by the public library for at least six months and who resides in the 04 public library's designated service area to initiate the review of a specific 05 library material by submitting a request for the public library to reconsider the 06 library material; 07 (B) require that an individual submitting a request for a public 08 library to reconsider library material review the library material as a whole and 09 not challenge library material based on selective passages that are taken out of 10 context; 11 (C) provide that, during the review process, the library material 12 subject to reconsideration may not be removed from its location within the 13 public library and must remain available for a patron to reserve, check out, or 14 access; 15 (D) require that at least one librarian employed at the public 16 library where the request was submitted formally participate in the review 17 process; and 18 (E) provide a process by which an individual can appeal a 19 decision made on reconsideration, using the standards set out in (5)(A) - (E) of 20 this subsection. 21 (c) The governing body of a public library shall adopt the model policy 22 established by the director under (b) of this section, as well as any updates to the 23 model policy. The governing body of a public library that has a policy that meets the 24 requirements set out in (b) of this section on the effective date of this section is not 25 required to take further action. 26 (d) The governing body of a public library may not remove library material 27 from a public library based on the origin of, background of, or views expressed by the 28 library material or of those contributing to its creation. The governing body of a public 29 library may not, based on disagreement with the ideas or concepts expressed by the 30 library material, including objections to a depiction of race, gender, sexuality, or 31 religious or political views, prohibit the public library from acquiring, maintaining, or
01 displaying a specific work or subject matter, restrict access or searchability of library 02 material, or require parental permission for a minor to access library material. 03 (e) The governing body of a public library may not, based on objections to 04 sexual content, prohibit the public library from acquiring, maintaining, or displaying a 05 specific work or subject matter, restrict access or searchability of library material, or 06 require parental permission for a minor to access library material unless, with respect 07 to the specific population to which the library material is made available, 08 (1) the average person, applying contemporary community standards, 09 would find the library material, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; 10 (2) the library material depicts or describes, in a patently offensive 11 way, sexual conduct defined by AS 11.66.150; and 12 (3) the library material, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, 13 political, or scientific value. 14 (f) A government entity that exercises authority over the purchase, selection, 15 curation, and location of library material at the state or municipal level may not reduce 16 funding for a public library because of the public library's compliance with this 17 section. 18 (g) An employee of a public library is immune from civil and criminal liability 19 arising from good faith actions performed under this section. 20 Sec. 14.56.455. School library material policy. (a) A librarian employed at a 21 school library may select, purchase, and acquire library material for inclusion in the 22 school library according to the policy approved by the governing body of the school 23 library. 24 (b) The director shall establish and update as necessary a model policy on the 25 curation and reconsideration of library material within a school library. The policy 26 must provide standards for the selection and curation of library material, establish 27 criteria for the removal of existing library material, and provide protection against 28 attempts to censor library material. At a minimum, the policy must 29 (1) recognize that library material is provided for the interest, 30 information, and enlightenment of all students and should present a wide range of 31 points of view in the collection;
01 (2) prohibit the removal of library material from a school library based 02 on the origin of, background of, or views expressed by the library material or of those 03 contributing to its creation; 04 (3) recognize the importance of a school library as a center for 05 voluntary inquiry and the dissemination of information and ideas; 06 (4) promote the free expression of, and free access to, ideas by students 07 by prohibiting the censorship of library material; 08 (5) acknowledge that a school librarian is professionally trained to 09 curate and develop a school library collection that provides students with access to the 10 widest array of developmentally relevant library material created for the chronological 11 ages and grade levels of students in the school; 12 (6) establish a procedure, based on professional standards, for a 13 librarian to review the inclusion of library material within a school library on an 14 ongoing basis, which must include consideration of 15 (A) the relevance of the library material; 16 (B) the condition of the library material; 17 (C) the availability of duplicates of the library material; 18 (D) the availability of more recent developmentally relevant 19 library material created for the chronological ages and grade levels of students 20 in the school; and 21 (E) the continued demand for the library material; and 22 (7) establish a model form and procedure for an individual to request a 23 school library to reconsider library material; the procedure must 24 (A) allow teaching staff employed by the school district, 25 parents and guardians of a student enrolled in the school district, and students 26 enrolled in the school district to initiate the review of a specific library material 27 by submitting to the principal of the school in which the library material is 28 challenged a request for the school library to reconsider the library material; 29 (B) require that an individual submitting a request for a school 30 library to reconsider library material review the library material as a whole and 31 not challenge library material based on selective passages that are taken out of
01 context; 02 (C) provide that, during the review process, the library material 03 subject to reconsideration may not be removed from its location within the 04 library and must remain available for students to reserve, check out, or access; 05 (D) require that at least one school librarian employed at the 06 school and professionally trained to a level determined by the school district 07 formally participate in the review process; and 08 (E) provide a process by which an individual can appeal a 09 decision made on reconsideration, using the standards set out in (6)(A) - (E) of 10 this subsection. 11 (c) A school board shall adopt the model policy established by the director 12 under (b) of this section, as well as any updates to the model policy. A school board 13 that has adopted a policy that meets the requirements set out in (b) of this section on 14 the effective date of this section is not required to take further action. 15 (d) A school board may not remove library material from a school library 16 based on the origin of, background of, or views expressed by the library material or of 17 those contributing to its creation. The school board may not, based on disagreement 18 with the ideas or concepts expressed by the library material, including objections to a 19 depiction of race, gender, sexuality, or religious or political views, prohibit a school 20 library from acquiring, maintaining, or displaying a specific work or subject matter, 21 restrict access or searchability of library material, or require parental permission for a 22 minor to access library material. 23 (e) An employee of a school library is immune from civil and criminal 24 liability arising from good faith actions performed under this section. 25 Sec. 14.56.460. Private right of action. (a) A government entity that exercises 26 authority over the purchase, selection, curation, and location of library material at the 27 state or local level may not 28 (1) censor or order another person to censor library material; or 29 (2) impose discipline, threaten to impose discipline, or terminate a 30 school or library employee for refusing to censor library material. 31 (b) A school or library employee may bring an action in a court of competent
01 jurisdiction for damages, including punitive damages, and for declaratory and 02 injunctive relief and other remedies as may be appropriate against a government entity 03 that violates (a)(2) of this section by disciplining, terminating, or threatening to 04 discipline or terminate the librarian for the librarian's refusal to censor library material. 05 (c) A student, or the student's parent or guardian, may bring an action in a 06 court of competent jurisdiction for declaratory and injunctive relief and for damages 07 against a government entity that violates (a)(1) of this section by censoring or ordering 08 another person to censor library material within a school attended by the student. 09 Damages shall be awarded at a minimum of $451, but not more than $1,451, for each 10 censored work. 11 (d) An author, bookseller, or publisher may bring an action in a court of 12 competent jurisdiction for declaratory and injunctive relief and for damages against a 13 government entity that violates (a)(1) of this section by censoring or ordering another 14 person to censor library material written, sold, or published by the author, bookseller, 15 or publisher. Damages shall be awarded at a minimum of $451, but not more than 16 $1,451, for each censored work. 17 (e) In an action under this section, the court shall grant a prevailing plaintiff 18 reasonable attorney fees and costs, including expert witness fees. 19 (f) A government entity may not use funds that would otherwise have been 20 appropriated or allocated to a library to pay damages, attorney fees, or other related 21 costs. 22 (g) It is an affirmative defense to an action brought under this section that, at 23 the time of the conduct giving rise to the action, the government actor or member of 24 the government was acting under direct compulsion from binding state or federal 25 government authority. 26 (h) An action to enforce this section must be commenced within three years 27 after the date on which the violation of this section occurred. 28 Sec. 14.56.465. Definitions. In AS 14.56.450 - 14.56.465, 29 (1) "block" means to prohibit the acquiring, maintaining, or displaying 30 of a specific work or subject matter, restricting access to or searchability of works, or 31 to require parental permission to access works;
01 (2) "censor" means to block library material based on disagreement 02 with the ideas or concepts expressed by the material, or based on objections to sexual 03 content, without having made a finding that, with respect to the specific population to 04 which the material is made available, 05 (A) the average person, applying contemporary community 06 standards, would find the library material, taken as a whole, appeals to the 07 prurient interest; 08 (B) the library material depicts or describes, in a patently 09 offensive way, sexual conduct defined by AS 11.66.150; and 10 (C) the library material, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, 11 artistic, political, or scientific value; 12 (3) "director" means the director of the division of the department that 13 has responsibility for state libraries, archives, and museums; 14 (4) "librarian" means an employee who is trained as required by the 15 employer and who is responsible for the purchase, selection, curation, removal, and 16 display of library material; 17 (5) "library material" means a book, video, subscription or locally 18 curated database, periodical, chart, graph, movie, game, map, interactive application 19 and software, other enrichment or entertainment material, and, for a school library, 20 other material not required as part of classroom instruction, in a printed or electronic 21 format belonging to, on loan to, or otherwise in the custody of a public library or 22 school library; 23 (6) "public library" means a library established under AS 14.56.400; 24 (7) "reconsider" means to reclassify, move to a different section of the 25 library, or remove from the library an item in the library's collection.