No one, to our knowledge, is proposing to “ban” books  in Colorado. Banning books would mean the government is preventing their publication or distribution. That would be unconstitutional, to say the least.

But good luck trying to make that clear to those who raise the specter of a “book ban” any time parents express reasonable concerns about age-inappropriate books or other media — that are readily available to their children at their local school library or public library.

It could be ultraviolent, sexually graphic, drug culture-oriented or other content that parents might feel their kids aren’t ready to handle without guidance. And yet any attempt by them to limit unsupervised access is sure to be met with protests against “banning books.”

In truth, those parents are just trying to look out for their kids.

Which is why parents, local school officials and other members of the public turned up at the Capitol this week to object to pending legislation that would curb their input into what materials are available to kids at local school and public libraries.

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As reported by Colorado Politics, Senate Bill 24-049 would create the statewide Committee for School Libraries, whose members would be appointed by school districts to weigh and act upon requests to limit reading materials or other media. Separate committees would be created at local levels to perform the same function for public libraries.

The bill would prohibit the removal of a book, magazine, newspaper, movie or CD while an objection to it is pending. It would permit only one challenge against a specific published work every five years. The proposal would forbid a “resource” from being excluded because of the “ethnic origin,” “ethnic background” or “gender identity” of those who contributed to its creation.   

As the Colorado Politics report noted, the legislation sets a high bar for removing a resource from a library. In the case of public school libraries, removal only can happen if the state committee — not local parents — votes unanimously to remove it.  

Of course, some of the bill’s most ardent supporters are touting it as a safeguard against, you guessed it, book bans. What the bill actually guards against is parental input.

It’s also arguably unconstitutional in its own right — violating the Colorado Constitution’s distinct assurance of local control by the state’s 178 school districts.

“Districts must be free to continue to develop policy that meets their districts’ needs without the mandates of this bill,” Hilary Daniels of the Colorado Association of School Boards told Senate Education Committee members at the bill’s public hearing Monday. 

But of even greater consequence is how it would shut down, and shut out, parents. They know their household values best. They know what their children are ready to read, hear or watch — far better than does the bill’s proposed statewide star chamber for school libraries.

“Why does a committee with no representation from my school get to decide what library materials do or don’t go into my school?” Boulder parent Erin Meschke told the committee.

Exactly.

There is in fact no single, correct standard for any work of fiction or nonfiction in print or on any other medium. No committee can change that reality.

Lawmakers wound up tabling the bill after this week’s pushback and sent it back to the drafters for repairs. They ought to kill it instead. No state law is needed on the subject.

Parents have their kids’ best interests at heart. The bill’s authors, by contrast, seem to think the state knows better. We’ll side with the parents.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board