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In an effort to remove so-called pornographic materials from school libraries, a Nebraska State Board of Education member has proposed rule changes that would prevent what he believes to be inappropriate content from reaching students.

Kirk Penner released a copy of his proposed changes to Rule 10 — which must be followed by all accredited schools in the state — on social media last month. While the long-standing rule also outlines many other regulations and procedures, Penner’s changes specifically target the media and technology resources portion.

In his proposal, Penner, whose district encompasses much of southeast Nebraska and parts of Lancaster County, alters several current rules, including how many new reading materials schools are required to purchase each year, and creates new ones.

Penner’s main focus, however, is on pornographic materials, aiming to stop sexually explicit materials from entering schools with the help of language pulled from a , he said.

The Board of Education held a regular meeting Friday where two people spoke during the public comment period and seven more submitted written public comments, all of them against the proposed changes.

The board will vote on the measure at the next meeting on March 8.

The proposal would ban books with content pertaining to sexual intercourse or related topics, whether that be in the format of text or images. Materials purchased specifically for sex education classes would be exempt.

“It does appear in some of our school libraries. It’s just a fact,� Penner said. “So that’s what I’m trying to do, trying to garner some type of consensus. I’m trying to work with the rest of the board to keep sexually explicit content out of our schools.�

However, Chris Haeffner, president of the Nebraska School Library Association, said even without this rule in place, Nebraska’s school libraries are already free of sexually inappropriate materials because of the processes librarians take to vet books.

“Students do not come to their school libraries to find pornography. They do not use school databases to access pornography. The materials that are in our books are carefully selected by school librarians,� she told the Journal Star.

“No, we do not have pornography in our school libraries.�

Because school librarians not only have teaching certificates but have also taken additional classes to receive a library certification, they are qualified to make decisions regarding inappropriate content, said Courtney Pentland, president of the American Association of School Librarians.

“I think there should be a deeper level of trust for educators — and school librarians are educators — that they can do their job because they’re professionals who have been trained to do those jobs,� said Pentland, who also is a current school librarian in Lincoln.

But board member Sherry Jones said she feels there needs to be more eyes on content than only certified school librarians.

“I appreciate the work of media specialists and their knowledge,� Jones said, “but I don’t think they can be the only safeguard to ensure that sexually explicit materials are not accessible to our students.�

Additionally, with Penner’s proposed changes, school libraries would no longer have to purchase a minimum number of new reading materials each year. As it currently stands, elementary schools are required to buy at least 25 new media resources per teacher, or up to 150 total, and middle and high school libraries must acquire at least 150 every year.

Penner said the purpose of the proposed change is to get rid of an unfunded mandate.

However, Haeffner said that a lack of current materials could play a role in deterring students from reading and lead them to continue to fall behind in literacy.

“It goes back to whether we want our kids to be readers,� she said. “If we have books that are old and worn out and are not keeping with the current trends of literature, then their motivation to pick those books up and actually read them is pretty low.�

Since the pandemic, school districts across the nation, including Lincoln Public Schools, have been working to address an early literacy crisis. Without access to the quality resources school libraries provide, Haeffner said literacy levels in the state would be greatly impacted.

“Kids learn how to read in the classroom, but they become great readers by practicing those reading skills. And they practice those reading skills by reading,� she said. “It’s our libraries that offer really high-interest materials, or high-interest titles, and books that will keep kids reading.�

Under Penner’s proposal, schools would also be required to now keep a current record of acquisition, classification and circulation of materials, and create an accurate, online catalog that can be accessed by the general public if approved.

By Aug. 1, superintendents would need to send proof of the public catalog and would need to repeat this annually every October.

Penner’s original proposal also included removing the current requirements that libraries are open and available to students throughout the entire school day, and that materials are properly cataloged and organized. However, he revised the proposal prior to Friday’s meeting to maintain this rule.

The proposal also states that Nebraska taxpayers would be able to file complaints to their local superintendent if they believe a district or educator has not complied with the rules. If complainants feel their issues have not been properly addressed at the district level, they can take it to the Nebraska Department of Education, which would prompt an investigation.

Attempts to ban books or increase rules surrounding the content in school libraries have been on the rise across the country, Pentland said, including in Nebraska.

Most notably, in January, a Plattsmouth school board member was recalled after her attempts to ban a number of books from the school libraries.

“We’ve seen an increase in challenges to materials and we’ve seen an increase in legislation related to materials in school and public libraries at unprecedented rates in the last few years,� she said, noting lawsuits in Florida, Missouri and Texas. “And there will continue to be more.�

But, Pentland said the top priority for both educators and school board members remains the same.

“At the end of the day, we all want our students to be successful. We all want them to be well looked after and taken care of and learning in the best environment possible,� she said. “We all want that for the students in our state.�