House amends controversial library bill to require a minimum for book challenge requests

BATON ROUGE, La. (KALB) - With only a few days remaining in the 2023 legislative session, House lawmakers added a few big amendments to a Senate bill looking to address the debate over materials in the children and teens sections of libraries around the state.

SB7, authored by State Senator Heather Cloud (R-District 28), looks to codify the definition of sexually explicit content and reconsideration policies for library boards, as well as create a tiered library card system, for all parish libraries.

Those elements of the bill remained intact on House passage. However, the 73-28 vote included amendments by State Rep. Tanner Magee (R-District 53) that would require someone who challenges a book to be an adult that lives in the parish of the library they are filing the challenge, and it would require a minimum of 10 requests for a challenge in order to go before the library board for review.

With the changes, the bill must now head back to the Senate for approval.

The 2023 Legislative Session must end by June 8 at 6 p.m.

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