“It seems pretty popular, so I’m hoping we can get it up for a vote,” Glanville told Bridge Michigan on Monday.

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House bills 6034 and 6035 they are a response to local battles over books that some library patrons consider inappropriate for young people. Many of the challenged books have themes of LGBTQ relationships, some including illustrations of sexual acts.

The “Freedom to Read Act” would dramatically limit residents’ ability to challenge books by:

• Limiting patrons who can challenge library materials to community residents.
• Requiring challengers to certify that they have read the entire book or watched the entire film and not just an offensive portion of the material.
• Requiring that library directors, not ordinarily elected library boards, have sole discretion over library materials.
• Allowing libraries to approve removal requests only if materials “have been deemed obscene or otherwise unprotected” by the US or Michigan constitutions.

1973 US Supreme Court decision, Miller v. Californiaruled that the First Amendment protects works of “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.” This is a high standard that has all but eliminated obscenity rulings.

In 2022, a court in Virginia petitions rejected to declare obscene one of Michigan’s most contested books, the graphic novel, Gender Queer: A Memoir,” a coming-of-age story about a non-binary person that includes illustrations of sexual acts.

Currently, each community library in Michigan can set its own standards. By mandating a state standard, library officials can point to state law as the basis for their decisions about book challenges.

“What we’re trying to do is support libraries and take some of the pressure off local librarians so there’s not so much personal attack going on,” Glanville said.

The bills are opposed by some representatives, including Rep. Steve Carra, R-Three Rivers.

“Society forced taxpayers to fund these locations. To me, that gives us an increased responsibility to control what goes into those libraries and not expose children to pornographic material,” Carra said.