2024 Louisiana Legislation Watch
The 2024 Louisiana legislative session is underway, and we are tracking several bills which, if passed, could have devastating consequences for Louisiana public and school libraries. We have all the information you need, including analyses, committee schedules, and how you can help!
House Bill 974 (formerly HB168)
House Bill 974, filed by Representative Josh Carlson (R-Lafayette), would change the requirements for anyone seeking the job of library director at a Louisiana public library. The proposed law changes the requirement that library director candidates have MLIS (Master's of Library Science) degrees, and instead states that directors can have ANY graduate degree.
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Find Analysis, Talking Points, and Sample Letters HERE.
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House Bill 414 (HB414)
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House Bill 414, sponsored by Rep. Josh Carlson (R-Lafayette), seeks to criminalize librarians and public library workers for providing access to books and information by removing public libraries from the institutional exemption list currently part of Louisiana obscenity law.
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House Bill 545 (HB545)
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House Bill 545, sponsored by Rep. Beryl Amadee (R-Gray), seeks to criminalize school librarians and educators for providing access to books and information by redefining "recognized and established schools" to exclude K-12 public schools, thereby removing them from the institutional exemption list currently part of Louisiana obscenity law.
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House Bill 640 (HB640) & 946 (HB946)
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House Bill 640 & HB946, sponsored by Rep. Jay Galle (R-Mandeville), seek to add provisions to the current law establishing library boards, stating that the governing authority can remove for cause or no cause at all any library board of control member.
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House Bill 777 (HB777)
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House Bill 777, sponsored by Rep. Kellee Dickerson (R-Denham Springs), seeks to make it a crime for any public official or employee to appropriate, allocate, reimburse, or otherwise in any way expend public funds to or with the American Library Association or its successor. To do so carries a fine of up to $1000.
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Find Analysis, Talking Points, and Sample Letters HERE.
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House Bill 848 (HB848)
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House Bill 848, sponsored by Rep. Steven Jackson (D-Shreveport), seeks to change the way parish library budgets are approved. This bill would take away library and board of control autonomy, giving parish governing authorities line-item veto power, including setting salaries of every librarian.
Find Analysis, Talking Points, and Sample Letters HERE.
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