Lawmakers vote to fire all members of Arkansas State Library Board

KUAR | By Daniel Breen

State lawmakers have voted to remove the entire Arkansas State Library Board.

Members of the Arkansas House of Representatives approved Senate Bill 640 in a meeting Tuesday. The bill fires all seven members of the board, directing Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to appoint their replacements.

Conservative lawmakers and activists have called on the board to do more to protect library-goers from “sexually explicit” materials, though librarians say no such materials exist in libraries. A previous bill would have dissolved the library board and the Arkansas State Library entirely, moving their responsibilities to the Arkansas Department of Education.

Lawmakers vote to fire all members of Arkansas State Library Board

John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders named a new chair of the state Post-Prison Transfer Board (also known as the parole board) late Wednesday.

Bill to abolish Arkansas State Library and its board advances despite librarians’ opposition

KUAR | By Tess Vrbin / Arkansas Advocate

From the Arkansas Advocate:

After more than two hours of debate, an Arkansas Senate committee advanced a proposal on Tuesday to abolish the Arkansas State Library and its board, which disburses state funding to local public libraries.

Senate Bill 536 would transfer the agency’s and board’s powers, authorities, funds, contracts and employees to the Arkansas Department of Education. The State Library is already under the department’s umbrella but operates independently.

The bill would delete all mentions of the State Library from existing state statute and make “prohibit[ing] access to age-inappropriate materials to a person who is sixteen (16) years old or younger” a condition for public libraries to receive state funds from the education department.

Bill to abolish Arkansas State Library and its board advances despite librarians’ opposition

Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate

Five Arkansans spoke against Senate Bill 536 before the Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. From left: Misty Hawkins, regional director of the Arkansas River Valley Regional Library System; Allie Gosselink, director of the Calhoun County Library; Debbie Hall, grants manager for the Arkansas State Library; John McGraw,executive director of the Faulkner-Van Buren Regional Library; and Clare Graham, Mid-Arkansas Regional Library System director.

New bill would dissolve Arkansas State Library and its board, set new library funding criteria

KUAR | By Tess Vrbin / Arkansas Advocate

From the Arkansas Advocate:

Arkansas Sen. Dan Sullivan filed legislation Thursday to abolish not only the State Library Board, but the State Library as well.

Senate Bill 536 would carry out Sullivan’s promise to dismantle the library board by transferring the agency’s and board’s powers, authorities, funds, contracts and employees to the Arkansas Department of Education. The Arkansas State Library is already under the department’s umbrella but operates independently, and the board consists of seven members appointed by the governor who disburse funds to public libraries on a quarterly basis.

In February, Sullivan introduced Senate Bill 184, which would have abolished the State Library Board but not the State Library. The bill also would have dissolved the Arkansas Educational Television Commission, which oversees Arkansas PBS and is also under the education department but operates independently.

New bill would dissolve Arkansas State Library and its board, set new library funding criteria

Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, in the Senate chamber on Tuesday, January 14, 2025.

Bill to abolish library, Arkansas PBS oversight boards advances

KUAR | By Daniel Breen

An effort to disband the independent oversight boards for the state’s libraries and public television network advanced in an Arkansas legislative committee Thursday.

Senate Bill 184 would abolish the State Library Board and the Arkansas Educational Television Commission, transferring their power and duties to the state Education Department.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, told members of the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs committee the bill seeks to boost efficiency.

“These boards and commissions meet once a quarter. They have a set agenda, they meet for about an hour, hour-and-a-half or so, and rarely do they come up with things that are consequential,” Sullivan said, adding the entities the boards oversee are “very consequential to the State of Arkansas.”

Bill to abolish library, Arkansas PBS oversight boards advances

Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, leads a meeting of the Arkansas Legislative Council’s Higher Education subcommittee on Sept. 3, 2024 on Arkansas State University’s Jonesboro campus.

Rapert continues failed attempts to withhold funds from some libraries

KUAR | By Josie Lenora

Former Republican state Sen. Jason Rapert continued his efforts to withhold funds from libraries at a meeting of the Arkansas State Library Board Friday.

Rapert began his tenure on the board this year. At every meeting since then, Rapert has unsuccessfully tried to remove funding from Arkansas libraries over specific books in their collections. None of his motions at Friday's meeting received a second, meaning the group was not able to vote on them.

Rapert was especially upset about two memoirs with LGBTQ+ themes found in some Arkansas libraries: "All Boys Aren't Blue" by George M. Johnson and "Genderqueer" by Maia Kobabe. He said he had learned about the books on a website called Take Back the Classroom. The organization is funded by the conservative Capitol Resource Institute, a group working to end sex education in schools.

Rapert continues failed attempts to withhold funds from some libraries