House Speaker Edrien Jones (D-Baltimor County) highlighted the state Democrats gathered at a pre-session lunch in Annapolis on January 9, 2024 as part of his speech as part of his speech. Brian p. Photo by Sears.
House Speaker Edrien A. The “dairy agenda” by Jones (D-Baltimore County), one of his main priorities for this year’s 90-day legislation session, was formally released on Thursday.
While the bills that are part of the agenda have all been introduced in recent times, their normal thread is being amplified with a video message that Jones is releasing on Thursday.
“In the last few weeks, you have heard me talking a lot about decency,” he said in the video. “For me, decency is about respect. Respect for our communities, colleagues, friends and families. Unfortunately, over the years, that honor has been endangered by political disagreement that has really separated us.”
Five bills are part of the speaker’s schedule agenda at the Delegates House.
The House Bill 785 on top of the agenda is sponsored by Dan Dana Jones (D-Anne Arundel), which focuses on the protection of controversial books and other diverse materials in libraries.
The package also includes an anti-discrimination and disinex-enforption bill and a measure to provide training to school officials on anti-Jewish and Islamophobia.
The Library Bill is part of a national conversation that literary materials are being provided in public libraries and school libraries.
The law, labeled “Freedom to Read Act”, attempts to protect employees of school and public library, stating that they can not be “rejected, suspended, disciplined, rescued, reinstated, transferred, or otherwise vengerated against” state library standards “, which are placed in the bill.
According to the bill, some standards will not include removing library materials, books and other resources based on the background, origin, or opinion of a writer or manufacturer. In addition, a library should not restrict or remove the content from its catalog “due to biased or principle rejection”.
If there are policies of any county library, resource center, or “cooperative service program” developed by the Maryland State Library Agency that do not suit these state standards, the state will authorize the state controller to withdraw the funding of the Librarian state.
A person can illegally “deliberately” carry out the property of any book or other library, or not ruin.
A person accused of these crimes will be accused of a rape and if found guilty, he can spend in jail for 10 months, not paying more than $ 1,000 or both. The current fine is $ 250.
The bill is scheduled on 21 February for hearing before the House’s methods and means committee.
Dana Jones (D-Ani Arundel) inside her office within 12 February 2024, talking about freedom to read the Act. William J. Photo by Ford.
“If you don’t like any book, you don’t have to read it. And if it is not right for your family, you don’t need to examine it for your child or your family,” said in an interview this week, “Dana Jones, who has worked on this law for nine months. “But you should not have the ability to remove the book from the shelf, which wants to read it [and] In the book, they can learn from the living experiences of those people. ,
House Minority Leader Jason C. Bakal (R-Allegney) indicated his inconvenience with the law and said that the important issue in the discussion is “age-appropriate”.
“Public libraries are amazing places. We need a variety of educational literature and materials in them,” but if 6 -year -old children and 8 -year -old children and 9 -year -old children can easily reach the materials that are not written for them … I think it’s a problem. “
He said: “I think this taxpayer is a problem for using dollars that will not read most of us. [and] Almost we will not all read our children. This is not a knock on the LGBTQ community. It is a place in public discourse for more mature children and adults, such as literature that is probably slightly mature in a heterosexual context. I will not support any support in schools. ,
National movement
If the Democratic-controlled Mahasabha Library approves the law, then Maryland will be one of the few states of the country that can be found in libraries and punishments for those who try to thwart it, for this to approve a policy with strong security.
The Illinois law became the first state in the nation last year to sign a uniform policy, which came into force on 1 January.
Several other state assemblies, including Colorado, Canasus, New Jersey and New Mexico, have seen the law that banned book anti-book introduced this year.
October, Penn started online training for students, with the best -selling writers, activists and others, to combat the efforts of the banned books week across the country in the US, literature and human rights organizations to ban the efforts to ban the efforts of the banned books week across the country.
The organization, which advocated earlier, published a report, which revealed that more than 3,300 books were banned in the US during the 2022-23 school year, there was an increase of 33% from the last school year.
The report found that the top five books banned in schools in the last school year, “Tricks,” The Bluest I, “are looking for” Alaska, “” A Court of Mist and Fury “and” Gender Quir: A Memoirs “.
Although Penn America reported that Maryland was one of the 16 states of Book Bain, but some local resistance.
The Carroll County School Board unanimously approved a policy last month, saying that “all other instructional materials … will not have sexually clear material. Sexually materials are clearly defined in a wide or graphic manner about describing, illustrating, showing or sex or sex.”
An email sent to Maryland Matters from a school board spokesperson showed a list of books that were removed from the school library shelves and media resource centers along with others. The title “Sex is Funny Word” was recommended by a review committee in a book in a second round to “maintain” in schools, but the superintendent selected to remove it.
A conservative parent-rights group with around 300 chapters across the country have been one of the leaders for strict rules for school systems to select books in libraries for Liberty.
According to the group’s website, 10 chapters have been established in Maryland, Anne in Arundel, Baltimore, Carol, Cecil, Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, Talbot and Worster Counties.
Suji Scott, Chairman of the Maryland Legislative Committee of The Moms for Liberty, The Freedom to Read to Reading Act Bill “very hardcore” and a part of an agenda with the Maryland Library Association.
, [Freedom to Read] The ACT has the right to read the inappropriate content, “Said the organization’s Harford County Chapter Chairman Scott.” This will allow the state to train Librarian, which re -re -forming words such as ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’ to maintain improper material … and this material in our schools. Some of it is really obscene. ,
Scott has highlighted Booklooks.org as a resource that has reviewed thousands of books.
The site evaluated the “Linga Quir: A Memoirs”, which is one of the books of Pennered America, which has been noted in schools as one of the most banned books in the country, “4.” With, “4.” With According to the book, the number is equivalent to a book with adult materials with “clear, sexual nudity”.
Scott said that if people want to buy books, or read them in a public library or online, it is fine. However, he said that books like “Linga Quir” are not suitable for young people.
“I am opposed to 100% of any censorship. I love Harford County Public Library. It’s a wonderful system, but I believe that I have the right to protect my children and grandchildren from the materials that are clearly unfair to minors,” she said. “Parents are not just being heard and our challenges are getting the ban on this book with the ban labeled and we are homophobic. Not at all.”
Joshua Stone, Executive Director of the State Library Association, admitted that there is a “very small section of the community” that is trying to set an agenda for what materials should be on bookshelves.
The Executive Director of the Maryland Library Association, Joshua Stone, left, talks about the freedom of reading the Act on 13 February, 2024 inside the State House. The Library Association President Tiffany Sadherland, hears. William J. Photo by Ford.
According to 172 reactions in a survey between the Maryland Association of School Librarian between September 19 and September 25, about 52% of the respondents avoided buying a book as they were afraid that it could be controversial.
Last year at Carroll County, the state’s Librarian Association ralled in front of the School Board in support of a librarian as an English teacher.
So Stone said that the freedom of reading is important, as this library will allow employees to do their work without fear of vengeance.
He said, “This will help libraries to determine their own standard and it gives the community a real way to be a part of the discussion without a parents, which decides that no children in that community should be able to read a book that they disagree,” they said. “This will allow Maryland be a leader in the country as far as protecting libraries, protecting the library workers and protecting the freedom of reading.”
The ACT supporter has another freedom to read, which is the CEO of Baltimore County Public Library Sonia Alchetara-Antoine. Alkantara-Antoine, who also serves as the president of the Public Library Association, traveled to Cleveland this week to talk about the 21st-century libraries this week.
“Libraries are welcoming, inclusive spaces that are to serve their communities,” he said. “Our job is to provide access to materials, services and resources that reflect the diversity of our communities. It is not suitable for a person or a small minority within a community, which basically determines what can happen on the shelf in the library because they may disagree.
Remaining decency agenda
The four remaining bills of the dairy agenda include Dale House Bill 333. Samuel I. Rosenburg (D-Baltimore). A hearing was already held on 6 February before the method and means committee.
The law will require each social media platform of more than a million monthly active users in the country, “to make appropriate efforts to prevent, detect and remove the accounts and posts that communicate electoral dissolution in the state.”
This month is the last three bills set for hearing:
- House Bill Sponsored by 602-Jones and co-proposed by del dale. Luke Clippinger (D-Baltimore), Chairman of House Judicry Committee. The bill prescribed for hearing on Wednesday before the Economic Affairs Committee proposes to ensure that a person does not discriminate against sexual orientation or gender identity.
- House Bill sponsored by 1386-Dale. The city of Vanessa Atereberry (D-Hover), Wes and Means Committee, the city of each county and Baltimor Board of Education will require “Antisementism and Prevention of Islamophobia” to receive annual training for employees. The hearing is scheduled on 26 February before that committee.
- House Bill 1287-Sponsored by Spiker and Atterbery and Del. Jheanelle K. Wilkins (D-Montgomery), co-proposed, Maryland’s Legislative Black Cocus Ways and Vice Chairing of the Instrument Committee and Chairman. As part of rewarding a new contract, the law will require the incoming State Superintendent and a local school superintendent will have to complete the school leadership course or program. The hearing on the bill is scheduled on 28 February before the methods and the instrument committee.
Speaker Jones said in the video, “I want to be clear: I am not trying to push my ideology on anyone else.” We know that we will never agree on everything, and we should not. But we need to be able to disagree without being unbearable. We need to prevent our worse instinct from allowing the conversation to run. I am just asking all of us to show a little more decency, a little more respect, and show a little more patience for the identity and identity of our fellow citizens. “
Re -published