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Wyoming lawmakers are moving forward with a bill that would allow people to sue public libraries and school districts if books containing sexually explicit material can be accessed by minors.

Cristine Braddy, Wyoming Library Association president, said if the bill becomes law, the Bible and other religious texts, which contain exceptionally sexually explicit sections, would not have a home in libraries.

"'The Diary of Anne Frank' would not be available in a school library if this bill is passed. Other books would be works by Shakespeare, 'The Canterbury Tales,' 'Ulysses,' 'Dracula,' 'The Scarlet Letter' - all of these would be excluded," she said.

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Last week, the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Judiciary Committee voted to sponsor the legislation after reviewing books with LGBTQ themes and others that describe sexual assault. As reported by Wyofile, Senator Jared Olsen, R-Cheyenne, called the books in question pornographic, and said there should be no opposition to moving those books to adult-only shelves.

Braddy said libraries strictly follow state obscenity laws and do not purchase pornography. Books in children’s sections are carefully screened for any sexual content, even by nuance or innuendo. She added that professional librarians do provide materials for minority community members. There are bilingual sections, and even though Wyoming libraries tend to have more books about Christianity, there are also books about other religions.

"Librarians do a lot of work to make sure that they are purchasing materials that will meet the needs of their community the best that they can," she continued.

Representative Ken Chestek, D-Laramie, warned that the bill’s broad language would lead to book banning, because librarians would have to remove controversial books or face punishment. Representative Tom Kelly, R-Sheridan, pushed back, calling the claim “inflammatory.” Citing iconic librarian Mary Jo Godwin, Braddy says a truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone.

"Protecting the First Amendment is going to be offensive, because people are going to say things we don’t like," she said. "If we really are about the First Amendment, it has to be the First Amendment for everyone, not just the people who are in power, not just the people who have privilege, not just the people who pay our bills, but everyone.