Gerogia US, Bill to criminalize librarians lending ‘harmful materials’ to minors advances in House, similar in Iowa
Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2026 12:56 pm
https://atlantaciviccircle.org/2026/02/ ... rgia-sb74/
A controversial bill that would create criminal penalties, including jail time, for librarians who knowingly allow minors to check out materials deemed harmful to them under Georgia’s obscenity law advanced out of a House committee on Friday for a full House vote. The Republican-backed Senate Bill 74 already passed the Senate last year.
SB 74 has drawn strong opposition from librarians and civil rights organizations, who argue the bill is a censorship measure that disproportionately targets LGBTQ-related content.
“Faced with the threat of criminal prosecution, librarians are likely to self-censor,” said Sarah Hunt-Blackwell, the ACLU Georgia’s senior policy counsel, in an email to supporters after the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee passed the bill Feb. 6 along party lines.