Nevada’s split government keeps status quo for libraries

By April Corbin Girnus

Nevada Current

Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo and the Democratic-controlled Nevada State Legislature clashed on myriad issues this year, leading to a record 87 vetoes during the session and impasses on several policy issues.

For better or worse, libraries were a casualty of inaction.

Advocacy organization EveryLibrary this month analyzed bills introduced into state legislatures during the first half of this year and found an increase in both the number of bills meant to restrict libraries and the number of bills to protect them

They identified 133 bills in 33 states that they believe would damage libraries, including bills to criminalize the actions of library staff, restrict library funding, or redefine obscenity. While many died, 14 had passed as of mid-July and several were still alive in other states, an increase over the previous year.

Meanwhile, 76 bills in 32 states were introduced to protect or extend library services, including bills that protect against censorship and affirm a “right to read.”

In Nevada, two bills designed to protect libraries were passed by legislators but rejected by the governor.

Assembly Bill 445 and Assembly Bill 416 were both Democratic-sponsored bills that received some bipartisan support. Both were vetoed by Lombardo.

AB416, playfully described as a “ban book bans” bill, would have prohibited school boards, school employees and volunteers from limiting access to library materials simply based on content. It would have created a formal process for challenging library materials.

The bill also would have made it a felony to use force, coercion or intimidation to attempt to prevent access to library materials.

Lombardo, in his veto letter, said the bill would remove “critical decision-making authority” from schools, districts and parents. He also raised the issue of constitutionality, writing that the bill may prohibit protected speech because it bans “retaliation” but doesn’t define what that is.

The second bill, AB445, sought to shield staff at public libraries, including at schools, from criminal or civil liability for providing access to or assisting patrons in accessing library materials, so long as they were acting “in good faith.”

Lombardo, in his veto letter, called the bill “untenable due to its vague and overly broad language” and said it undermines oversight by removing accountability.

PEN America documented 10,046 instances of book bans during the 2023-2024 school year, marking a substantial increase over the prior three years.

Their database includes no instances of book bans in Nevada. Still, public schools and libraries in the Silver State have seen public outcry for having books with depictions of sex, LGBTQ characters, or people of color. Last summer, Washoe County School Board saw a coordinated flood of public comments urging trustees to remove certain books.

This year’s legislative session also saw a group of six Senate Republicans sponsor a bill that would have required every public school to establish and maintain a list of all print and digital materials available in the school library, as well as all instructional materials. While not included in EveryLibrary’s analysis, and not explicitly about banning books, such databases are typically designed to make it easier for groups to identify and challenge materials they do not agree with.

That proposal, Senate Bill 248, was never given a committee hearing, an unsurprising outcome given the Democrats’ control of the state Legislature.

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April Corbin Girnus is an award-winning journalist and deputy editor of Nevada Current. A stickler about municipal boundary lines, April enjoys teaching people about unincorporated Clark County. She grew up in Sunrise Manor and currently resides in Paradise with her husband, three children and one mutt.