Why Iowa's ban on books with sex could sink libraries shared by schools and small towns

The small farming community of Alta in northwest Iowa barely has 2,000 residents. The elementary school that shares its name has fewer than 300 students.

Neither is big enough to have a quality library on its own. So for the last 20 years, the two have operated a library together, sharing a building and books to save money and provide a gathering place for residents and students.

Now, that partnership is in danger of unraveling — jeopardized by a new state law that as of July 1 requires schools, and their libraries, to remove books that contain descriptions of sex acts.

Previously able to freely share every book on its shelves, the library must figure out how to effectively split itself in two — sequestering the books the law says students should no longer access without restricting residents' rights to read what they wish.

“We've been really trying to figure out a way to make this work,” said Tirzah Price, the former Alta Community Library director, “and to figure out a way that we can still continue to work together because we all understand it's a small community; there's limited resources.”

The dilemma facing the city of Alta and the Alta-Aurelia Community School District isn't unique. Education advocates estimate as many as eight Iowa school districts and cities that share public libraries are affected by Senate File 496, the education bill Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law May 26.

In addition to banning most books featuring sex acts, the new law bars instruction and discussion about gender identity through sixth grade and requires educators to notify caregivers if students request to use pronouns that differ from their sex at birth.

While Iowa law defines what constitutes a sex act, state educators say interpretations on how to carry out the law may vary depending on the community or advice from legal counsel. And guidance promised by the Iowa Department of Education in early July to help schools and libraries better understand the new law has yet to materialize.

Related: Iowa schools are pleading for state guidance on ban on books with sex. Will it come too late?

As a result, school districts are creating their own rules, such as the Urbandale Community School District, which created a list of 374 titles that must be removed from classrooms and library shelves. On Thursday, district officials announced they would not pull books with references to LGBTQ people until further guidance is received from the department.

Within days of the release of Urbandale’s list, Norwalk Community School District officials sent a message to staff laying out dozens of books it said should be removed.

Republican lawmakers contend the law is clear on how school districts should cull their book collections — even as some acknowledge the law was not written to afford exceptions for districts that partner with public libraries.

"This wasn't a get-out-of-jail-free card for seven or eight schools that had an arrangement with a library,” said Iowa Senate Education Committee Chair Ken Rozenboom, R-Oskaloosa.

Former superintendent ‘confident’ Alta-Aurelia will find a solution

While writing Senate File 496, lawmakers and advocates discussed how to handle districts with sharing agreements like the one in Alta. They decided not to make any allowances.

“We didn't make an exception very intentionally because we don't want an exception with this law,” Rozenboom said.

But others argue the law fails to accommodate the unique needs of rural school districts with fewer resources.

“If (school districts are) in an agreement with a local town to have shared spaces or shared services or shared personnel, they know the reason they're doing that,” said state Sen. Claire Celsi, D-Des Moines and an Education Committee member, “and we should not poke our nose into their business. … And that was really the reaction to the entire bill. Every single thing in the bill was just government overreach by Republican politicians.”

School districts, especially those in rural Iowa, share services with local governments to meet the needs of the community, opponents of the law said.

“The Legislature has encouraged sharing between cities and schools and community colleges and all of those," said Margaret Buckton, a lobbyist for the Urban Education Network of Iowa and the Rural School Advocates of Iowa, "and when they pass a law that just applies to schools, it does put an additional burden on those sharing agreements."

Related: Iowa school district flags 374 books as potentially banned, from 'Ulysses' to 'Heartstopper'

Sen. Lynn Evans, R-Aurelia, the former Alta-Aurelia Community School District superintendent, is certain officials will find a way to keep the agreement in place.

“I think there's a reasonable way that we can cordon off materials that may be questionable or offensive to some and ensure that children — at least during the school day — aren't allowed to access those materials,” said Evans, an Education Committee member, told the Register. He voted for the new law.

There is still time before the January 2024 removal deadline to find a solution, he said.

After that, educators could face discipline for noncompliance.

“They have a little time, and the Department of Education was charged with putting out some recommendations about how to address it,” he said. “That should be forthcoming. So, I'm confident having been in that role there, there'll be time to address this.”

'There’s a lot of diversity even in small-town Iowa'

Agreements like the one between Alta-Aurelia and the Alta Community Library can create more opportunities when it comes to expanding programming, increasing the size of book collections and saving on building and staffing costs, advocates say.

Collectively, the library and Alta Elementary School have 21,000 books and materials, 60% of which are owned by the public library, Price said.

“It's been a really mutually beneficial partnership between the school district and its public library,” Alta-Aurelia Superintendent Denny Olhausen said.

Now, the school district and library are exploring their options, including the possibility of terminating the almost two-decade partnership, Price said.

“There's a lot of logistics when it comes down to combining or separating the library,” she said. “And, unfortunately, the way this law is written, it's very vague and, I do understand that the school has to protect themselves and they have to do what they think is best. But at the same time, we also have to do what we think is best for our community — and what is best for our community is that we have open access materials for all members of the community.”

Related: The author of one of America's most challenged kids books says 'trans people are unsafe'

Those materials also need to reflect a changing world, Price said.

“It's important to remember that our communities are more diverse than anything,” she said. "We think that we (can) look at people and kind of see them on the surface, but there’s a lot of diversity even in small-town Iowa.”

Roughly a third of Alta Elementary’s 237 students do not identify as white; 25% are Hispanic.

Even if officials continue their agreement with the Alta Community Library, they are committed to following the law.

“The approach we're gonna have to take on this is making sure that we're abiding by the law and the new legislation that's coming in,” Olhausen said. "And probably erring on the side of caution, making sure that if we think there's anything that has sexual content, that it needs to be removed.”

Another complicating factor is that both Alta-Aurelia and the library will take a financial hit if the agreement ends.

The library budget does not include funds for building and maintenance, and Alta-Aurelia School District would owe the city of Alta $30,000 if they split before 2025, Price said.

“Back when this agreement was first made, the city gave the school a rather large sum of money towards the construction of the facility that we're currently in,” Price said.

Related: Students protest LGBTQ, education bills as Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds hands them scholar awards

Educators, directors feel they can make agreements work

Without state guidance or exceptions to the law, each district and public library partnership must find its own solution.

The Huxley Public Library staff have begun recoding books to ensure Ballard Middle School students do not check out books with themes that run afoul of the law, said Cathy Van Maanen, library director and Ballard Middle School librarian.

Students who try to use their school identification to check out books will find certain titles restricted.

The partnership between the public library and the school district has been in place for 20 years, Van Maanen said. The library is located in an adjacent building.

“The process that they've been proactively working (on) throughout this summer gave me a great deal of confidence that we would be able to be in compliance with this legislation,” said Dani Trimble, Ballard’s new superintendent.

The Lake Park Public Library and the Harris-Lake Park Community School District, united by an almost 20-year agreement, have not settled on a plan for how they will navigate complying with the new law, said Deb Grubich, library director. The library is shared with middle and high school students.

“It's not that planning isn't started, but we weren't going to go ahead and make the major move because, very honestly, I do believe this bill could potentially be challenged,” Grubich said. “… so much in this law speaks to people's rights.”

A plan will be in place by the start of the school year to make sure the school district is in compliance with the law, she said.

The Washta Public Library will likely not be affected by the new law because while the library and River Valley Elementary school are in the same building, they have separate rooms, library officials said.

Meanwhile, Southeast Polk Community School District, which shares space with the Runnells Public Library and Runnells Elementary School, is waiting for state guidance, said Jean Christenson, the district’s spokesperson.

In the end, a law hailed as giving families more of a voice in their child’s education is costing extra work, worry and, possibly, money for communities utilizing these partnerships, opponents say.

“We all understand it's a small community (and) there's limited resources. It makes sense to be able to help each other where we can,” Price said. “But, unfortunately, neither of us asked for this. The school didn't ask for this law. We certainly didn't ask for it, but it's just kind of a reality that we now have to deal with.”

Editor's note: A previously published version of this story misidentified the full name of the Alta Community Library.

Samantha Hernandez covers education for the Register. Reach her at (515) 851-0982 or svhernandez@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @svhernandez or Facebook at facebook.com/svhernandezreporter.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa's shared school libraries scramble to comply with book ban law