Mississippi’s new book-banning law denies minors access to e-books & audiobooks

Mississippi’s new book-banning law is resulting in public libraries denying minors access to OverDrive and Hoopla, two widely used databases for accessing e-books or audiobooks. While the law is ostensibly to keep children from accessing “sexually oriented” materials, such laws have been used to make non-sexual LGBTQ+-themed content inaccessible to young readers under the age of 18.

The state’s law, which went into effect at the start of this month, forbids public libraries and state agencies from providing minors with access to any digital resources or databases that contain “sexually oriented” materials.

Related:

Illinois becomes the first state to outlaw book bans in historic move

“Here in Illinois, we don’t hide from the truth, we embrace it,” said Gov. JB Pritzker.

The law defines “sexually oriented” materials as any “representations or descriptions, actual or simulated, of masturbation, sodomy, excretory functions, lewd exhibition of the genitals or female breasts, sadomasochistic abuse (for the purpose of sexual stimulation or gratification), homosexuality, lesbianism, bestiality, sexual intercourse, or physical contact with a person’s clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or the breast or breasts of a female for the purpose of sexual stimulation, gratification or perversion.”

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Because OverDrive, Hoopla, and Mississippi state libraries all don’t have age-based content restrictions to prevent minors from accessing such content, some public libraries have decided to deny minors from accessing the resources altogether.

First Regional Library, which oversees 14 library branches in Northern Mississippi, recently announced that anyone under the age of 18 will no longer be able to access OverDrive and Hoopla. This will deny young people of all ages access to e-books or audiobooks, including those that contain no sexually themed content whatsoever.

Hey, so, looks like no one under the age of 18 will have access to Overdrive or Hoopla in the state of Mississippi anymore.

Any Mississippi librarians have more info? https://t.co/r4mtq8NRy5 pic.twitter.com/M7PupvTdph

— Buttered Jorts (fka kelly jensen) 🐱🐰 (@veronikellymars) July 7, 2023

While teens over the age of 16 used to be able to get their own library card in Mississippi, they’ll now have to get parental permission before acquiring a card, Book Riot reported. Some disabled minors may depend on access to audiobooks and e-books in order to read, making the law ripe for a possible discrimination lawsuit.

The law could also lead to the blocking of other online library resources and result in countless books being removed from shelves or placed in age-restricted sections (the likes of which many libraries don’t have). People who violate the law face fines between $500 and $5,000 and possible prison time.

Book Riot editor Kelly Jensen criticized the law, writing, “This move by the state ensures that those with the least privileges–those in unstable homes, those without regular internet access, and those without active parents or guardians in their lives–have even fewer opportunities to utilize public goods and services.”

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