SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Senator Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) released the below statement following the passage of House Bill 2789, which requires local libraries or library systems to adopt the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights in order to be eligible for state funding:
“We already have two Bill of Rights, one within the Illinois Constitution and another in the U.S. Constitution. These Bills of Rights as well as our entire state and federal Constitutions are the codes of conduct that govern all elected Illinois officials, including our locally elected library boards. There is absolutely no reason for Illinois libraries to be forced to adopt a so-called ‘Library Bill of Rights’ created by a little-known national organization that is not elected or beholden to the people of our state. Nor should our local libraries’ funding be threatened if they disagree.”