Rapert urges lawmakers to abolish Arkansas library board

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KAIT) – Former Arkansas senator and current Arkansas State Library Board member Jason Rapert is calling on state lawmakers to disband the board entirely after Friday’s meeting.

Rapert published an open letter on Oct. 8 that included a link to the board meeting and notes with timestamps highlighting specific points.

At one of those timestamps, he claimed that five of the seven members on the board refused to take action to promote policies to protect children from sexually explicit material by withholding taxpayer funds from libraries that did not want to do so.

During public comments, Rapert said six out of eight people were in favor of the ASLB “protecting children from sexually explicit materials.” He stated that the other two people speaking were library employees.

“I implore members of the Arkansas legislature to take action to eliminate this board and transfer authority to the Secretary of Education and the Department of Education, or at least remove the board and restructure it as we have done with other boards. I served in the Arkansas legislature,” he said.

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders appointed Rapert to the ASLB in November 2023, and his appointment was confirmed the following December.

You can view the letter here: click here.

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