By T. Keung Hui for The Charlotte Observer

North Carolina House Republicans have passed legislation that would allow the public to sue schools for having library books that they feel are harmful to minors.

The state House voted 63-46 on Wednesday to pass a bill that says schools will not have books in school libraries that include “descriptions or visual depictions of sexual activity or (are) pervasively vulgar.”

The “Promoting Wholesome Content for Students” bill would allow people to seek damages of up to $5,000 per violation of the bill.

The bill comes amid a raging debate in North Carolina and nationally about whether school libraries contain books that are too sexually explicit. Many of the targeted books feature LGBTQ+ themes and characters.

“Very simply, it’s about pornography and not allowing pornography in our public school libraries.” said Rep. Neal Jackson, a Moore County Republican and one of the bill’s primary sponsors.

Democratic lawmakers argued that the bill will lead to book banning if it becomes law..

“This is in fact book-banning and a very slippery slope because what you define as wholesome may not be the same for me,” said Rep. Laura Budd, a Mecklenburg County Democrat.

The bill now goes to the Senate.

Keep ‘pervasively vulgar’ books out of schools

Under the bill, local superintendents would give the job of recommending new books for school libraries to a 10-member community library advisory committee formed by the district or charter school. The committee would make recommendations for books that are “appropriate for the age, grade level, intellectual development, and ability level of the students that will have access to the library.”

“Library media is not appropriate for the age, grade level, intellectual development, and ability level for any age or age group of children if it includes descriptions or visual depictions of sexual activity or is pervasively vulgar,” the bill says.

The district or charter school would post publicly what materials are under consideration, with a 60-day deadline for the school board to make a decision.

If a book receives at least 10 letters of objections during the review period, the superintendent would refer it back to the library advisory committee to investigate. The advisory committee would make a recommendation on the book challenge to the school board.

The advisory committee would also investigate challenges for books that were acquired before the bill became law.

House Republicans rejected an amendment Wednesday from Rep. Amos Quick, a Guilford County Democrat, to remove the library advisory committee from the bill. Quick said it should be up to the superintendent to recommend books and investigate book challenges.

The bill would require the State Board of Education to maintain a publicly available database of library books rejected by schools.

The bill doesn’t go as far as another bill filed by House Republicans that would subject school librarians to prosecution by removing their exemption from state obscenity laws.

Will the bill lead to book banning?

The bill drew heated debate during the Education Committee meeting on Tuesday.

Rep. Marcia Morey, a Durham Democrat, argued that the bill could lead to banning of classic but controversial books such as “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “The Color Purple” and “1984” because some people object to individual scenes.

“I have very serious concerns that this is total censorship, that the book ‘1984,’ which has been banned in many libraries, is coming true to be 2025,” Morey said.

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The preceding article originally appeared on April 16, 2025 at The Charlotte Observer’s website and is made available here for educational purposes only. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 106A-117 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Any views or opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Carolina Leadership Coalition.