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Kansas City Today

'Book banning by another means'

By Zach Wilson,
Trevor Grandin, Byron J. Love
Published December 12, 2022 at 4:00 AM CST
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Public comment is closing soon on a proposal from the Missouri Secretary of State, who wants to crack down on which materials children can access in public libraries. But former library administrators are speaking out against what they see as government overreach.

Local libraries could soon find themselves without state funding after a recent rule proposal by Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft. The rule seeks "to protect minors from non-age-appropriate materials" and requires libraries to certify their compliance in writing or risk the loss of funding.

In response, 12 former library directors and administrators penned a letter of opposition that was recently sent to Ashcroft.

Up To Date's Steve Kraske spoke with two of the letter's signatories: former director of the Trails Regional Library Karen Hicklin and retired director of the Mid-Continent Public Library Steven Potter. Ashcroft did not respond to a request for comment.

Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

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Kansas City Today BooksJay AshcroftMissouri Secretary of StatelibrariesMissouri government
Zach Wilson
As Up To Date’s senior producer, I construct daily conversations that give our listeners context to the issues of our time. I strive to provide a platform that holds those in power accountable, while also spotlighting the voices of Kansas City’s creatives and visionaries that may otherwise go unheard. Email me at <a href="mailto:zach@kcur.org" target="_blank" link-data="{&quot;cms.site.owner&quot;:{&quot;_ref&quot;:&quot;0000016e-ccea-ddc2-a56e-edfe57dc0000&quot;,&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;ae3387cc-b875-31b7-b82d-63fd8d758c20&quot;},&quot;cms.content.publishDate&quot;:1678388531913,&quot;cms.content.publishUser&quot;:{&quot;_ref&quot;:&quot;00000170-820a-de8d-af78-a70f6b270000&quot;,&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc&quot;},&quot;cms.content.updateDate&quot;:1678388531913,&quot;cms.content.updateUser&quot;:{&quot;_ref&quot;:&quot;00000170-820a-de8d-af78-a70f6b270000&quot;,&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc&quot;},&quot;cms.directory.paths&quot;:[],&quot;anchorable.showAnchor&quot;:false,&quot;link&quot;:{&quot;attributes&quot;:[],&quot;cms.directory.paths&quot;:[],&quot;linkText&quot;:&quot;zach@kcur.org&quot;,&quot;target&quot;:&quot;NEW&quot;,&quot;attachSourceUrl&quot;:false,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;mailto:zach@kcur.org&quot;,&quot;_id&quot;:&quot;00000186-c7c0-da91-a187-d7d3781b0001&quot;,&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;ff658216-e70f-39d0-b660-bdfe57a5599a&quot;},&quot;_id&quot;:&quot;00000186-c7c0-da91-a187-d7d3781b0000&quot;,&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;809caec9-30e2-3666-8b71-b32ddbffc288&quot;}">zach@kcur.org</a>.
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Trevor Grandin
Trevor Grandin is a contributing producer for KCUR Studios.
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Byron J. Love
As an on-demand producer, I am focused on using my skills and experiences across multiple digital applications, platforms and media fields to create community focused audio, video and on-demand products for KCUR Studios. The media that I produce aims to inform, entertain and connect with the Kansas City metro area as we continue to learn from each other. Email me at byronlove@kcur.org.
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