Louisiana Law Mandates Libraries Give Parents Control Over Library Cards

Following a Louisiana law requirement, the Lafayette Public Library System has adopted a new policy that allows parents to decide if they want their children to have restricted or unrestricted access to all material in the library.

This was not a decision by any local employees or administration of the library system. This was passed by the Louisiana Legislature. 

Basically, all Louisiana library systems are now required to give parents or guardians options when it comes to what their children are able to look at and check out from the library.

For the Lafayette Library System, parents have two options, either a Restricted Card or an Unrestricted Card.

Unrestricted means the minor can have access to any materials in the library and access to the internet via library computers.

Restricted means the minor will not be allowed to have access to the internet or adult materials.

If your minor child received a library car before May 28 2024 can still be used, and then on August 7 it automatically sets to restricted. You would need to contact the library if you would like it to be unrestricted.

If you would like to take a look at the law the Louisiana Legislature passed in 2023, you can click here.

The law is very lengthy, but this is just one section that outlines what legislators voted to do with the mandates of the library system:

            (b) A library card system that requires a minor's parent or guardian to select whether the minor is permitted to check out sexually explicit material physically available in the library. The provision of this Subparagraph shall be satisfied by either of the following:

            (i) A library card that restricts a minor from checking out any library material in a collection that the library board of control has, through majority vote in an open meeting, identified as containing sexually explicit material pursuant to a request for reconsideration.

            (ii) A library card that restricts a minor from checking out any library material that the library board of control has, through majority vote in an open meeting, identified as sexually explicit material pursuant to a request for reconsideration.

If you have specific questions about the cards, you can call the Library Administration at 337-261-5781.

This is the policy of the Lafayette Library System. Contact your parish library for information about how the system will work.

For thoughts, comments, etc about the law and passage of the law, you can contact your local lawmakers via this website, https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/findmylegislators.aspx