Jason Rapert, the born-again fiddle player who recently declared himself the “conscience of the Arkansas State Library Board,” is aiming to grab more attention at the panel’s May 10 meeting and, for that matter, all future meetings.
In an April 15 email sent to the board’s director and others, Rapert pledged to continue his advocacy for book banning.
“I will make a motion at each and every upcoming Arkansas Library Board Meeting to stop funding libraries that violate the spirit of ACT 372,” pending the outcome of litigation challenging the state censorship law’s constitutionality, Rapert said in the email obtained under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
Clearly, Rapert still hasn’t recovered from being snubbed at the February meeting when his first motion to that effect died for lack of a second.
“The board was wrong for refusing that simple request when I made the motion at the last meeting,” the Conway Republican and former state senator complained in his April email.
The board’s director, Jennifer Chilcoat, recently released the results of a survey she took of state-funded libraries at Rapert’s request to find out which, if any, of 30 book titles the libraries have or have had and that are accessible to minors.
“It is clear objectionable material that is inappropriate for minor children is available all over our public library systems in Arkansas,” Rapert contended after seeing the results of the survey.
Yet neither the survey nor the board labeled the books objectionable; that’s Rapert’s doing and likely whoever created any list where he found them. Not surprisingly, Rapert’s list contained some books with LGBQT+ topics.
“I still maintain that it is wrong for any library receiving public funds to refuse the simple common sense request to keep books with obscene or pornographic materials out of reach of minor children — at the very least. I also question purchasing such books with taxpayer funds, and personally oppose doing so,” he wrote in the April email.
In what some might view as a poorly veiled threat, Rapert also attacked library workers, public employees and board members who dare disagree with him. “I also maintain that anyone who fails to understand that concept should not be serving as a librarian, library staff, board member of a public entity, or publicly elected official,” he added.
Yet in the same email, Rapert asked Chilcoat to obtain a print copy of each of the 30 books “for my review and for any of the board members to review.” Who was going to pay for those books?
It now appears Rapert may have to pay for them or perhaps check them out at a library if he wants to read them because Chilcoat subsequently advised him, “We do not own copies of any of the books on your inquiry list.”
Among the books that offend Rapert are nine works by Ellen Hopkins, a popular author among teenagers; “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe; “Milk and Honey,” a poetry collection by Rupi Kaur; and “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls.
After one of Rapert’s longtime foes showed up at the last board meeting, Rapert expressed concerns for his own safety and asked that security be increased. Kimberly Mundell, communications director for the Arkansas Department of Education, said Wednesday that Capitol police will be at the May 10 meeting.