GALESBURG, Ill. — A ban on banning books. That's what the Illinois Senate voted on Wednesday night, passing HB2789, 39-17. It passed the House in March, 66-39.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker says he intends to sign the bill into law.
Galesburg resident Jaya Davis says it's something she supports.
"I think that sounds like a good idea because it's important to have all different kinds of books," Davis told News 8's Collin Riviello. "All people have different preferences and should be able to get the books that they want."
That's something a majority of Illinois lawmakers also believe.
HB2789 would prohibit public libraries from arbitrarily banning books based on partisan or personal opinion if they want to receive state grants in the future. Each library would have to either adhere to the American Library Association's Bill of Rights or put out a declaration saying it will not ban books or resources.
For readers at the Galesburg Public Library, this is something Library Director Noelle Thompson has already sworn to uphold.
"Because there is interest, we're going to make the books available to the public," Thompson said.
She says in her four years as library director, there have been zero formal challenges lodged.
"We certainly have community members that will share concerns verbally, with myself or with other staff and we're open to those conversations," Thompson said. "We sit down and have a dialogue about what the concerns are and in my experience, the conversation always ends at that point."
In an industry where decision-making is driven by sales, Thompson says Galesburg Public Library's staff makes decisions based on what its readers are interested in.
Books like Mike Curato's "Flamer" take heavy topics like bullying and makes it more accessible to readers in the form of a graphic novel. Thompson says even if books like this were banned, children in public schools, like her own 7-year-old daughter, would still be exposed to these same topics outside of the library.
"She's already learning about these things," Thompson said. "You know, she's hearing conversations at school, she's seeing things on TV. She's had questions. She's heard different terms for different genders and sexualities. So she's come to me to say, what does that mean?"
A curiosity the mother of three says she doesn't want to stifle for anyone.
"If there is interest in learning more about something. We want to provide the resources so that you can learn about that," Thompson said.
The library operates on an annual budget of about $1.7M and receives state grants totaling about $40,000, according to Thompson, a relatively small amount but something she says is still a valuable resources to get knowledge into the minds of readers.