An effort to disband the independent oversight boards for the state’s libraries and public television network advanced in an Arkansas legislative committee Thursday.

Senate Bill 184 would abolish the State Library Board and the Arkansas Educational Television Commission, transferring their power and duties to the state Education Department.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, told members of the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs committee the bill seeks to boost efficiency.

“These boards and commissions meet once a quarter. They have a set agenda, they meet for about an hour, hour-and-a-half or so, and rarely do they come up with things that are consequential,” Sullivan said, adding the entities the boards oversee are “very consequential to the State of Arkansas.”

Bill to abolish library, Arkansas PBS oversight boards advances

*Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate*
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, leads a meeting of the Arkansas Legislative Council’s Higher Education subcommittee on Sept. 3, 2024 on Arkansas State University’s Jonesboro campus.

KUAR | By Josie Lenora

Former Republican state Sen. Jason Rapert continued his efforts to withhold funds from libraries at a meeting of the Arkansas State Library Board Friday.

Rapert began his tenure on the board this year. At every meeting since then, Rapert has unsuccessfully tried to remove funding from Arkansas libraries over specific books in their collections. None of his motions at Friday's meeting received a second, meaning the group was not able to vote on them.

Rapert was especially upset about two memoirs with LGBTQ+ themes found in some Arkansas libraries: "All Boys Aren't Blue" by George M. Johnson and "Genderqueer" by Maia Kobabe. He said he had learned about the books on a website called Take Back the Classroom. The organization is funded by the conservative Capitol Resource Institute, a group working to end sex education in schools.

Rapert continues failed attempts to withhold funds from some libraries