Latest news with #Helmick
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Local custodian recognized as ‘Unsung Hero'
HUBBARD, Ohio (WKBN) – Hubbard Exempted Village School District announced Tuesday that a long-time employee is the recent recipient of a state award. Derek Helmick was honored Thursday, May 1, at the Ohio Association of Public School Employees Northeast District Conference, where he received the 'Unsung Hero' award. Helmick, a custodian in the district's maintenance department, has worked for Hubbard Schools for 27 years. He is responsible for overseeing the HVAC systems across the district. The nomination for the award was submitted by fellow staff member Donna Mahoney, who highlighted Helmick's consistent hard work and quiet leadership. 'Derek is the epitome of the unsung hero,' Mahoney said in a provided statement. 'Derek's the quiet force behind the scenes. He prides himself on getting things done correctly. He answers the call to help; holidays, middle of the night, on vacation. He'll be there.' Former U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown presented Helmick with the award during the conference's Gala event. Brown recognized his contributions to public education and the vital role of school support staff. 'We are incredibly proud of Derek and grateful for his many years of service,' said Superintendent Raymond Soloman. 'He embodies the spirit of an unsung hero, and we're thrilled that his work is being celebrated at the state level.' The Unsung Hero award is given to individuals who make a meaningful impact in their schools without seeking recognition — individuals who go above and beyond every day to ensure schools run smoothly and students thrive. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iowa librarians push back on GOP bills as a 'thinly veiled attack on libraries'
Iowa librarians are pushing back on multiple Republican-led bills that they say would take away local control from public libraries and threaten Iowans' access to information, while supporters favor the measures to block children from accessing "inappropriate" material. Multiple proposals advanced this week in the Iowa House and Senate add to Iowa's yearslong push by conservatives to remove books from public schools and libraries that often feature LGBTQ characters and themes and explore racial inequities. Critics say they contain sexually explicit or offensive material and are unsuitable for children. One bill, Senate File 238, and its House companion House File 284, would make public libraries ineligible for the state's Enrich Iowa aid program if they are a dues-paying member of state or federal library advocacy organizations. The bills target joining the American Library Association and Iowa Library Association as the groups have been embroiled in conservative pushback for fighting to preserve access to commonly banned books that conservatives find objectionable. "This legislation is just one more thinly veiled attack on libraries — libraries that serve their communities in so many ways," Des Moines Public Library Director Sue Woody told lawmakers at a subcommittee hearing Wednesday. Another measure, Senate File 235, would remove an exemption in Iowa's obscenity law that shields libraries and educational institutions. It mirrors a proposal the House Education Committee advanced earlier this month, House File 274, in a 14-8 vote, making it eligible for debate by the full House. American Library Association President Sam Helmick, who works at the Iowa City Public Library, said it is unconstitutional for public entities to lose benefits such as state funding because of how they exercise their free speech rights or participate in professional organizations. Helmick was concerned about lawmakers' efforts to strip local control from public libraries. Republican legislators in 2023 passed a law banning books depicting sex acts from schools. The law is in effect while the legislation is tied up in a pair of federal lawsuits. An exclusive Des Moines Register survey last year found that nearly 3,400 books had been removed from Iowa schools because of the law, including classics such as "The Handmaid's Tale," "The Color Purple," "1984" and "To Kill a Mockingbird." Iowa's book ban battle: How public schools removed thousands of books over a new law Also in 2023, Iowa lawmakers passed a $100 million property tax cut that removed communities' ability to vote to levy a tax to fund libraries. "Iowa libraries are slowly losing their local control, year by year," Helmick said. "Without advocacy organizations like the American Library Association, Iowa Library Association and the Association of Small and Rural Libraries, our libraries could face irreversible closure." The Enrich Iowa program gives direct state assistance to eligible public libraries to incentivize them to improve library services and reduce community inequities in the delivery of library services. Approximately $2.5 million was awarded in fiscal 2024, the budget year that ended June 30, 2024, to libraries statewide. The legislation would bar public libraries in Iowa from being a dues-paying member of a nonprofit that "operates nationwide, promotes federal and state legislation related to libraries, and engages in advocacy efforts at the federal and state level," or an organization that operates primarily within Iowa and engages in advocacy efforts at the federal, state and local level. It doesn't explicitly name the associations. "This bill is about addressing the issue of the American Library Association, the Iowa Library Association, refusing to safeguard children's innocence," said Sen. Sandy Salmon, R-Janesville, who introduced the bill in the Senate. She and Sen. Doug Campbell, R-Mason City, advanced the legislation out of a Senate subcommittee Wednesday. Salmon cited the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights stating the group opposes "all attempts to restrict access to library services, materials, and facilities based on the age of library users." "Simply stated, the ALA holds that all material, regardless of the content, should be available to children of all ages," Salmon said. "The ALA also subverts parental rights and authority." Sen. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport, opposed the bill and said the state funding is designed to promote equity and give libraries access to material they don't have the money to purchase. "I support our libraries just because they are part of our community, and when we start micromanaging and taking away the leadership that is provided by our local boards in our communities, we silence the voices" of the members, Winckler said. To address concerns about state tax dollars funding these groups, Hiawatha Public Library Director Chris Stoner questioned why lawmakers couldn't instead stipulate that Enrich Iowa funds are not to be used to pay for professional organization membership dues. Woody said libraries depend on these associations to learn best practices and improve how they serve communities. She said the groups provide workshops, training and materials that help libraries address community concerns such as literacy, homelessness, artificial intelligence, accessibility and working with immigrant communities. "These issues walk through our doors every day, and funding by Enrich Iowa helps Iowa's 500-plus libraries keep their doors open," Woody said. "They provide funding for services and materials that our communities want and need." Amber Williams, who identified herself as a concerned taxpayer, supported the bill and said it was necessary to prevent state resources from being diverted to advocacy efforts that could influence the library's operations or priorities. "The bill is necessary to ensure that state funding for public libraries is used solely to improve local library services and address inequities in library access across the state by disqualifying libraries that are dues-paying members of national or state organizations with advocacy agendas," Williams said. Senate File 235 and House File 274 repeal Iowa Code section 728.7 relating to obscenity exemptions for public libraries and educational institutions stating that the use of appropriate materials for educational purposes in schools or public libraries is not prohibited. Iowa law defines "obscene material" as material depicting sexual acts "which the average person, taking the material as a whole and applying contemporary community standards with respect to what is suitable material for minors, would find appeals to the prurient interest and is patently offensive; and the material, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, scientific, political or artistic value." The definition in state law mirrors the "Miller Test," a three-part legal test to determine what constitutes obscenity that the U.S. Supreme Court established in the 1973 case Miller v. California. Leslie Noble, a member of the government affairs committee for the Iowa Library Association, said the group was opposed to Senate File 235 and called it "an unnecessary attack on Iowans' rights to intellectual freedom under the First Amendment." She said taxpayers would be on the hook for a city's legal fees from multiple lawsuits, since anyone could sue a library over material they find objectionable. "Libraries exist to support free inquiry, not to dictate what individuals or families can read," Noble said. "Iowa law already provides a clear process for addressing concerns about materials, and Senate File 235 removes protections for those public workers who are required to meet the varied information needs of Iowa citizens. This bill is a solution in search of a problem, as libraries are not collecting and making available materials which are legally determined to be obscene." Evelyn Nikkel, a lobbyist for PELLA PAC, a group that "lobbies legislators to pass laws to protect children from propaganda promoted by Marxist and atheist bureaucracies," said she supports the bill. In November 2023, Pella residents narrowly voted to keep the independence of their local library board from an effort that would have placed it under city officials' control. The referendum was driven by local residents' failed petition to remove a graphic novel about gender fluidity. She called the obscenity exemption a "loophole that's been used by libraries to stack our libraries with obscenities intentionally aimed at desensitizing our vulnerable young people and making deviant behavior seem normal." Marissa Payne covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. Reach her by email at mjpayne@ Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @marissajpayne. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa librarians oppose bills targeting public library aid, content
