There’s a notable gap on the West Coast when it comes to state laws protecting libraries from book bans and preserving public access to information about issues including race and gender.

Washington and California have enshrined such safeguards, while Oregon’s response has been anemic.

As challenges to books have surged in recent years, Washington state has risen to the challenge — a record of which all citizens can be proud. In a recent survey of how states are coping in the face of “ideologically driven censorship dressed up as concern for children” — tinyurl.com/WaPo-library-protections — our state is a beacon of freedom.

In a September 2023 guest column in the Chinook Observer, our own local Timberland Regional Library system explained, “The ability to freely choose what to read is unique to democratic societies. It is key to an educated public. It is key to freedom and to reaching the highest ideals set forth under the Constitution, specifically the First Amendment. There is a reason why this is the very first amendment to our country’s Constitution. It is that important.”

While Timberland robustly stands for the right to read what we choose, there is an example close at hand of an effort to impose curbs on books. This instance in nearby Seaside attracted the attention of our colleagues at The Astorian newspaper and helps illustrate the importance of our laws in Washington.

In the book “Animal Farm,” George Orwell’s 1945 fable about totalitarianism, the pigs that take power after animals overthrow Manor Farm eventually change the commandment “All animals are equal” to “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

The Astorian thought about those words when reading Seaside City Councilor Steve Dillard’s desire to remove portions of the library’s policy manual that allow minors to access all library materials. He wants to establish a review committee comprised of a cross section of residents and parents to hear challenges to library materials instead of the Library Board.

The American Library Association detailed a record number of book challenges nationally last year, driven by conservatives who raised objections to materials that are sexually explicit or contain LGBTQ+ themes. The association’s Library Bill of Rights, which has previously been embraced in Seaside, holds that the “right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.”

“Libraries and their library governing bodies should not resort to age restrictions in an effort to avoid actual or anticipated objections, because only a court of law can determine whether or not content is constitutionally protected,” the association’s policy emphasizing free access for minors states.

The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that minors have significant First Amendment rights — although not to the same degree as adults — and should be able to receive information and ideas at libraries.

Public libraries exist to provide free and equitable access. The first line of the mission statement in the policy manual at the Seaside Public Library is, “The freedom to know is the foundation of democracy.”

Even so, there are some built-in safeguards in Seaside — checks and balances that provide parental and city oversight while granting the library director and Library Board discretion to build a collection that reflects intellectual freedom, equal access and a documentary record of culture.

Age restrictions are at war with these principles.

“While anyone is free to select or reject materials for themselves or their own minor children, the freedom of others to read, view, listen or inquire cannot be restricted,” the collection access policy states.

Like in “Animal Farm,” the crucial factor is how language is manipulated over time to exert power.

Seven of the 10 books on the American Library Association’s most challenged list for 2023 have LGBTQ+ themes.

The two children’s books flagged by Dillard and others in Seaside that the Library Board voted in January to keep on the shelves had LGBTQ+ themes: “And Tango Makes Three,” about two male penguins who raised an abandoned baby penguin at the Central Park Zoo in New York, and “When Aidan Became a Brother,” which details the coming out of a transgender child.

Pressed to identify specific books that are sexually explicit, Dillard cited “Looking for Alaska,” a young adult novel by John Green, which deals with themes of friendship and loss, and “A Court of Mist and Fury,” fantasy fiction by Sarah J. Maas with emotional and romantic themes.

Both books are primarily aimed at young people, have been praised in book reviews and reached The New York Times bestseller list. They should not be defined solely by passages that depict sex — a standard so slippery that if applied consistently would taint some of the most cherished works of literature. They should not be labeled as inappropriate and segregated.

It would be a mistake to empower self-appointed scolds to decide what anyone reads in public libraries. Washington state’s laws protect against such sanctimony. Oregon still has quite a way to go.