By james art 
Western Virginia (WVDN) – The West Virginia Museum Association, the Museum Association throughout the country, which serves and advocates for 250 museums and cultural institutions of West Virginia, opposes the legislation of West Virginia. The schools, public libraries and museums of West Virginia are places that encourage education, literacy, curiosity and knowledge. The attack on these institutions is an attack on the present and future development, success and prosperity of the State of West Virginia. We urge our representatives to consider a change in the language of the proposed bill to eliminate the danger to the museum and the cultural community present in the bill, as is currently written.
Wvam does not oppose the protection of children from potentially harmful materials or ensuring that our museums, libraries and schools are safe for everyone. We are against a change in the code that threatens the community of library and museum professionals and volunteers while doing their work in these institutions. The proposed changes to §61-8A-3 of the West Virginia Code make an indiscriminate change that opens our cultural and educational institutions for harmful attacks and litigation due to unclear language.
Especially regarding the members of the museum community is the definition of “obscene matter”, which states “a reasonable person would find, as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.” This unclear definition opens the door to attacks and legal challenges on any exhibit, program, lecture, publication or other project that a member of a community may disagree with.
Museum exhibits and programming are intended to be educational, provoking thought and sometimes cover contradictory topics. It is a standard practice for staff or volunteers to evaluate strictly sites, art, images and topics for their expediency for all visitors during the development of exhibits and programs. Museum staff and volunteers build exhibits and public programs for everyone in their communities. Each visitor to the museum is unique and everyone approaches the content of the museum of their own origin, opinions and values. The “obscene question”, as defined in the bill, is not clear and can be left to interpret.
The threat to our museum specialists and volunteers from the prosecution of claims filed against them on specific exhibits, objects or programs that one person finds offensive does not encourage the spirit of cooperation between the staff and the visitors who makes ours
State tourism assets for a legacy of 250 museums in all 55 counties. The threat of legitimate prosecution will only serve to limit or delete the ability of Western Virginia museums to continue as centers of history, culture, education and community.
There is an alarming degree of subjectivity in the formulation of HB2396 about whether something is obviously offensive. The Museums Association in West Virginia encourages our representatives to consult librarians, teachers and museum specialists about how this legislation will adversely affect our work and oppose the adoption of the bill in its present form.
Respectfully,
Kathleen Thompson
President of Wvam
&
The Board of the Museums Association in West Virginia