Librarians and free speech advocates are fighting back against a proposal in the Missouri House of Representatives that would ban certain books from the state's libraries with the threat of a misdemeanor charge.

Missouri House Rep. Ben Baker introduced the bill, dubbed the "Parental Oversight of Public Libraries Act," in January that calls for the creation of a panel made up of non-library workers who will determine the removal of "age-inappropriate sexual material," from their local branch.

Libraries that don't comply will lose their funding. Library employees providing material deemed inappropriate would be hit with a misdemeanor charge and liable for a $500 fine or a maximum jail sentence of a year, according to the bill's current language.