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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1271
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 4244
Referred to Committee on COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN
Introduced by:
(KID)
AN ACT CONCERNING SCHOOL AND PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) (a) As used in this section and 1
sections 2 and 3 of this act: 2
(1) "Library and other educational material" means any material 3
belonging to, on loan to or otherwise in the custody of a school library 4
media center, including, but not limited to, nonfiction and fiction books, 5
magazines, reference books, supplementary titles, multimedia and 6
digital material, software and other material not required as part of 7
classroom instruction. 8
(2) "School library staff member" means a school library media 9
specialist, school librarian, any certificated or noncertificated staff 10
member whose assignment is in the school library or any individual 11
carrying out or assisting with the functions of a school library media 12
specialist or school librarian. 13
(3) "Individual with a vested interest" means any school staff member 14
employed by a local or regional board of education, parent or guardian 15
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of a student currently enrolled in a school at the time a reconsideration 16
form is filed under section 3 of this act, and any student currently 17
enrolled in a school at the time a reconsideration form is filed under 18
section 3 of this act. 19
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a Library 20
Working Group to develop (1) model written policies regarding 21
collection development and maintenance, library display and programs 22
and material review and reconsideration, and (2) a uniform request for 23
review and reconsideration form for school library media centers for use 24
by local and regional boards of education. 25
(b) The Library Working Group shall consist of the following 26
members: 27
(1) One appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate who 28
shall be the executive director of the Cooperating Library Services Unit, 29
or the executive director's designee; 30
(2) One appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives 31
who shall be the president of the Connecticut Association of School 32
Librarians, or the president's designee; 33
(3) One appointed by the majority leader of the Senate who shall be 34
the executive director of the Connecticut Association of Boards of 35
Education, or the executive director's designee; 36
(4) One appointed by the majority leader of the House of 37
Representatives who shall be the president of the Connecticut Library 38
Association, or the president's designee; 39
(5) One appointed by the minority leader of the Senate who shall be 40
the director of the Center for Literary Research at the Department of 41
Education, or the director's designee; and 42
(6) One appointed by the minority leader of the House of 43
Representatives who shall be the immediate former president of the 44
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Connecticut Association of School Librarians, or the former president's 45
designee. 46
(c) All initial appointments to the working group shall be made not 47
later than thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy 48
shall be filled by the appointing authority. 49
(d) The president pro tempore of the Senate and the speaker of the 50
House of Representatives shall select the chairpersons from among the 51
members of the working group. Such chairpersons shall schedule the 52
first meeting of the working group, which shall be held not later than 53
sixty days after the effective date of this section. 54
(e) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the 55
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children 56
shall serve as administrative staff of the working group. 57
(f) Not later than March 1, 2026, the working group shall submit the 58
model written policies regarding collection development and 59
maintenance, library display and programs and material review and 60
reconsideration, and a uniform request for review and reconsideration 61
form for school library media centers, to the joint standing committee of 62
the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children, 63
in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. 64
(g) The working group shall convene every fifth year to (1) revise and 65
update the model written policies and the uniform request for review 66
and reconsideration form, and (2) distribute the updated model written 67
policies and uniform request for review and reconsideration form to 68
local and regional boards of education with information explaining any 69
changes to such model written policies. 70
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) (a) Each local and regional board 71
of education shall adopt, in accordance with the provisions of this 72
section, a (1) collection development and maintenance policy, (2) library 73
program and display policy, and (3) library material review and 74
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reconsideration policy. Each such policy shall ensure that all library 75
materials are evaluated and made accessible in accordance with the 76
protections against discrimination set forth in section 10-15c of the 77
general statutes, including, but not limited to, discrimination based on 78
race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, sexual 79
orientation or disability. In developing each such policy, the board shall 80
have control over the content of each such policy, provided such board 81
has reviewed and considered the model policies developed by the 82
Library Working Group pursuant to section 2 of this act. 83
(b) The collection development and maintenance policy shall, at a 84
minimum: 85
(1) Recognize that library and other educational materials should (A) 86
be provided for the interest, information and enlightenment of all 87
students, and (B) represent a wide range of varied and diverging 88
viewpoints in the collection as a whole; 89
(2) Require student access to age-appropriate and grade-level-90
appropriate material, and provide access to library and other 91
educational material that is relevant to the research, independent 92
reading interests and educational needs of students based on a student's 93
age, development or grade level; 94
(3) Recognize the importance of the school library media center as a 95
place for voluntary inquiry, the dissemination of information and ideas 96
and the promotion of free expression and free access to ideas by 97
students; 98
(4) Acknowledge that a school library media specialist is 99
professionally trained to curate and develop a collection that provides 100
students with access to the widest array of age-appropriate and grade-101
level-appropriate library and other educational material; and 102
(5) Establish a procedure for a certified school library media specialist 103
to continually review library and other educational material within a 104
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school library media center using professionally accepted standards, 105
which shall include, but not be limited to, the material's relevance, the 106
condition of the material, the availability of duplicates or copies of the 107
material, the availability of more recent age-appropriate or grade-level-108
appropriate material and the continued demand for the material. 109
(c) The library display and program policy shall, at a minimum: 110
(1) Recognize that library displays should (A) be provided for the 111
interest, information and enlightenment of all students, (B) represent a 112
wide range of varied and diverging viewpoints, (C) require student 113
access to age-appropriate and grade-level-appropriate content, and (D) 114
provide access to content that is relevant to the research, independent 115
interests and educational needs of students; 116
(2) Recognize the importance of displays and student programs as 117
resources for voluntary inquiry and the dissemination of information 118
and ideas and to promote free expression and free access to ideas by 119
students; and 120
(3) Acknowledge that a school library media specialist is 121
professionally trained to curate and develop displays and programs that 122
provide students with access to the widest array of age-appropriate and 123
grade-level-appropriate library and other educational material. 124
(d) The material review and reconsideration policy shall, at a 125
minimum: 126
(1) Limit consideration of requests to reconsider and remove 127
material, displays or student programs to the parents and guardians of 128
students and eligible students currently enrolled in the school or school 129
district; 130
(2) Require that no library and other educational material, display or 131
program shall be removed from library media centers, or programs be 132
cancelled, because of the origin, background or viewpoints expressed in 133
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such material, display or program, or because of the origin, background 134
or viewpoints of the creator of such material, display or program; 135
(3) Require that library and other educational materials, displays and 136
student programs may only be excluded for legitimate pedagogical 137
purposes or for professionally accepted standards of collection 138
maintenance practices as adopted in the collection development and 139
maintenance policy or the display and program policy; 140
(4) Require that any process for petitioners to challenge any library 141
and other educational material, display or student program shall neither 142
favor nor disfavor any group based on protected characteristics; 143
(5) Provide for the creation of a request for reconsideration form, 144
based on the model reconsideration form developed by the Library 145
Working Group pursuant to section 2 of this act, that may be submitted 146
by an individual with a vested interest to the principal of the school in 147
which the library and other educational material is being challenged to 148
initiate a review of such material. The form shall require such individual 149
to specify which portions of such material such individual objects to and 150
provide an explanation of the reasons for such objection; 151
(6) Require the principal, or the principal's designee, to promptly 152
forward the request for reconsideration to the superintendent of schools 153
for the school district. The superintendent, or the superintendent's 154
designee, shall appoint a review committee consisting of: (A) The 155
superintendent, or the superintendent's designee, (B) the principal of the 156
school in which the library or other educational material is being 157
challenged, or the principal's designee, (C) the school library media 158
specialist for the school or a school library media specialist from another 159
school in the school district or, if there is no school library media 160
specialist employed by the local or regional board of education for the 161
school district, a school library media specialist from a neighboring 162
school district, (D) the director of the local public library, or the 163
director's designee, (E) a representative from the local or regional board 164
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of education, (F) at least one grade-level-appropriate teacher familiar 165
with the library material, provided the teacher selected is not the 166
individual who submitted the form, and (G) a parent or guardian of a 167
student enrolled in the school district, provided the parent or guardian 168
selected is not the individual who submitted the form. In cases where 169
such form is submitted by a student enrolled in grades nine to twelve, 170
inclusive, and when appropriate and at the discretion of the 171
superintendent, a student enrolled in grades nine to twelve, inclusive, 172
may serve on the review committee if such student did not submit the 173
reconsideration form, provided the superintendent consults with the 174
principal of the school involved in such reconsideration request prior to 175
making this determination whether to include such student on the 176
review committee; 177
(7) Require that any library and other educational material being 178
challenged remain available in the school library media center 179
according to such material's catalog record and be available for a 180
student to reserve, check out or access until a final decision is made by 181
the review committee; 182
(8) Require the review committee to evaluate the request for 183
reconsideration form, read the challenged material in its entirety, 184
evaluate the challenged material against the school district's collection 185
development and maintenance policy and make a written decision on 186
whether or not to remove the challenged material not later than sixty 187
school days from the date of receiving such request. A copy of the 188
committee's decision and report shall be provided to the individual with 189
a vested interest who submitted the form and to the principal of the 190
school; 191
(9) Permit the individual with a vested interest who submitted the 192
request for reconsideration form to appeal the review committee's 193
decision to the local or regional board of education for the school 194
district. The board shall (A) provide a written statement of the reasons 195
for the reconsideration or nonreconsideration of the library and other 196
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educational material, (B) provide any final decision that is contrary to 197
the decision of the review committee, and (C) publish such reasons or 198
decision on the Internet web site of the school district; 199
(10) Provide that once a decision has been made by the review 200
committee on any library and other educational material, such material 201
cannot be subject to a new request for review and reconsideration for a 202
period of three years; and 203
(11) Permit a school district to consolidate any requests for review 204
and reconsideration of the same challenged library and other 205
educational material. 206
(e) Any school library media specialist or school library staff member 207
who, in good faith, implements the policies described in this section 208
shall be immune from any liability, civil or criminal, that might 209
otherwise be incurred or imposed and shall have the same immunity 210
with respect to any judicial proceeding that results from such 211
implementation. 212
(f) Any school library media specialist, school library staff member, 213
teacher, administrator, school staff member or local or regional board of 214
education member may bring an action for emotional distress, 215
defamation, libel, slander, damage to reputation or any other relevant 216
tort against any person who harasses such school library media 217
specialist, school library staff member, teacher, administrator, school 218
staff member or local or regional board of education member for 219
implementing the policies described in this section. 220
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) (a) The board of trustees, or other 221
governing body, of each public library shall adopt, in accordance with 222
the provisions of this section, a (1) collection development and 223
maintenance policy, (2) library program and display policy, and (3) 224
library material review and reconsideration policy. Each such policy 225
shall ensure that all library materials are evaluated and made accessible 226
in accordance with the protections against discrimination set forth in 227
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section 46a-64 of the general statutes, including, but not limited to, 228
discrimination based on race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, 229
national origin, sexual orientation or disability. In developing each such 230
policy, the board shall have control over the content of each such policy, 231
provided such policies are in accordance with the provisions of this 232
section. The board of trustees or other governing body shall review, and 233
update as necessary, each such policy every five years. 234
(b) The collection development and maintenance policy shall, at a 235
minimum: 236
(1) Recognize that library materials should (A) be provided for the 237
interest, information and enlightenment of all residents, and (B) 238
represent a wide range of varied and diverging viewpoints in the 239
collection as a whole; 240
(2) Recognize the importance of the public library as a place for 241
voluntary inquiry, the dissemination of information and ideas and the 242
promotion of free expression and free access to ideas by residents; 243
(3) Acknowledge that librarians are professionally trained to curate 244
and develop a collection that provides resident with access to the widest 245
array of library and other educational materials; and 246
(4) Establish a procedure for a librarian to continually review library 247
and other educational material within a public library using 248
professionally accepted standards, which shall include, but not be 249
limited to, the material's relevance, the condition of the material, the 250
availability of duplicates or copies of the material, the availability of 251
more recent age-appropriate or grade-level-appropriate material and 252
the continued demand for the material. 253
(c) The library display and program policy shall, at a minimum: 254
(1) Recognize that library displays should (A) be provided for the 255
interest, information and enlightenment of all residents, (B) represent a 256
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wide range of varied and diverging viewpoints, and (C) provide access 257
to content that is relevant to the research, independent interests and 258
educational needs of residents; 259
(2) Recognize the importance of displays and programs as resources 260
for voluntary inquiry and the dissemination of information and ideas 261
and to promote free expression and free access to ideas by residents; and 262
(3) Acknowledge that librarians are professionally trained to curate 263
and develop displays and programs. 264
(d) The material review and reconsideration policy shall, at a 265
minimum: 266
(1) Limit consideration of requests to reconsider material, displays or 267
programs to individuals residing in the town in which the library is 268
located or the town in which the contract library is located; 269
(2) Require that no library material, display or program shall be 270
removed from library media centers, or programs be cancelled, because 271
of the origin, background or viewpoints expressed in such material, 272
display or program or because of the origin, background or viewpoints 273
of the creator of such material, display or program; 274
(3) Require that library materials, displays and programs may only 275
be excluded for legitimate pedagogical purposes or for professionally 276
accepted standards of collection maintenance practices as adopted in the 277
collection development and maintenance policy or the display and 278
program policy; 279
(4) Require that any process for petitioners to challenge any library 280
material, display or program shall neither favor nor disfavor any group 281
based on protected characteristics; 282
(5) Provide for the creation of a request for reconsideration form, 283
based on the model reconsideration form developed by the Library 284
Working Group pursuant to section 2 of this act that may be submitted 285
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by an individual to the library director to initiate a review of such 286
material. The form shall require such individual to specify which 287
portions of such material such individual objects to and provide an 288
explanation of the reasons for such objection; 289
(6) Acknowledge that reconsideration requests are not confidential 290
patron records under section 11-25 of the general statutes; 291
(7) Require that any library material being challenged remain 292
available in the library according to its catalog record and be available 293
for a resident to reserve, check out or access until a final decision is made 294
by the library director; 295
(8) Require the library director to evaluate the request for 296
reconsideration form, read the challenged material in its entirety, 297
evaluate the challenged material against the collection development and 298
maintenance policy and make a written decision on whether or not to 299
remove the challenged material not later than sixty days from the date 300
of receiving such request. A copy of the library director's decision and 301
report shall be provided to the individual who submitted the form; 302
(9) Permit the individual who submitted the request for 303
reconsideration form to appeal, in writing, the library director's decision 304
to the board of trustees or other governing body for the library. The 305
board shall (A) consult with the library director, (B) deliberate on such 306
request for reconsideration, (C) provide a written statement of the 307
reasons for the reconsideration or nonreconsideration of the library 308
material, and (D) provide any final decision that is contrary to the 309
decision of the library director; 310
(10) Provide that once a decision has been made by the library 311
director or the board of trustees or other governing board on the 312
reconsideration of any library material, such material cannot be subject 313
to a new request for reconsideration for a period of three years; and 314
(11) Permit a library director to consolidate any requests for 315
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reconsideration of the same challenged library material. 316
Sec. 5. Subsection (i) of section 11-24b of the general statutes is 317
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 318
2025): 319
(i) No principal public library shall be eligible to receive a state grant 320
in accordance with the provisions of subsections (b), (c) and (d) of this 321
section if such principal public library does not maintain and adhere to 322
[collection development, collection management and collection 323
reconsideration policies] a collection development and maintenance 324
policy, a library display and program policy and a material review and 325
reconsideration policy that have been [approved] adopted by the board 326
of trustees or other governing body of such library pursuant to section 327
4 of this act. Such [collection reconsideration] material review and 328
reconsideration policy shall offer residents a clear process to request a 329
reconsideration of library materials. In the instance of a book challenge, 330
these policies shall govern. 331
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2025 New section
Sec. 2 from passage New section
Sec. 3 July 1, 2025 New section
Sec. 4 July 1, 2025 New section
Sec. 5 July 1, 2025 11-24b(i)
Statement of Purpose:
To require public and school libraries to develop a (1) collection
development and maintenance policy, (2) library program and display
policy, and (3) library material review and reconsideration policy.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]