Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H4235 Compare Versions

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22 HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4443 FILED ON: 7/6/2023
33 HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4235
44 The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
55 _________________
66 PRESENTED BY:
77 Aaron L. Saunders
88 _________________
99 To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
1010 Court assembled:
1111 The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
1212 An Act protecting against attempts to ban, remove, or restrict library access to materials.
1313 _______________
1414 PETITION OF:
1515 NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Aaron L. Saunders7th Hampden7/5/2023Jacob R. OliveiraHampden, Hampshire and Worcester7/6/2023Jessica Ann Giannino16th Suffolk7/12/2023Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire7/12/2023Steven Owens29th Middlesex7/12/2023Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk7/12/2023Edward R. Philips8th Norfolk7/12/2023Smitty Pignatelli3rd Berkshire7/14/2023 1 of 5
1616 HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4443 FILED ON: 7/6/2023
1717 HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4235
1818 By Representative Saunders of Belchertown, a petition (subject to Joint Rule 12) of Aaron L.
1919 Saunders and others for legislation to further regulate access to certain library materials.
2020 Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development.
2121 The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
2222 _______________
2323 In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
2424 (2023-2024)
2525 _______________
2626 An Act protecting against attempts to ban, remove, or restrict library access to materials.
2727 Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purposes, which are
2828 to protect against attempts to ban, remove or restrict library access to materials, therefore it is
2929 hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public
3030 convenience.
3131 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
3232 of the same, as follows:
3333 1 SECTION 1. Section 10 of chapter 78 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022
3434 2Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 8, the words “male or female,”.
3535 3 SECTION 2. Said section 10 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
3636 4amended by striking out, in line 13, the word “chairman” and inserting in place thereof the
3737 5following word:- chair.
3838 6 SECTION 3. Section 11 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding
3939 7the following sentence:- The board shall implement standards adopted by the American Library
4040 8Association, including, but not limited to, its Library Bill of Rights, and shall, subject to 2 of 5
4141 9appropriation, appropriate funding to support the expansion of access to library materials as
4242 10necessitated by said standards.
4343 11 SECTION 4. Section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
4444 12striking out, in line 5, the word “his” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- the
4545 13member’s.
4646 14 SECTION 5. Said section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
4747 15amended by striking out, in line 13, the word “chairman” and inserting in place thereof the
4848 16following word:- chair.
4949 17 SECTION 6. Said section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
5050 18amended by striking out, in lines 18 and 21, the word “his” and inserting in place thereof, in each
5151 19instance, the following word:- their.
5252 20 SECTION 7. Said section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
5353 21amended by striking out, in line 19, the word “him” and inserting in place thereof the following
5454 22words:- the director.
5555 23 SECTION 8. Said section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
5656 24amended by striking out, in line 22, the word “him” and inserting in place thereof the following
5757 25words:- the deputy director.
5858 26 SECTION 9. Section 15 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
5959 27inserting after the word “library”, in line 6, the following words:- in accordance with standards
6060 28adopted by the American Library Association including, but not limited to, its Library Bill of
6161 29Rights. 3 of 5
6262 30 SECTION 10. Section 19A of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
6363 31inserting after the word “board”, in line 5, the following words:- , which shall include, but not
6464 32limited to, adhering to the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights. If a town or
6565 33city does not follow these criteria and if the city or town takes action to ban materials and library
6666 34access, they lose access to the State Aid.
6767 35 SECTION 11. Section 19E of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
6868 36adding the following paragraph:-
6969 37 To expand access to resources. The board shall adopt and offer guidelines consistent
7070 38with the standards adopted by the American Library Association including, but not limited to, its
7171 39Library Bill of Rights.
7272 40 SECTION 12. Section 33 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
7373 41inserting after the word “establish”, in line 3, the following words:- and implement.
7474 42 SECTION 13. Said section 33 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is further amended by
7575 43inserting after the word “Association”, in line 6, the following words:- including, but not limited
7676 44to, its Library Bill of Rights
7777 45 SECTION 14. Said chapter 78 is hereby further amended by adding the following 2
7878 46sections: -
7979 47 Section 35. There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a
8080 48separate fund, to be known as the Book Access Fund, that will be allocated to cities or towns that
8181 49have challenged the banning of books. The board of library commissioners shall administer
8282 50allocation to the treasurer of cities or towns. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the 4 of 5
8383 51contrary, there shall be credited to the fund any revenue subject to appropriations or other money
8484 52authorized by the general court and specifically designated to be credited to the fund.
8585 53Expenditures made from the fund shall complement and not replace existing local, state, private
8686 54or federal funding. Amounts credited to the fund shall be expended, without further
8787 55appropriation, including but not limited to increasing collections of books, staff training, and
8888 56supporting programming that expand access to library materials. The board of library
8989 57commissioners shall promulgate guidelines as necessary to implement this section.
9090 58 Section 36. The board of library commissioners shall promulgate rules and regulations
9191 59to:
9292 60 (i) implement the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights;
9393 61 (ii) provide library service for every citizen in the commonwealth by extending library
9494 62facilities to underserved areas;
9595 63 (iii) provide library materials to meet the needs of students at every educational level;
9696 64 (iv) provide adequate library materials to satisfy the reference and research needs of the
9797 65citizens of the commonwealth;
9898 66 (v) provide an adequate staff of professionally- trained librarians for the commonwealth;
9999 67 (vi) ensure that materials are not to be removed because of partisan or doctrinal and
100100 68develop a written statement declaring the inherent authority of the library or library system to
101101 69provide an adequate collection stock of books and other materials sufficient in size and varied in
102102 70kind and subject matter to satisfy the needs of the citizens of the Commonwealth and prohibit the
103103 71practice of banning specific books or resources; 5 of 5
104104 72 (vii) provide adequate library outlets and facilities with convenient locations and hours of
105105 73operation to serve the citizens of the commonwealth;
106106 74 (viii) encourage existing and new libraries to develop library systems serving a
107107 75sufficiently large population to support adequate library service at a reasonable cost; and
108108 76 (ix) foster the economic and efficient utilization of public funds.
109109 77 SECTION 15. The board of library commissioners shall submit a report on the banning
110110 78of books in the commonwealth and its impact on communities along with recommendations, if
111111 79any, on how to ensure the expansion of library materials and protect against attempts to ban,
112112 80remove, or otherwise restrict access to books or other materials to the clerks of the senate and
113113 81house of representative, joint committee on municipalities and regional government, and the
114114 82senate and house committee on ways and means.