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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 625 FILED ON: 1/10/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3594
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
John Francis Moran and Adam J. Scanlon
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act regarding free expression.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:John Francis Moran9th Suffolk1/10/2025Adam J. Scanlon14th Bristol1/17/2025Mark D. Sylvia10th Bristol1/15/2025Carmine Lawrence Gentile13th Middlesex1/21/2025Kristin E. Kassner2nd Essex2/5/2025Steven Owens29th Middlesex2/5/2025Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire2/5/2025Natalie M. Higgins4th Worcester2/5/2025Erika Uyterhoeven27th Middlesex2/5/2025Rebecca L. RauschNorfolk, Worcester and Middlesex2/5/2025Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk2/11/2025Mike Connolly26th Middlesex2/11/2025James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/11/2025Jennifer Balinsky Armini8th Essex2/17/2025David Paul Linsky5th Middlesex2/24/2025James C. Arena-DeRosa8th Middlesex2/24/2025 1 of 7
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 625 FILED ON: 1/10/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3594
By Representatives Moran of Boston and Scanlon of North Attleborough, a petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 3594) of John Francis Moran, Adam J. Scanlon and others
relative to the right of students to freedom of expression in public schools. Tourism, Arts and
Cultural Development.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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An Act regarding free expression.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. The general court finds and declares that:
2 (i) attempts to ban, remove or otherwise restrict access to books or other materials in
3public libraries and school libraries of the commonwealth undermines the public good and
4restrict academic growth;
5 (ii) librarians should be protected from personal attacks and threats directed at them due
6to work performed in good faith within their role and position;
7 (iii) library materials should not be proscribed or removed because of personal, political
8or doctrinal views, and materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background or
9views of those contributing to their creation; and
10 (iv) access to state-funded shared library resources requires public libraries to be in
11compliance with the General Laws. 2 of 7
12 SECTION 2. Section 82 of chapter 71 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022
13Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 4 to 11, inclusive, the words
14“Freedom of expression shall include without limitation, the rights and responsibilities of
15students, collectively and individually, (a) to express their views through speech and symbols,
16(b) to write, publish and disseminate their views, (c) to assemble peaceably on school property
17for the purpose of expressing their opinions. Any assembly planned by students during regularly
18scheduled school hours shall be held only at a time and place approved in advance by the school
19principal or his designee.” and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- Freedom of
20expression shall include, without limitation, the rights and responsibilities of students,
21collectively and individually, to: (a) express their views through speech and symbols; (b) write,
22publish and disseminate their views; (c) assemble peaceably on school property for the purpose
23of expressing their opinions; provided, that assembly planned by students during regularly
24scheduled school hours shall be held only at a time and place approved in advance by the school
25principal or their designee; and (d) receive information, including through materials determined
26to be educational and age-appropriate for inclusion in a school library by the school library
27teacher in the district licensed by the department, or in the absence of such a school library
28teacher, the school official responsible for the selection of library materials and the use of school
29library materials and facilities.
30 SECTION 3. Said chapter 71 is hereby further amended by inserting after said section 82
31the following 4 sections: -
32 Section 82A. Any determination by a school library teacher licensed by the department,
33or in the absence of such school library teacher by the school employee responsible for the
34selection and display of library materials, that materials are appropriate for inclusion in a school 3 of 7
35library shall: (i) be age appropriate; (ii) serve an educational purpose; and (iii) be based on their
36professional training and not on personal, political or doctrinal views.
37 Section 82B. The school committee or other administrative authority of a school library
38shall establish a written policy for: (i) the selection of school library materials, including
39textbooks, instructional materials, curricula, books or other library resources; and (ii) the use of
40library materials and library facilities. The written policy shall be in accordance with standards
41adopted by the American library association. This written policy shall be filed annually with the
42department. This policy shall include responding to attempts to remove or restrict library
43materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. The board of library commissioners
44through its affiliate the Massachusetts Library System shall make sample policies available.
45 The written policy pursuant to section 82B shall include a process for responding to
46complaints and challenges and other attempts to remove or restrict library materials based upon
47the objections of a person or group. The policy shall provide that if a material is the subject of a
48complaint or attempt to remove or restrict its use, it shall remain on the shelves pending a vote of
49the school committee during the process for responding to challenges; provided, that the
50challenged material was selected for inclusion in the school library by a school library teacher
51licensed by the department, or in the absence of a school library teacher, by the school official
52responsible for the selection of library materials. Districts shall include information on book
53challenges annually to the department.
54 Section 82C. (a) The selection of materials for inclusion in a collection shall not be
55overruled except upon a determination and vote by the school committee, after notice and public
56hearing and recommendation by a review committee of school personnel, appointed by the 4 of 7
57school committee, and the superintendent, that, based on clear and convincing evidence, the
58material is devoid of any educational, literary, artistic, personal or social value or is not age
59appropriate for any child who attends the school.
60 (b) A decision of the school committee to remove materials from a school library may be
61challenged by any student, parent or guardian pursuant to section 5 of chapter 249, including on
62the grounds that the decision was not supported by clear and convincing evidence.
63 (c) Nothing in this section precludes personnel responsible for school library content
64from deciding to remove materials that have become outdated or to accommodate new materials;
65provided, that the decision is not made based on personal, political or doctrinal views.
66 Section 82D. No employee shall lose their librarian licensure or certification or be
67dismissed, disciplined, placed on probation, involuntarily transferred, fined or imprisoned for the
68selection of library materials when the selection is made in good faith and in accordance with the
69approved policy adopted pursuant to section 82B.
70 SECTION 4. Section 10 of chapter 78 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022
71Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 8, the words “, male or female,”.
72 SECTION 5. Said section 10 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
73amended by striking out, in line 13, the word “chairman” and inserting in place thereof the
74following word:- chair.
75 SECTION 6. Section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
76striking out, in line 5, the word “his” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- the
77member’s. 5 of 7
78 SECTION 7. Said section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
79amended by striking out, in line 13, the word “chairman” and inserting in place thereof the
80following word:- chair.
81 SECTION 8. Said section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
82amended by striking out, in lines 18 and 21, the word “his” and inserting in place thereof, in each
83instance, the following word:- their.
84 SECTION 9. Said section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
85amended by striking out, in line 19, the word “him” and inserting in place thereof the following
86words:- the director.
87 SECTION 10. Said section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
88amended by striking out, in line 22, the word “him” and inserting in place thereof the following
89words:- the deputy director.
90 SECTION 11. Section 15 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
91adding the following 2 paragraphs:-
92 The board of library commissioners shall make resources available to assist the board of
93trustees, or other administrative authority of a free municipal public library, to create or modify
94written policies for: (i) the selection of library material; (ii) the development of their library
95collections; (iii) the use of materials and facilities; and (iv) the process to respond to book
96challenges, in accordance with the standards adopted by the American Library Association and
97as required by section 19B. 6 of 7
98 The board of library commissioners through its affiliate the Massachusetts Library
99System shall make resources available to help any school committee or other administrative
100authority of a school library create or modify written policies for the selection of library
101materials and the use of materials and facilities in accordance with the standards adopted by the
102American Library Association.
103 SECTION 12. Section 19B of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
104striking clause (7) and inserting in place thereof the following 2 clauses:-
105 (7) include in their annual report the total number of nonresident loans and nonresident
106circulation as a percentage of the library’s total circulation, as certified by the librarian and
107subject to an audit by the state auditor, and
108 (8) adopt and make public a written policy for the selection and use of library materials
109and facilities in accordance with section 33; provided, that such policy shall incorporate the
110American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights and state that materials should not be
111selected, proscribed or removed because of personal, political or doctrinal disapproval or bias.
112 SECTION 13. Section 33 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
113inserting after the word “establish”, in line 3, the following words:- and implement.
114 SECTION 14. Said section 33 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
115amended by inserting after the word “Association”, in line 6, the following words:- including,
116but not limited to, its Library Bill of Rights;
117 SECTION 14A. Said section 33 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
118amended by striking the words “be dismissed”, in line 6, and inserting in place thereof the 7 of 7
119following words:- lose librarian licensure or certification or be dismissed, disciplined, placed on
120probation, involuntarily transferred, fined or imprisoned.
121 SECTION 15. Said chapter 78 is hereby further amended by adding the following
122section:-
123 Section 35. Annually, not later than September 1, the board of library commissioners
124shall submit to the clerks of the house of representatives and senate, the joint committee on
125tourism, arts and cultural development, the joint committee on education, the joint committee on
126municipalities and regional government and the house and senate committees on ways and
127means a report on book challenges in the commonwealth and its impact on communities. This
128report shall include information on settings of book challenges (municipal library or school
129library), the title and author of specific challenges, the municipalities in which the challenges
130occurred and the outcomes of such challenges. This report may also include recommendations to
131support programming that expands access to library materials.