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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1221 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3595
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Brian W. Murray
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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 addressing challenges facing public libraries and digital resource collections.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Brian W. Murray10th Worcester1/14/2025Antonio F. D. Cabral13th Bristol2/26/2025James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/7/2025Judith A. Garcia11th Suffolk3/3/2025Natalie M. Higgins4th Worcester2/23/2025Sally P. Kerans13th Essex2/20/2025David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf17th Worcester2/10/2025David Paul Linsky5th Middlesex2/20/2025Patrick M. O'ConnorFirst Plymouth and Norfolk3/5/2025Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire2/14/2025 1 of 4
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1221 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3595
By Representative Murray of Milford, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3595) of
Brian W. Murray and others for legislation to authorize library access to electronic books and
digital audiobooks and for an investigation by a special commission (including members of the
General Court) relative to challenges facing public libraries and digital resource collections.
Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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An Act addressing challenges facing public libraries and digital resource collections.
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) libraries serve the public good, and all citizens of the commonwealth stand to gain
3from the services rendered and the materials contained within library collections;
4 (ii) the general court has a historic responsibility in supporting public libraries and the
5public’s access to free access to diverse resources to everyone, as it did in 1848 by establishing
6the Boston public library as the first large free municipal library in the United States; and (iii) the
7evolution of resource production and publishing and the advent of technology has changed the
8way consumers and libraries source and use materials, and in order to serve the public good,
9libraries increasingly use digital and electronic materials and technology. 2 of 4
10 SECTION 2. Chapter 78 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the
11following 11 section:-
12 Section 35. (a) A contract between a library and a publisher shall contain no provision
13that:
14 (i) restricts the library from disclosing any terms of its license agreements to other
15libraries, the legislature, the attorney general, or the board of library commissioners; or (ii)
16requires, coerces or enables the library to violate the confidentiality of a patron’s library records,
17pursuant to section 7.
18 (b) A contract between a publisher and library to license electronic literary materials that
19includes a provision that violates this section shall constitute an unfair and deceptive practice
20under section 2 of chapter 93A. Any remedy provided pursuant to said chapter 93A shall be
21available for the enforcement of this section.
22 SECTION 3. As used in sections 1 through 4, inclusive, the following words shall,
23unless the context otherwise requires, have the following meanings:
24 “Access”, any proper means by which a person may read or use digital resources, print
25materials, records and other information held by a library.
26 “Digital resources”, any books, textbooks, workbooks, videos, databases, newspapers,
27magazines, periodicals, charts, graphs, movies, games, maps, interactive applications, software
28and other such enrichment or entertainment materials in any electronic format, inclusive of
29fiction and nonfiction. 3 of 4
30 “Print materials”, primarily paper-based materials found in physical or hard-copy
31format,inclusive of fiction and nonfiction.
32 SECTION 4. (a) There shall be established, pursuant to section 2A of chapter 4 of the
33General Laws, a special legislative commission to be known as the special commission to assess
34and address challenges facing public libraries and digital resource collections. (b) The
35commission shall: (i) study the cost trends and expenditures of the commonwealth’s public,
36school and research libraries as it relates to digital resources and their overall collections; (ii)
37study consumer use of, and satisfaction with, digital resources; (iii) research the opinions of legal
38experts and scholars as it relates to the differences between existing licensing for digital
39resources and the use of print materials and how these differences may impact consumer
40experience and access to diverse collections; (iv) research and describe how patron privacy
41records and metadata are kept, used, accessed and sold as it relates to patrons using and
42accessing digital and electronic resources through a public library, make recommendations
43addressing the security and privacy of data related to digital resources, if needed; (v) identify and
44describe concerns, if any, regarding consumer protection and access issues that emerge
45surrounding digital collections; (vi) investigate and summarize the actions of other states in
46addressing digital collection creation; (vii) examine the impact of licensed electronic literary
47resources on library users; and (viii) recommend legislative and executive action to: (A) support
48the sustainability of diverse digital and electronic resource collections in the commonwealth’s
49public libraries, (B) better support its residents to access diverse digital and electronic resources,
50(C) uphold the historic responsibility of the commonwealth’s libraries to making public lending
51available to all residents and meet their mission in an increasingly digital world, and (D) protect
52data related to readers use of resources. (c) The commission shall consist of the following 4 of 4
53members: 2 members of the house of representatives, 1 of whom shall be named a co-chair of the
54commission, appointed by the speaker of the house; 2 members of the senate, 1 of whom shall be
55named a co-chair of the commission, appointed by the senate president; the executive director of
56the board of library commissioners, or a designee; the president of the Massachusetts Library
57Association, or a designee; the president of the Massachusetts School Library Association, or a
58designee; the president of the Boston public library, or a designee; the executive director of the
59Massachusetts Center for the Book, or a designee; the attorney general, or a designee; 7 members
60who shall be appointed by the governor, 1 of whom shall be the Director of the Massachusetts
61Office on Disability or a designee, 1 of whom shall be a research librarian from a public tier 1
62research institution of higher education, 1 of whom shall be a representative of the Association of
63American Publishers, 1 of whom shall be a representative of a digital distributor of ebooks, such
64as Overdrive, Inc., 1 of whom shall be an expert in the field of intellectual property or copyright
65law, and 1 of whom shall be an expert in consumer protection laws in the commonwealth. (d)
66The chairs shall direct the schedule and work of the commission. A simple majority vote of the
67commission members present may be requested for any actions of the commission and all
68members of the commission shall have a vote. The chairs may create subgroups to focus on
69specific responsibilities of the commission. The chairs may invite guests to participate in
70meetings as speakers. (e) The commission may seek assistance from outside experts at the
71discretion of the chairs. The commission may use consulting and research firms in the course of
72its study, subject to appropriation. (f) No later than December 31, 2026, the commission shall
73submit a report with its findings and any recommendations to the clerks of the house of
74representatives and senate, the governor, and the attorney general.