Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H3598 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2779 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3598
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Aaron L. Saunders
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act protecting against attempts to ban, remove, or restrict library access to materials.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Aaron L. Saunders7th Hampden1/16/2025Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire3/12/2025Marcus S. Vaughn9th Norfolk3/12/2025James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester3/12/2025 1 of 7
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2779 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3598
18	18	By Representative Saunders of Belchertown, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3598)
19	19	of Aaron L. Saunders for legislation to further regulate access to certain library materials.
20	20	Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development.
21	21	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
22	22	_______________
23	23	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
24	24	(2025-2026)
25	25	_______________
26	26	An Act protecting against attempts to ban, remove, or restrict library access to materials.
27	27	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
28	28	of the same, as follows:
29	29	1 SECTION 1. The general court finds and declares that:
30	30	2 (i) attempts to ban, remove or otherwise restrict access to books or other materials in
31	31	3public libraries and school libraries of the commonwealth undermines the public good and
32	32	4restrict academic growth;
33	33	5 (ii) librarians should be protected from personal attacks and threats directed at them due
34	34	6to work performed in good faith within their role and position;
35	35	7 (iii) library materials should not be proscribed or removed because of personal, political
36	36	8or doctrinal views, and materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background or
37	37	9views of those contributing to their creation; and
38	38	10 (iv) access to state-funded shared library resources requires public libraries to be in
39	39	11compliance with the General Laws. 2 of 7
40	40	12 SECTION 2. Section 82 of chapter 71 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022
41	41	13Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 4 to 11, inclusive, the words
42	42	14“Freedom of expression shall include without limitation, the rights and responsibilities of
43	43	15students, collectively and individually, (a) to express their views through speech and symbols,
44	44	16(b) to write, publish and disseminate their views, (c) to assemble peaceably on school property
45	45	17for the purpose of expressing their opinions. Any assembly planned by students during regularly
46	46	18scheduled school hours shall be held only at a time and place approved in advance by the school
47	47	19principal or his designee.” and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- Freedom of
48	48	20expression shall include, without limitation, the rights and responsibilities of students,
49	49	21collectively and individually, to: (a) express their views through speech and symbols; (b) write,
50	50	22publish and disseminate their views; (c) assemble peaceably on school property for the purpose
51	51	23of expressing their opinions; provided, that assembly planned by students during regularly
52	52	24scheduled school hours shall be held only at a time and place approved in advance by the school
53	53	25principal or their designee; and (d) receive information, including through materials determined
54	54	26to be educational and age-appropriate for inclusion in a school library by the school library
55	55	27teacher in the district licensed by the department, or in the absence of such a school library
56	56	28teacher, the school official responsible for the selection of library materials and the use of school
57	57	29library materials and facilities.
58	58	30 SECTION 3. Said chapter 71 is hereby further amended by inserting after said section 82
59	59	31the following 4 sections: -
60	60	32 Section 82A. Any determination by a school library teacher licensed by the department,
61	61	33or in the absence of such school library teacher by the school employee responsible for the
62	62	34selection and display of library materials, that materials are appropriate for inclusion in a school 3 of 7
63	63	35library shall: (i) be age appropriate; (ii) serve an educational purpose; and (iii) be based on their
64	64	36professional training and not on personal, political or doctrinal views.
65	65	37 Section 82B. The school committee or other administrative authority of a school library
66	66	38shall establish a written policy for: (i) the selection of school library materials, including
67	67	39textbooks, instructional materials, curricula, books or other library resources; and (ii) the use of
68	68	40library materials and library facilities. The written policy shall be in accordance with standards
69	69	41adopted by the American library association. This written policy shall be filed annually with the
70	70	42department. This policy shall include responding to attempts to remove or restrict library
71	71	43materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. The board of library commissioners
72	72	44through its affiliate the Massachusetts Library System shall make sample policies available.
73	73	45 The written policy pursuant to section 82B shall include a process for responding to
74	74	46complaints and challenges and other attempts to remove or restrict library materials based upon
75	75	47the objections of a person or group. The policy shall provide that if a material is the subject of a
76	76	48complaint or attempt to remove or restrict its use, it shall remain on the shelves pending a vote of
77	77	49the school committee during the process for responding to challenges; provided, that the
78	78	50challenged material was selected for inclusion in the school library by a school library teacher
79	79	51licensed by the department, or in the absence of a school library teacher, by the school official
80	80	52responsible for the selection of library materials. Districts shall include information on book
81	81	53challenges annually to the department.
82	82	54 Section 82C. (a) The selection of materials for inclusion in a collection shall not be
83	83	55overruled except upon a determination and vote by the school committee, after notice and public
84	84	56hearing and recommendation by a review committee of school personnel, appointed by the 4 of 7
85	85	57school committee, and the superintendent, that, based on clear and convincing evidence, the
86	86	58material is devoid of any educational, literary, artistic, personal or social value or is not age
87	87	59appropriate for any child who attends the school.
88	88	60 (b) A decision of the school committee to remove materials from a school library may be
89	89	61challenged by any student, parent or guardian pursuant to section 5 of chapter 249, including on
90	90	62the grounds that the decision was not supported by clear and convincing evidence.
91	91	63 (c) Nothing in this section precludes personnel responsible for school library content
92	92	64from deciding to remove materials that have become outdated or to accommodate new materials;
93	93	65provided, that the decision is not made based on personal, political or doctrinal views.
94	94	66 Section 82D. No employee shall lose their librarian licensure or certification or be
95	95	67dismissed, disciplined, placed on probation, involuntarily transferred, fined or imprisoned for the
96	96	68selection of library materials when the selection is made in good faith and in accordance with the
97	97	69approved policy adopted pursuant to section 82B.
98	98	70 SECTION 4. Section 10 of chapter 78 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022
99	99	71Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 8, the words “, male or female,”.
100	100	72 SECTION 5. Said section 10 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
101	101	73amended by striking out, in line 13, the word “chairman” and inserting in place thereof the
102	102	74following word:- chair.
103	103	75 SECTION 6. Section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
104	104	76striking out, in line 5, the word “his” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- the
105	105	77member’s. 5 of 7
106	106	78 SECTION 7. Said section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
107	107	79amended by striking out, in line 13, the word “chairman” and inserting in place thereof the
108	108	80following word:- chair.
109	109	81 SECTION 8. Said section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
110	110	82amended by striking out, in lines 18 and 21, the word “his” and inserting in place thereof, in each
111	111	83instance, the following word:- their.
112	112	84 SECTION 9. Said section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
113	113	85amended by striking out, in line 19, the word “him” and inserting in place thereof the following
114	114	86words:- the director.
115	115	87 SECTION 10. Said section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
116	116	88amended by striking out, in line 22, the word “him” and inserting in place thereof the following
117	117	89words:- the deputy director.
118	118	90 SECTION 11. Section 15 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
119	119	91adding the following 2 paragraphs:-
120	120	92 The board of library commissioners shall make resources available to assist the board of
121	121	93trustees, or other administrative authority of a free municipal public library, to create or modify
122	122	94written policies for: (i) the selection of library material; (ii) the development of their library
123	123	95collections; (iii) the use of materials and facilities; and (iv) the process to respond to book
124	124	96challenges, in accordance with the standards adopted by the American Library Association and
125	125	97as required by section 19B. 6 of 7
126	126	98 The board of library commissioners through its affiliate the Massachusetts Library
127	127	99System shall make resources available to help any school committee or other administrative
128	128	100authority of a school library create or modify written policies for the selection of library
129	129	101materials and the use of materials and facilities in accordance with the standards adopted by the
130	130	102American Library Association.
131	131	103 SECTION 12. Section 19B of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
132	132	104striking clause (7) and inserting in place thereof the following 2 clauses:-
133	133	105 (7) include in their annual report the total number of nonresident loans and nonresident
134	134	106circulation as a percentage of the library’s total circulation, as certified by the librarian and
135	135	107subject to an audit by the state auditor, and
136	136	108 (8) adopt and make public a written policy for the selection and use of library materials
137	137	109and facilities in accordance with section 33; provided, that such policy shall incorporate the
138	138	110American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights and state that materials should not be
139	139	111selected, proscribed or removed because of personal, political or doctrinal disapproval or bias.
140	140	112 SECTION 13. Section 33 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
141	141	113inserting after the word “establish”, in line 3, the following words:- and implement.
142	142	114 SECTION 14. Said section 33 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
143	143	115amended by inserting after the word “Association”, in line 6, the following words:- including,
144	144	116but not limited to, its Library Bill of Rights;
145	145	117 SECTION 14A. Said section 33 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
146	146	118amended by striking the words “be dismissed”, in line 6, and inserting in place thereof the 7 of 7
147	147	119following words:- lose librarian licensure or certification or be dismissed, disciplined, placed on
148	148	120probation, involuntarily transferred, fined or imprisoned.
149	149	121 SECTION 15. Said chapter 78 is hereby further amended by adding the following
150	150	122section:-
151	151	123 Section 35. Annually, not later than September 1, the board of library commissioners
152	152	124shall submit to the clerks of the house of representatives and senate, the joint committee on
153	153	125tourism, arts and cultural development, the joint committee on education, the joint committee on
154	154	126municipalities and regional government and the house and senate committees on ways and
155	155	127means a report on book challenges in the commonwealth and its impact on communities. This
156	156	128report shall include information on settings of book challenges (municipal library or school
157	157	129library), the title and author of specific challenges, the municipalities in which the challenges
158	158	130occurred and the outcomes of such challenges. This report may also include recommendations to
159	159	131support programming that expands access to library materials.