Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SR169 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	III
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. RES. 169
5	5	Expressing support for the staff of public, school, academic, and special
6	6	libraries in the United States and the essential services those libraries
7	7	provide to communities, recognizing the need for funding commensurate
8	8	with the broad scope of social service and community supports provided
9	9	by libraries, preserving the right of all citizens of the United States
10	10	to freely access information and resources in their communities, sup-
11	11	porting a strong union voice for library workers, and defending the
12	12	civil rights of library staff.
13	13	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
14	14	APRIL10, 2025
15	15	Ms. H
16	16	IRONO(for herself, Mr. REED, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. WYDEN,
17	17	and Mr. V
18	18	ANHOLLEN) submitted the following resolution; which was re-
19	19	ferred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
20	20	RESOLUTION
21	21	Expressing support for the staff of public, school, academic,
22	22	and special libraries in the United States and the essen-
23	23	tial services those libraries provide to communities, recog-
24	24	nizing the need for funding commensurate with the broad
25	25	scope of social service and community supports provided
26	26	by libraries, preserving the right of all citizens of the
27	27	United States to freely access information and resources
28	28	in their communities, supporting a strong union voice
29	29	for library workers, and defending the civil rights of
30	30	library staff.
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33	33	•SRES 169 IS
34	34	Whereas library staff are cornerstones of their communities
35	35	in the United States, providing visitors with access to
36	36	books and media, delivering high-quality programming to
37	37	visitors of all ages, ensuring equitable internet access for
38	38	all, and linking people to crucial information about ac-
39	39	cessing social services;
40	40	Whereas libraries are an economic powerhouse in their com-
41	41	munities, providing resources to small business owners,
42	42	job seekers, and individuals learning new skills;
43	43	Whereas, in recent years, library staff have been called on to
44	44	address the fallout from difficult public crises in the
45	45	United States, taking on roles that exceed the traditional
46	46	role of providing a space for, and access to, educational
47	47	and cultural enrichment;
48	48	Whereas library staff provide lifesaving care to members of
49	49	their communities who are suffering the effects of the on-
50	50	going and tragic opioid epidemic in the United States, in-
51	51	cluding being called on to administer medication to treat
52	52	overdoses;
53	53	Whereas libraries are a safe haven for individuals and fami-
54	54	lies who are unhoused, and library workers provide the
55	55	supportive community environment and resources needed
56	56	by unhoused individuals and families;
57	57	Whereas libraries are often the only source of internet for un-
58	58	derserved communities;
59	59	Whereas library staff maintained public access to essential li-
60	60	brary services and were relied on to distribute personal
61	61	protective equipment and provide testing to the public
62	62	during the worst days of the COVID–19 pandemic;
63	63	Whereas libraries have met an expanded and intensified de-
64	64	mand for community, public health, and safety net serv-
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67	67	•SRES 169 IS
68	68	ices, often while contending with severe funding cuts, cre-
69	69	ating unsustainable and frequently unsafe working condi-
70	70	tions for library staff;
71	71	Whereas the EveryLibrary Institute recently found that
72	72	Project 2025 encourages the mistreatment and misrepre-
73	73	sentation of minority communities as well as the harass-
74	74	ment of library staff;
75	75	Whereas, on March 14, 2025, President Trump signed Exec-
76	76	utive Order 14238 (90 Fed. Reg. 13043; relating to con-
77	77	tinuing the reduction of the Federal bureaucracy) to
78	78	eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services;
79	79	Whereas eliminating the Institute of Museum and Library
80	80	Services would harm the ability of libraries to provide
81	81	critical resources to millions of people in the United
82	82	States, especially in rural, Tribal, and other underserved
83	83	communities;
84	84	Whereas the health and survival of democracy in the United
85	85	States requires that everyone be able to exercise rights to
86	86	information and services, and it is especially important
87	87	for young people to have the opportunity to learn, en-
88	88	counter, and debate all manner of ideas, including con-
89	89	troversial ones;
90	90	Whereas students have been shown to spend more time read-
91	91	ing and exhibit higher reading scores when given access
92	92	to diverse titles, and library staff play a crucial role in
93	93	curating diverse book offerings for young readers;
94	94	Whereas a fundamental responsibility of the job of library
95	95	staff is making decisions about the books and media in
96	96	their collections and assisting visitors in accessing those
97	97	materials without fear of censorship or reprisal for ful-
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100	100	•SRES 169 IS
101	101	filling the role of providing information and resources to
102	102	the public;
103	103	Whereas PEN America found 10,046 instances of book bans
104	104	in school libraries and classrooms during the 2023 to
105	105	2024 school year;
106	106	Whereas libraries and library staff are more capable of pro-
107	107	viding their communities with access to a diverse, inclu-
108	108	sive, and comprehensive selection of books and media
109	109	when they operate free from threats of book bans and
110	110	censorship;
111	111	Whereas library staff have faced termination and criminaliza-
112	112	tion for refusing to remove banned books from their li-
113	113	braries;
114	114	Whereas, from 2024 to 2025, there were deplorable incidents
115	115	throughout the United States that were orchestrated to
116	116	intimidate library staff and prevent them from fulfilling
117	117	their central work responsibility to provide the public
118	118	with free and unfettered access to information;
119	119	Whereas library staff across the United States are mobilizing
120	120	for a collective union voice in their workplaces to elevate
121	121	their profession, to ensure safe and adequately resourced
122	122	spaces that meet the needs of the communities they
123	123	serve, and to protect the essential role of libraries in the
124	124	democracy of the United States; and
125	125	Whereas the week of April 6 through April 12, 2025, would
126	126	be an appropriate time to celebrate ‘‘National Library
127	127	Week’’: Now, therefore, be it
128	128	Resolved, That the Senate— 1
129	129	(1) commends the work of library staff in the 2
130	130	United States; 3
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133	133	•SRES 169 IS
134	134	(2) supports the goals and ideals of National 1
135	135	Library Week; 2
136	136	(3) recognizes that libraries and library staff 3
137	137	provide critical infrastructure for the United States 4
138	138	and are essential to the future of the United States; 5
139	139	(4) supports the prioritization of full funding of 6
140	140	library services at the Federal, State, and local levels 7
141	141	to ensure the continuation and improvement of li-8
142	142	brary services; 9
143	143	(5) reaffirms— 10
144	144	(A) the fundamental right of the people of 11
145	145	the United States to access information, which 12
146	146	is made real through the efforts of library staff; 13
147	147	(B) the fundamental right of library work-14
148	148	ers to organize and collectively bargain at work 15
149	149	and to have a protected voice in their work-16
150	150	place; and 17
151	151	(C) the civil rights of library workers to ex-18
152	152	ercise their responsibilities to the public without 19
153	153	threats or intimidation; and 20
154	154	(6) recognizes the right of library staff— 21
155	155	(A) to speak out on matters of public con-22
156	156	cern; 23
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159	159	•SRES 169 IS
160	160	(B) to address themselves to elected offi-1
161	161	cials and to the administration of the entities 2
162	162	that employ library staff; and 3
163	163	(C) to inform the people of the United 4
164	164	States about their right to free and unfettered 5
165	165	access to information, and about threats to that 6
166	166	access. 7
167	167	Æ
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