BOSTON—State Senator Jason Lewis joined his colleagues in the Massachusetts Senate in a bipartisan effort to protect freedom of thought and safeguard open access to books and other educational materials in Massachusetts schools and public libraries.
As school libraries and public libraries are increasingly faced with politically-charged debates over banning access to particular books, the bill—An Act regarding free expression—creates clear guidelines for how schools and libraries decide which books to make available, and establishes a transparent review process for when literature is challenged.
The legislation requires that school library materials be age-appropriate, serve an educational purpose, and be chosen based on a teacher or librarian’s professional training—leaving aside personal or political views which could affect their decision to place the book on the shelf.
“In our increasingly polarized society, protecting freedom of expression and the right to read are of paramount importance,” said Senator Jason Lewis. “Malicious and politically motivated book bans are being used to silence the voices and stories of diverse and underrepresented authors in our communities, but this bill passed by the Senate establishes clear policies and transparent review processes to defend literature and freedom of thought from political attacks.”
Local school districts and municipal public libraries would have the flexibility to craft their own policies that align with state protocols and the standards of the American Library Association. To guard against frivolous or unfounded complaints, challenged books would remain available to library patrons while the book review process plays out.
The bill would protect librarians and school employees from retaliation over their selection of library books, ensuring that they do not suffer professional, civil, or criminal penalties if they have acted in good faith and followed their library materials policy. To help the state track challenges to books in libraries around the state, the bill also calls for data on such proceedings to be compiled annually and filed with the Legislature.
With a bipartisan vote of 35-3, the Senate approved the bill and sent it to the House of Representatives for further consideration.
In a separate vote, the Senate also unanimously passed legislation to help Massachusetts public libraries more easily and accessibly provide in-demand digital resources such as e-books and audiobooks by establishing a special legislative commission to address challenges faced by public libraries with their digital resource collections. This bill now also moves to the House of Representatives for further consideration.
