Text of MA S 2328 (2025)

1 of 1 SENATE DOCKET, NO. 141 FILED ON: 1/8/2025 SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2328 The Commonwealth of Massachusetts _________________ PRESENTED BY: Julian Cyr _________________ 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: Julian Cyr Cape and Islands Jacob R. Oliveira Hampden, Hampshire and Worcester 1/15/2025 Mark D. Sylvia 10th Bristol 1/15/2025 Christopher Richard Flanagan 1st Barnstable 1/28/2025 Rebecca L. Rausch Norfolk, Worcester and Middlesex 1/30/2025 Joanne M. Comerford Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester 1/31/2025 Dylan A. Fernandes Plymouth and Barnstable 2/5/2025 Mike Connolly 26th Middlesex 2/10/2025 James B. Eldridge Middlesex and Worcester 2/10/2025 Patricia D. Jehlen Second Middlesex 2/19/2025 Michael J. Barrett Third Middlesex 2/21/2025 Robyn K. Kennedy First Worcester 2/24/2025 Bruce E. Tarr First Essex and Middlesex 2/27/2025 1 of 7 SENATE DOCKET, NO. 141 FILED ON: 1/8/2025 SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2328 By Mr. Cyr, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 2328) of Julian Cyr, Jacob R. Oliveira, Mark D. Sylvia, Christopher Richard Flanagan and other members of the General Court for legislation relative to free expression in school and public libraries. Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts _______________ In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court (2025-2026) _______________ 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 3 public libraries and school libraries of the commonwealth undermines the public good and 4 restrict academic growth; 5 (ii) librarians should be protected from personal attacks and threats directed at them due 6 to work performed in good faith within their role and position; 7 (iii) library materials should not be proscribed or removed because of personal, political 8 or doctrinal views, and materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background or 9 views of those contributing to their creation; and 10 (iv) access to state-funded shared library resources requires public libraries to be in 11 compliance with the General Laws. 2 of 7 12 SECTION 2. Section 82 of chapter 71 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 13 Official 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 15 students, 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 17 for the purpose of expressing their opinions. Any assembly planned by students during regularly 18 scheduled school hours shall be held only at a time and place approved in advance by the school 19 principal or his designee.” and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- Freedom of 20 expression shall include, without limitation, the rights and responsibilities of students, 21 collectively and individually, to: (a) express their views through speech and symbols; (b) write, 22 publish and disseminate their views; (c) assemble peaceably on school property for the purpose 23 of expressing their opinions; provided, that assembly planned by students during regularly 24 scheduled school hours shall be held only at a time and place approved in advance by the school 25 principal or their designee; and (d) receive information, including through materials determined 26 to be educational and age-appropriate for inclusion in a school library by the school library 27 teacher in the district licensed by the department, or in the absence of such a school library 28 teacher, the school official responsible for the selection of library materials and the use of school 29 library materials and facilities. 30 SECTION 3. Said chapter 71 is hereby further amended by inserting after said section 82 31 the following 4 sections: - 32 Section 82A. Any determination by a school library teacher licensed by the department, 33 or in the absence of such school library teacher by the school employee responsible for the 34 selection and display of library materials, that materials are appropriate for inclusion in a school 3 of 7 35 library shall: (i) be age appropriate; (ii) serve an educational purpose; and (iii) be based on their 36 professional training and not on personal, political or doctrinal views. 37 Section 82B. The school committee or other administrative authority of a school library 38 shall establish a written policy for: (i) the selection of school library materials, including 39 textbooks, instructional materials, curricula, books or other library resources; and (ii) the use of 40 library materials and library facilities. The written policy shall be in accordance with standards 41 adopted by the American library association. This written policy shall be filed annually with the 42 department. This policy shall include responding to attempts to remove or restrict library 43 materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. The board of library commissioners 44 through 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 46 complaints and challenges and other attempts to remove or restrict library materials based upon 47 the objections of a person or group. The policy shall provide that if a material is the subject of a 48 complaint or attempt to remove or restrict its use, it shall remain on the shelves pending a vote of 49 the school committee during the process for responding to challenges; provided, that the 50 challenged material was selected for inclusion in the school library by a school library teacher 51 licensed by the department, or in the absence of a school library teacher, by the school official 52 responsible for the selection of library materials. Districts shall include information on book 53 challenges annually to the department. 54 Section 82C. (a) The selection of materials for inclusion in a collection shall not be 55 overruled except upon a determination and vote by the school committee, after notice and public 56 hearing and recommendation by a review committee of school personnel, appointed by the 4 of 7 57 school committee, and the superintendent, that, based on clear and convincing evidence, the 58 material is devoid of any educational, literary, artistic, personal or social value or is not age 59 appropriate for any child who attends the school. 60 (b) A decision of the school committee to remove materials from a school library may be 61 challenged by any student, parent or guardian pursuant to section 5 of chapter 249, including on 62 the 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 64 from deciding to remove materials that have become outdated or to accommodate new materials; 65 provided, 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 67 dismissed, disciplined, placed on probation, involuntarily transferred, fined or imprisoned for the 68 selection of library materials when the selection is made in good faith and in accordance with the 69 approved policy adopted pursuant to section 82B. 70 SECTION 4. Section 10 of chapter 78 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 71 Official 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 73 amended by striking out, in line 13, the word “chairman” and inserting in place thereof the 74 following word:- chair. 75 SECTION 6. Section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby amended by 76 striking out, in line 5, the word “his” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- the 77 member’s. 5 of 7 78 SECTION 7. Said section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further 79 amended by striking out, in line 13, the word “chairman” and inserting in place thereof the 80 following word:- chair. 81 SECTION 8. Said section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further 82 amended by striking out, in lines 18 and 21, the word “his” and inserting in place thereof, in each 83 instance, the following word:- their. 84 SECTION 9. Said section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further 85 amended by striking out, in line 19, the word “him” and inserting in place thereof the following 86 words:- the director. 87 SECTION 10. Said section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further 88 amended by striking out, in line 22, the word “him” and inserting in place thereof the following 89 words:- the deputy director. 90 SECTION 11. Section 15 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby amended by 91 adding the following 2 paragraphs:- 92 The board of library commissioners shall make resources available to assist the board of 93 trustees, or other administrative authority of a free municipal public library, to create or modify 94 written policies for: (i) the selection of library material; (ii) the development of their library 95 collections; (iii) the use of materials and facilities; and (iv) the process to respond to book 96 challenges, in accordance with the standards adopted by the American Library Association and 97 as required by section 19B. 6 of 7 98 The board of library commissioners through its affiliate the Massachusetts Library 99 System shall make resources available to help any school committee or other administrative 100 authority of a school library create or modify written policies for the selection of library 101 materials and the use of materials and facilities in accordance with the standards adopted by the 102 American Library Association. 103 SECTION 12. Section 19B of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby amended by 104 striking 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 106 circulation as a percentage of the library’s total circulation, as certified by the librarian and 107 subject 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 109 and facilities in accordance with section 33; provided, that such policy shall incorporate the 110 American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights and state that materials should not be 111 selected, 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 113 inserting 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 115 amended by inserting after the word “Association”, in line 6, the following words:- including, 116 but not limited to, its Library Bill of Rights; 117 SECTION 14A. Said section 33 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further 118 amended by striking the words “be dismissed”, in line 6, and inserting in place thereof the 7 of 7 119 following words:- lose librarian licensure or certification or be dismissed, disciplined, placed on 120 probation, involuntarily transferred, fined or imprisoned. 121 SECTION 15. Said chapter 78 is hereby further amended by adding the following 122 section:- 123 Section 35. Annually, not later than September 1, the board of library commissioners 124 shall submit to the clerks of the house of representatives and senate, the joint committee on 125 tourism, arts and cultural development, the joint committee on education, the joint committee on 126 municipalities and regional government and the house and senate committees on ways and 127 means a report on book challenges in the commonwealth and its impact on communities. This 128 report shall include information on settings of book challenges (municipal library or school 129 library), the title and author of specific challenges, the municipalities in which the challenges 130 occurred and the outcomes of such challenges. This report may also include recommendations to 131 support programming that expands access to library materials.