Massachusetts state legislature considers enhanced protections for librarians and safeguards against book bans

As book bans continue to cause controversy nationwide, Massachusetts lawmakers are considering a bill that would prohibit ideologically driven book bans and protect public school employees from retaliation based on good faith decisions to include or exclude materials from their libraries.  

Massachusetts is no exception from the nationwide movement toward ideologically driven book bans. In 2024, the Commonwealth experienced twenty attempts to ban books from school and public libraries, eighth most in the country. This number represented a decline from 2023, when the Commonwealth encountered thirty-seven attempts to ban books, fourth most in the country.  

Nationwide, interest groups and government entities have spearheaded campaigns to ban books. Of such campaigns, seventy-two percent are led by interest groups and government entities. In comparison, only sixteen percent of these campaigns are led by parents.  

Book banning campaigns have overwhelmingly targeted titles that provide a critical perspective on gender and race. In 2024, the three most banned books were “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” by George M. Johnson, “Gender Queer,” by Maia Kobabe, and “The Bluest Eye,” by Toni Morrison. “Gender Queer” was the subject of a book banning campaign in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, in 2023, when local police searched a middle school classroom for the book following a complaint that it contained pornography.  

H.3594 and S. 2328 

1. 3594 and its Senate counterpart, S. 2328 would modify G.L. c. 71, § 82, a state statute that affirms the free expression rights of public secondary school students in the Commonwealth. The pending bills would expand the statutory definition of “freedom of expression,” adding a right to “receive information, including through materials determined to be educational and age-appropriate for inclusion in a school library by the school library teacher in the district licensed by the department.”

The bills enact specific guidelines governing the selection of books in public secondary school libraries, requiring such selections to “(i) be age appropriate; (ii) serve an educational purpose; and (iii) be based on [school staff’s] professional training and not on personal, political or doctrinal views.” The bills further require public secondary schools to establish a written policy governing the selection of school library materials and the use of school library facilities. This policy must include a process for responding to challenges to the inclusion of certain materials in the library. Though schools are free to create their own policy, the policy must require challenged books to remain on library shelves pending a vote by the school committee.  

The bills also protect public secondary school officials responsible for selecting library materials from retaliation for good faith decisions made in the process of selecting library materials. The bills dictate, “[n]o employee shall lose their librarian licensure or certification or be dismissed, disciplined, placed on probation, involuntarily transferred, fined or imprisoned for the selection of library materials.” This provision might allow public secondary school employees to seek injunctions to halt certain retaliatory actions taken in response to their selection of library materials. However, it is not clear whether public secondary school employees subject to retaliatory actions would be able to sue for damages for violations of their rights under this statute. 

Lastly, the bills establish transparency regarding future book banning campaigns. Under the legislation, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners is required to prepare an annual report on “book challenges in the commonwealth and its impact on communities.” This report must include information on the settings of book challenges, the titles of the books challenged, and the outcome of the challenges.  

The joint committee on Tourism, Arts, and Cultural Development has reported this legislation favorably out of committee for the second consecutive year. The bills are now before the respective Ways and Means Committees of the House and Senate. Last year, the Senate Ways and Means Committee took no action on the bill before the conclusion of the legislative session.  

Action in other states 

If these bills are signed into law, Massachusetts would join Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland, and Minnesota, codifying a “freedom to read” through protections for librarians and safeguards against book bans. Of the states that have enacted “freedom to read” legislation, Rhode Island stands alone in being the only state to permit writers and readers to sue for censorship. Though H. 3594 and S. 2328 do not provide similarly robust protection of the “freedom to read,” they would codify a statutory right for public middle and high schoolers in the Commonwealth to freely receive information through public school libraries while insulating public secondary school employees from ideologically-driven campaigns to censor library offerings.  

Overall, this measure represents a step toward protecting free speech and education in the Commonwealth, but lacks sufficient enforcement mechanisms to fully realize its potential. If the Commonwealth is serious about protecting free speech in public secondary schools, it should look to laws like Rhode Island’s for inspiration, and ensure that employees whose rights are violated have a mechanism to address that harm.  

If you are a public school student or employee and you are concerned that your rights have been violated, please contact our lawyers at (617) 742-6020.