H 5489

HOUSE . . . . . . . No. 5489
  The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  ______________________________________
  HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, June 9, 2026.
    The committee on Ways and Means, to whom was referred the Senate
Bill regarding free expression (Senate, No. 2726), reports recommending
that the same ought to pass with an amendment striking out all after the
enacting clause and inserting in place thereof the text contained in House
document numbered 5489.
  For the committee,
  AARON MICHLEWITZ.
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 5489
  The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  _______________
  In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
  (2025-2026)
  _______________
  By striking out all after the enacting clause and inserting in place thereof the following:–
1SECTION 1. Section 82 of chapter 71 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2024
2 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 4 to 11, inclusive, the words
3 “without limitation, the rights and responsibilities of students, collectively and individually, (a)
4 to express their views through speech and symbols, (b) to write, publish and disseminate their
5 views, (c) to assemble peaceably on school property for the purpose of expressing their opinions.
6 Any assembly planned by students during regularly scheduled school hours shall be held only at
7 a time and place approved in advance by the school principal or his designee” and inserting in
8 place thereof the following words:- , without limitation, the rights and responsibilities of
9 students, collectively and individually, to: (a) express their views through speech and symbols;
10 (b) write, publish and disseminate their views; (c) assemble peaceably on school property for the
11 purpose of expressing their opinions; provided, that any assembly planned by students during
12 regularly scheduled school hours shall be held only at a time and place approved in advance by
13 the school principal or the principal’s designee; and (d) receive information, including, but not
14 limited to, school library materials determined to be educational and age-appropriate for
15 inclusion in a school library pursuant to section 82A; provided, that said determination shall be
16 made by the school library teacher, as defined in subsection (a) of said section 82A.
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17SECTION 2. Said chapter 71 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 82 the
18 following 5 sections:-
19Section 82A. (a) For the purposes of this section and sections 82B to 82E, inclusive, the
20 following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following
21 meanings:
22“School library materials”, textbooks, instructional materials, curricula, books or other
23 library resources.
24“School library teacher”, the school library teacher in the district licensed by the
25 department, or in the absence of such a school library teacher, the school official responsible for
26 the selection of school library materials and the use of school library materials and facilities.
27(b) Any determination that school library materials are appropriate for inclusion in a
28 school library shall require that the materials: (i) are age appropriate; and (ii) serve an
29 educational purpose.
30(c) In making the determination pursuant to subsection (b), the school library teacher
31 shall: (i) use their professional training; and (ii) not base their determination on personal,
32 political or doctrinal views.
33Section 82B. (a) Each school committee or other administrative authority of a school
34 library shall establish a written policy for: (i) the selection of school library materials; and (ii) the
35 use of school library materials and library facilities. Each written policy shall be in accordance
36 with the standards adopted by the American Library Association. Annually, not later than July 1,
37 each school district shall file its written policy with the department.
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38(b) The board of library commissioners, through its affiliate, the Massachusetts Library
39 System, Inc., in consultation with the department, shall make sample policies available for
40 districts.
41(c)(1) A written policy pursuant to subsection (a) shall include a complaint process. The
42 policy shall require a process for responding to complaints, challenges and other attempts to
43 remove or restrict school library materials based upon the objections of a person or group
44 consistent with the requirements in section 82C.
45(2) The written policy shall require that if school library material is the subject of a
46 complaint, challenge or attempt to remove or restrict its use, it shall remain on the shelves
47 pending a vote of the school committee pursuant to section 82C; provided, that the challenged
48 material was selected for inclusion in the school library by a school library teacher and consistent
49 with section 82A.
50(d) Annually, not later than July 1, each school district shall submit to the department a
51 report consisting of a list of complaints, challenges and other attempts to remove or restrict
52 school library materials that were based upon objections of a group or person and the response
53 from the district. The report shall include, for each complaint, challenge or attempt to remove or
54 restrict school library materials, the: (i) school name and location; (ii) title and author of the
55 school library materials; and (iii) outcomes of such complaint, challenge or attempt to remove or
56 restrict school library materials.
57Section 82C. (a) The selection of school library materials by a school library teacher for
58 inclusion in a school library shall not be overruled; provided, however, that if there is a
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59 complaint or challenge the school committee shall follow the procedures established in this
60 section for a review of the school library materials.
61(b)(1) For any review of the school library materials selected by a school library teacher,
62 the school committee and the superintendent shall appoint a review committee of school
63 personnel to review the school library materials.
64(2) The review committee shall hold a public hearing, with notice of the hearing provided
65 to the district. After the public hearing, the review committee shall submit a recommendation to
66 the school committee on whether the school library materials are consistent with the
67 requirements in section 82A.
68(3) The school committee shall vote, after receipt of the review committee’s
69 recommendations, on whether the school library materials shall be removed from a school
70 library. School library materials shall only be removed from the school library if the school
71 committee finds that, based on clear and convincing evidence, the school library material is: (i)
72 devoid of any educational, literary, artistic, personal or social value; or (ii) not age appropriate
73 for any child who attends the school.
74(c) A decision of the school committee to remove school library materials from a school
75 library may be appealed by any student, parent or guardian pursuant to section 5 of chapter 249,
76 including on the grounds that the decision was not supported by clear and convincing evidence.
77Section 82D. Nothing in sections 82A to 82C, inclusive, and section 82E shall preclude
78 school library teachers from deciding to remove school library materials that have become
79 outdated or to accommodate new school library materials; provided, that the decision shall be
80 consistent with the requirements in subsection (c) of section 82A.
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81Section 82E. No school library teacher shall lose their librarian licensure or certification
82 and no employee acting as a school library teacher shall be dismissed, disciplined, placed on
83 probation, involuntarily transferred, fined or imprisoned for the selection of school library
84 materials when the selection is made consistent with subsection (c) of section 82A and in
85 accordance with the policy adopted pursuant to section 82B.
86SECTION 3. Section 10 of chapter 78 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2024
87 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 8, the words “, male or female,”.
88SECTION 4. Said section 10 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
89 amended by striking out, in line 13, the word “chairman” and inserting in place thereof the
90 following word:- chair.
91SECTION 5. Section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
92 striking out, in line 5, the word “his” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- the
93 member’s.
94SECTION 6. Said section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
95 amended by striking out, in line 13, the word “chairman” and inserting in place thereof the
96 following word:- chair.
97SECTION 7. Said section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
98 amended by striking out, in lines 18 and 21, the word “his”, each time it appears, and inserting in
99 place thereof, in each instance, the following word:- their.
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100SECTION 8. Said section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
101 amended by striking out, in line 19, the word “him” and inserting in place thereof the following
102 words:- the director.
103SECTION 9. Said section 14 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
104 amended by striking out, in line 22, the word “him” and inserting in place thereof the following
105 words:- the deputy director.
106SECTION 10. Said chapter 78 is hereby further amended by striking out section 15 and
107 inserting in place thereof the following section:-
108Section 15. (a) The board of library commissioners shall advise the librarian or trustees of
109 any free public library, and may, on request, advise the librarian or other person in charge of the
110 library of any state or county institution, relative to the selection or cataloguing of books and any
111 other matter pertaining to the maintenance or administration of such library.
112(b) The board of library commissioners shall make resources available to assist the board
113 of trustees or other administrative authority of a free municipal public library to create or modify
114 written policies, in accordance with the standards adopted by the American Library Association
115 and as required by section 19B, for the: (i) selection of library material; (ii) development of their
116 library collections; (iii) use of materials and facilities; and (iv) process to respond to book
117 challenges.
118(c) The board of library commissioners through its affiliate, the Massachusetts Library
119 System, Inc., shall make a model policy, in accordance with the standards adopted by the
120 American Library Association, available for school districts, as defined in section 2 of chapter
121 70; provided, that the board of library commissioners shall provide resources to help any school
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122 committee or other administrative authority of a school library create or modify written policies
123 for the selection of library materials and the use of materials and facilities in accordance with the
124 standards adopted by the American Library Association.
125SECTION 11. Section 19B of said chapter 78, as appearing in the 2024 Official Edition,
126 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 22, the word “auditor” and inserting in place thereof
127 the following words:- auditor, and.
128SECTION 12. Said section 19B of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
129 amended by adding the following clause:-
130(8) adopt and post to their website a written policy for the selection and use of library
131 materials and facilities in accordance with section 33; provided, that such policy shall
132 incorporate the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights and require that no
133 materials shall be selected, proscribed or removed because of personal, political or doctrinal
134 views.
135SECTION 13. Section 33 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
136 inserting after the word “establish”, in line 3, the following words:- and implement.
137SECTION 14. Said section 33 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
138 amended by inserting after the word “Association”, in line 6, the following words:- including,
139 but not limited to, the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights.
140SECTION 15. Said section 33 of said chapter 78, as so appearing, is hereby further
141 amended by adding the following sentence:- No librarian shall lose librarian licensure or
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142 certification and no employee shall be dismissed, disciplined, placed on probation, involuntarily
143 transferred, fined or imprisoned for the selection of library materials.
144SECTION 16. Said chapter 78 is hereby further amended by adding the following
145 section:-
146Section 35. Annually, not later than September 1, the board of library commissioners
147 shall submit a report on book challenges in the commonwealth and the impact on communities to
148 the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the house and senate committees on
149 ways and means, the joint committee on tourism, arts and cultural development, the joint
150 committee on education and the joint committee on municipalities and regional government. The
151 report shall include, for each book challenge, the: (i) location, including the name of the
152 municipal library and the department; (ii) title and author of the book; and (iii) outcome of such
153 challenge. The report may also include recommendations to support programming that expands
154 access to library materials.
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