(BOSTON 11/17/2025) — The Massachusetts Senate last week took action to protect freedom of thought in Massachusetts schools and public libraries and safeguard open access to books and other educational materials as part of its Response 2025 initiative to respond to federal threats.

As school libraries are increasingly faced with politically-charged debates over banning access to particular library books, the bill — An Act regarding free expression, S.2696 — creates clear guidelines for how schools and libraries decide which books to make available, and how local leaders determine whether a book is appropriate or should be removed from the shelf.

The legislation requires that school library materials be age-appropriate, serve an educational purpose, and be chosen based on a teacher or employee’s professional training — leaving aside personal, political, or doctrinal views which could affect their decision to place the book on the shelf.

“Massachusetts has long led the nation in education and a big part of that is the abundance of information; if you are curious about the world around you, our public libraries will have a book where you can learn all about it — even controversial subjects. This legislation protects this legacy of freedom of thought while creating structured processes for how we decide whether a book is appropriate or not,” said Senator Michael Moore (D-Millbury). “At a time when book bans are being enacted across the nation, Massachusetts is acting to protect the most basic rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution: freedom of speech, freedom of information, and freedom of expression. I am proud to have voted to approve this bipartisan bill because our constitutional rights are and will always be worth fighting for.”

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. For school libraries, an appropriate process for considering whether to remove a book would include assurance that a challenged book remains available to library patrons while the process plays out, guarding against frivolous or unfounded complaints.

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.

During the course of last week’s debate, Senators voted on a 37-0 roll call to add language to the bill (Amendment 4) strengthening the voice of authors to make their work available to the public. As amended, the bill now gives book authors and creators the right to challenge their book’s removal from a school library in court.

The Senate voted 35-3 to approve the bill and send it to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

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