A new bill in Connecticut proposes developing policies for public and school libraries if community members challenge materials.
Legislators, parents, and child advocates met Thursday at a public hearing to discuss Senate Bill 1271, “An Act Concerning School And Public Libraries,” also known as the “Don’t Ban Library Books Act.” During the roughly nine-hour meeting, the Committee on Children heard statements from supporters and opponents of the proposed bill.
Senator Bob Duff said the bill came as book bans increased around the United States. Some have questions about the intent behind challenges to books focusing on racism, sexual content, and LGBTQ+ rights. Duff said the bill prohibits banning books because of their authors' origin, background, or views.
“It requires local school boards and governing bodies of public libraries to set up policies for book curation and removing library materials. Including a way to address concerns over certain items,” Duff said.
The bill outlines the need for libraries to develop policies on adding to the book collection and reviewing library materials. It suggests creating a working group of people associated with education and library services. Duff said the bill's focus is not to block the banning of books completely but instead prohibit banning books simply because of a personal bias.
Representative Gale Mastrofrancesco is one of several people who oppose the bill. She said she was concerned about books in schools that contain “graphic” or “sexually explicit” material or subject matter and questioned the system for determining what books are age-appropriate.
“What I’m suggesting is that let's make sure that this type of material is not in the schools at all. By putting some language in that bill to prohibit this type of material from being put in public schools,” Mastrofrancesco said.
Duff said Connecticut saw 113 challenges to books in libraries in 2023. He said the bill would also provide librarians with immunity from criminal and civil liability that might arise from doing their job. Duff said librarians should have more trust in helping students with appropriate reading materials.
“To me, this is a distraction for other issues plaguing our society right now,” Duff said. “Because now you have children who are getting phones at elementary school, which I disagree with, who can look up things faster than they can ever look them up in the Dewey decimal system at the library.”
