Committee backs statewide standards for school library review policies to protect access and librarians

The House Education Committee voted to send Senate Bill 63 to the Committee of the Whole after several hours of testimony from librarians, authors, parents, students and civil‑liberties groups. SB 63 requires each local school board to establish a written policy governing the selection, retention and reconsideration of school library resources and sets statewide guardrails intended to prevent discriminatory removals.

What the bill requires - Local policy: School districts must adopt publicly available procedures for acquiring and reviewing library materials, selection criteria, and reconsideration processes. The policy must include a periodic review schedule and a transparent process for community input. - Non‑discrimination standard: Policies may not remove, restrict or censor library materials because of the author’s identity or a protected characteristic of the author or a character (including race, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, political or religious opinions). The bill requires districts to treat challenges consistently and not to target materials by protected class. -…