NJ: Dem lawmakers target book bans in public libraries as censorship rises
Libraries and public schools in New Jersey would be prohibited from banning books — and would lose state funding if they did so — under new legislation introduced Monday.
Public libraries would be required to adopt the American Library Association’s “library bill of rights” or a similar policy under the bill sponsored by Sens. Andrew Zwicker (D-Somerset) and Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex) and Assemblywoman Mila Jasey (D-Essex).
That document tasks libraries with challenging censorship, bars book removal for “partisan or doctrinal disapproval,” directs libraries to offer books and other materials that present “all points of view on current and historical issues,” and forbids removal or restriction of materials because of objections about the “origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.”
The bill would authorize state education and treasury officials to withhold funding from any public school or library that fails to comply.
Zwicker told the New Jersey Monitor he was moved to introduce the bill after hearing Martha Hickson, a North Hunterdon High School librarian, speak about a month ago. Hickson won the Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced with Adversity last year for successfully fighting a community group’s efforts to ban five LGBTQ-themed books at her school.
https://newjerseymonitor.com/2023/05/22/dem-lawmakers-target-book-bans-in-public-libraries-as-censorship-rises/
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My wonderful State Senator!
