Freedom to Read Legislation Introduced in House

On Thursday, November 7, new legislation to safeguard library materials from censorship and protect the right to read was introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives. The Freedom to Read Act legislation, tie-barred House Bills 6034 and 6035, was introduced by Michigan State Representatives Veronica Paiz (D-Harper Woods) and Carol Glanville (D-Walker) and referred to the Committee on Government Operations. 

Along with the MLA Board, staff, workgroup leadership, and the MI Right to Read Coalition, we are proud to endorse and share this newly introduced legislation. 

These bills will help to secure the right to read in Michigan’s public libraries and create a uniform set of rules dictating when and how library materials can be challenged and removed from shelves. (The bills are identical except that one is directed toward district libraries and the other is directed toward libraries established as county libraries or as city, township, or village libraries.)

Since 2021, Michigan’s public libraries have contended with the spread of misinformation about library collections and policies that have resulted in coordinated and increased attempts to challenge and remove books and materials. However, poll data shows that the majority of Michiganders support the work of our public libraries and want to see various perspectives portrayed in the materials available to them at their library. By requiring that both the principles of the First Amendment and the rights afforded and upheld in civil rights protections are incorporated into existing library policy, this legislation protects Michigan’s public libraries against undemocratic and bad-faith censorship attempts. 

In a statewide poll commissioned in March 2023 and updated in November 2023 by the Michigan Library Association (MLA), 86% of all respondents supported state legislation that would protect the right of the public to read what they wish to read in local public libraries and not have books banned.

The Freedom to Read Act legislation enshrines various protections that are rooted in transparency, including:

1. A library must have a board-approved policy in effect that complies with the act setting forth standards for the selection and removal of materials.
2. Public library directors will have the final say in selecting and removing materials in a library's collection. 
3. The individual requesting the removal of material must certify that they live in the library service area and that they have actually read, listened to or viewed that material themselves.
4. The reason or basis for a request for reconsideration cannot be made based on religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, height, weight, familial status, or marital status of the author or subject matter, OR unless the material has been adjudicated to be obscene or otherwise unprotected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
5. The Michigan Attorney General may compel the public library to adopt a policy and the attorney general, a resident of the public library’s legal service area, or the public library’s contracted service area may commence a civil action to prevent the public library from unlawful removal of material.

Watch for our call to action and be ready to contact your legislators and ask them to support this legislation. We hope our members, coalition supporters and library advocates will step up when the time comes and make your voices heard in support of this proactive legislation that protects the right to read for all Michiganders.

Dillon Geshel, MLA President

Jenny Marr, Chair, MLA Legislative Committee

Kate Pohjola Andrade, Chair, MLA Intellectual Freedom