Michigan Library Association

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.

MLA Connect Between Two Bookcases: With MLA 2020 Conference Chair Kevin King

Check out the latest MLA Connect: Between Two Bookcases, with MLA Membership and Communications Director Rachel Ash and Program and Event Director Amber Sheerin, and our special guest, MLA's 2020 Virtual Conference Chair, Kevin King.

Listen to the full interview here:

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Note from Debbie

The voters have spoken and Michigan will again see a change in House leadership when the 103rd Legislature takes over on January 1, 2025. The short-lived, two-year trifecta of democratic control will come to an end, and while our Governor is a Democrat and the Senate continues to have a democratic majority, the House now has a solid 58-52 Republican majority.

With that in mind, it is even more critical that we do all that we can before year's end to pass the Freedom to Read legislation (HB6034 and HB6035) that MLA has been supporting for the past two years.

Two weeks ago, Rep. Glanville (D-Walker) and Rep. Paiz (D-Hazel Park) introduced tie-barred legislation that simply requires libraries to adopt collection development policies that incorporate both the principles of the First Amendment and the rights afforded and upheld in civil rights protections. By incorporating both principles into standard library policy, libraries can 1) protect citizen’s rights to receive and express diverse ideas without censorship, and 2) put to rest baseless challenges targeting authors or the subject matter, content, or viewpoint of material based on protected class.

MLA Statements of Principle

For the past year, MLA’s Intellectual Freedom Task Force has been focused on refining our commitment to censorship challenges in our public libraries. We have found that we needed talking points to counter questions and concerns about age appropriateness and about rating and labeling systems. Over the course of the past two months, the task force, the Advocacy and Legislative Committee and the MLA Board have been workshopping these statements of principle that outline our stance when it comes to these challenges. These are statements that have been molded and shaped into shared messaging that reinforces our library values of protecting intellectual freedom for every citizen of Michigan.

Statement of Principle on Book Rating Systems and Labelling in Public Libraries (pdf)

Statement of Principle on Age Appropriateness and Placement of Materials in Public Libraries (pdf)

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