{"id":5689,"date":"2026-06-26T19:01:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T19:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5689"},"modified":"2026-06-26T19:01:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T19:01:16","slug":"massachusetts-house-passes-bill-protecting-libraries-from-book-bans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5689","title":{"rendered":"Massachusetts House passes bill protecting libraries from book bans"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n article<\/span><\/div>

Some of the books at the Boston Public Library Uphams Corner branch in Boston on Jan. 19, 2018 . (Photo by Jonathan Wiggs\/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>

Read more Nancy Guthrie: TMZ receives new email claiming to have video evidence of suspect<\/a><\/p> <\/div><\/div> <\/div>

Lawmakers in Massachusetts are hoping to put into law a bill to give librarians more authority to protect against book bans in schools and libraries.\u00a0<\/p>

Under the bill, school librarians will have the primary authority in the selection of books for their libraries. The measure does require materials to be age-appropriate, serve an educational purpose and must be chosen without any personal or political bias.\u00a0<\/p>

The legislation aims to protect libraries amid an acute wave of challenges targeting school materials across the country.\u00a0<\/p>

<\/div>

Dig deeper:<\/p>

Every school would have to adopt specific criteria for handling book challenges. A committee of school personnel will be appointed to review any book that received a complaint.\u00a0<\/p>

The bill also states that only “clear and convincing evidence” can overrule a librarian\u2019s book selection.\u00a0<\/p>

Read more Houston East Side street renamed following Cesar Chavez allegations<\/a><\/p>

The bill also includes requirements for public libraries to adopt the American Library Association\u2019s Library Bill of Rights, preventing books from being selected or removed because of personal or political biases.\u00a0<\/p>

RELATED: <\/strong>Just 3 states are responsible for 80% of known school book bans<\/strong><\/p>

Recent book banning<\/h2>

The backstory:<\/p>

There has been an ongoing trend of banning books, taking them off shelves in anticipation of community, political or legal pressure. Some reasons cited for banning books include LGBTQ+ themes, depictions of race and passages with violence and items sexual in nature.\u00a0<\/p>

The American Library Association reported there were 4,423 unique titles challenged in the U.S. in 2025. According to PEN America, for the 2024-25 school year, Florida was the No. 1 state for book bans with 2,304 bans, followed by Texas with 1,781 and Tennessee with 1,622 bans.\u00a0<\/p>

According to the ALA, Massachusetts is fourth in the nation on attempts to restrict access to books, behind Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania.\u00a0<\/p>

Read more Waxing kit recall expanded due to overheating concerns<\/a><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p> <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lawmakers in Massachusetts are hoping to put into law a bill to give librarians more authority to protect against book bans in schools and libraries.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,207],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-massachusetts"],"yoast_head":"\nMassachusetts House passes bill protecting libraries from book bans - Houston Moving Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5689\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Massachusetts House passes bill protecting libraries from book bans - Houston Moving Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lawmakers in Massachusetts are hoping to put into law a bill to give librarians more authority to protect against book bans in schools and libraries.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5689\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Houston Moving Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-26T19:01:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/aa66adf900c01b16e3ddb833e03507ff.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"764\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5689#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5689\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba\"},\"headline\":\"Massachusetts House passes bill protecting libraries from book bans\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-26T19:01:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5689\"},\"wordCount\":356,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5689#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1eab9364e32daddf7ab01916e045dcfe.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Education\",\"Massachusetts\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5689#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5689\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5689\",\"name\":\"Massachusetts House passes bill protecting libraries from book bans - Houston Moving Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5689#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5689#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1eab9364e32daddf7ab01916e045dcfe.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-26T19:01:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5689#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5689\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5689#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1eab9364e32daddf7ab01916e045dcfe.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1eab9364e32daddf7ab01916e045dcfe.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5689#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Massachusetts House passes bill protecting libraries from book bans\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Houston Moving Journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Massachusetts House passes bill protecting libraries from book bans - Houston Moving Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5689","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Massachusetts House passes bill protecting libraries from book bans - Houston Moving Journal","og_description":"Lawmakers in Massachusetts are hoping to put into law a bill to give librarians more authority to protect against book bans in schools and libraries.\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5689","og_site_name":"Houston Moving Journal","article_published_time":"2026-06-26T19:01:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":764,"height":432,"url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/aa66adf900c01b16e3ddb833e03507ff.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5689#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5689"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba"},"headline":"Massachusetts House passes bill protecting libraries from book bans","datePublished":"2026-06-26T19:01:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5689"},"wordCount":356,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5689#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1eab9364e32daddf7ab01916e045dcfe.webp","articleSection":["Education","Massachusetts"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5689#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5689","url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5689","name":"Massachusetts House passes bill protecting libraries from book bans - Houston Moving Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5689#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5689#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1eab9364e32daddf7ab01916e045dcfe.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-26T19:01:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5689#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5689"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5689#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1eab9364e32daddf7ab01916e045dcfe.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1eab9364e32daddf7ab01916e045dcfe.webp","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5689#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Massachusetts House passes bill protecting libraries from book bans"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/","name":"Houston Moving Journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com"],"url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}