Philadelphia Front Page News Brief: New Jersey becomes latest state to prohibit bans on books in school, public libraries forward by KYW News Radio frontpagenews1@yahoo.com
Above: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy at the Princeton
Public Library on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, signs legislation aimed at
barring public libraries and schools from banning books.
PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law Monday to prohibit public and school libraries from banning books in the state and to enshrine protections against civil and criminal charges for librarians who comply with the law.
New Jersey becomes the latest Democrat-led state to enact a ban on book bans, joining Illinois and Minnesota. Murphy signed the bill at Princeton's public library, a short walk from Princeton University's ivy-draped campus and cast the legislation in the context of Republican-leaning states that have prohibited certain books in recent years.
"It's the antithesis of all these book banning states that you see," he said. "I'm incredibly proud to have signed it, but also acknowledge that America — and this is yet another good example — is becoming a patchwork quilt country. It really matters where you live."
Under the law, public and school libraries are barred from excluding books because of the origin, background, or views of the material or of its authors. Censoring books will also be prohibited solely because a person finds them offensive. The bill permits restriction in the case of "developmentally inappropriate material" for certain age groups. The measure also requires local school boards and the governing bodies of public libraries to set up policies for book curation and the removal of library materials, including a way to address concerns over certain items.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.