Gov. Maura Healey signed a bill into law Monday in an attempt to keep book bans out of Massachusetts.
The new legislation outlines criteria for school library teachers to use while determining whether materials are appropriate for a library including whether it is age appropriate, serves an educational purpose and is "based on the teacher’s or employee’s professional training and not on personal, political or doctrinal view."
Public library employees are protected from retaliation based on their selection of library materials so long as their decision was made "in good faith" and followed the required criteria.
Laura Bovee is the director of the Chicopee Public Library.
"It's a very nice support to the library's work of bringing people books and other materials of all kinds so that all of our patrons and all of our citizens can access information,” Bovee said.
In 2025, 33 public libraries reported formal challenges to specific books and 86 libraries faced a total of 3,000 informal challenges, according to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. This trend reflects national data collected by the American Library Association (ALA) which has tracked a sharp surge in censorship attempts since 2021 with a record high in 2023 of 1,247 attempts nationally.
Bovee said she is pleased this legislation protects the library and its staff from any retaliation for following their policies.