BILL NUMBER: S1100
SPONSOR: MAY
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring certain
libraries to adopt policies ensuring that library staff are able to
curate collections, services, and programming that reflect diverse
interests
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 adds a new paragraph to Section 254 of the education law,
which requires libraries receiving funds from the state to adopt poli-
cies that empower library staff to develop collections and programming
that serve the needs of all members of their community.
Section 2 sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Democratic self-government depends on a free exchange of ideas and
information, and our libraries must continue to ensure that ideas and
information are available for people to embrace or reject in line with
their values and those they learn from their families and communities.
This bill helps to protect the rights of citizens to read, grow, and
learn by ensuring that library boards will continue to provide the
broadest range of access to a broad spectrum of materials and program-
ming in their communities. This legislation ensures that public
libraries will continue to provide access to ideas, old and new, and
respect the ability of library patrons to make decisions about what
content they wish to borrow.
The current movement around the country to ban books from libraries and
classrooms focuses on books that help young people understand our socie-
ty, our history, and themselves from a range of perspectives, including
perspectives very similar to their own. Research shows that children are
more excited, and therefore more likely, to read books that feature
characters with whom they can identify.
New York state is known for its diversity, a core part of this state's
identity that we cherish and cultivate. To continue honoring our proud
legacy of inclusion, it is critical that we ensure citizens have access
to a broad range of materials them to let them pursue a love of learning
and reading, which help them understand our world and their place in it
and help them develop affinity and empathy for people with differing
identities and experiences. By ensuring that every New Yorker has
library access to many perspectives on contemporary and historical
issues, and new ways to imagine the future, we help those who choose to
exercise the option to broaden their perceptions and make informed deci-
sions on whether they embrace, reject, expand, or alter those perspec-
tives.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: S7677 (May) / A7843 (Kelles)
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
30 days after becoming law.

Statutes affected:
S1100: 254 education law