Books Save Lives Act

This bill would require public elementary and secondary schools run by school districts that receive federal funds to keep a library staffed by a trained librarian. It would require those school libraries, and public libraries that receive federal funds, to keep a diverse collection that includes books written or illustrated by, or about, members of underrepresented communities, such as racial or ethnic minorities, LGBTQ people, religious minorities, and people with disabilities. Under the bill, proof that removing books from these schools or libraries had a disparate impact on such books would count as initial evidence of discrimination under federal civil rights laws. It would also require the Comptroller General to begin, within 180 days, a report on how recent campaigns to ban books in public libraries and schools have affected underrepresented communities.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Ayanna Pressley Democrat sponsor
• 18 cosponsors