Taking a stand in the national debate on banning sexually explicit books from school libraries, Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday signed a law that will dictate how school boards in New Jersey will evaluate sensitive and controversial materials and protect librarians from legal challenges.
There were 14 attempts to restrict access to 28 book titles in New Jersey last year, according to the American Library Association. The books selected for challenge are most often centered on race and LGBTQ themes.
Parents and other “interested parties” may still request that a book or other media be removed from a school library. But the “Freedom to Read Act,” requires the state Commissioner of Education to create policy that would dictate how library materials are selected and how challenges would be evaluated.
Local school boards and library boards will use this model to adopt their own policies. But no policy will allow material to be removed simply based on “the origin, background, or views of the library material or those contributing to its creation,” according to the legislation (A3446).
“A board of education shall allow a student to reserve or check out any developmentally appropriate library material, including diverse and inclusive material,” the law says.
The law also grants librarians legal immunity from civil and criminal challenges that arise out of any book ban debate.
It will take effect a year from now, according to the legislation.
New Jersey’s measure passed the Democratic-controlled state Legislature in late October along mostly partisan lines, though a handful of Republicans supported it. Sen. Michael Testa, R-Cumberland, spoke out against the bill because it granted immunity to librarians.
“As an attorney myself, I can‘t read this sweeping immunity as anything other than an intentional blanket exemption from New Jersey’s obscenity law or for that matter any other law intended to protect our children,” Testa said before the 24-15 vote in October.
But Murphy, a Democrat, signed the bill into law at a ceremony in the children’s section of the Princeton Public Library, with rows of kids’ books behind the lectern.
The Democratic governor called it a “crucial step to ensuring we remain he best state to live, work, and raise a family.” He said it will “strengthen, not diminish, the rights of parents to choose which materials their children should or should not have access to by ensuring that every family can make their own determination about what books are appropriate for a child.”
“Our goal is to encourage parents to be active parents in every step of their child’s education and intellectual development,” Murphy said.
He also said it will protect librarians from attacks and make sure children from all walks of life feel welcome.
New Jersey joins a pair of other Democratic-led states, Illinois and Minnesota, with similar laws, at a time when Republican-leaning states have prohibited certain books.
“It’s the antithesis of all these book-banning states that you see,” Murphy 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.”
On hand at the event was Martha Hickson, the retired librarian at North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School, who has become a national voice against book bans. She recalled a school board meeting where a handful of parents “called me by name a pedophile, pornographer, and groomer of children,” objecting to five award-winning books with LGBTQ themes.
The district eventually retained them, but Hickson said she “received hate mail, shunning by colleagues, and calls for my firing and arrest.”
“I’ve even been confronted on the street, and my car has been vandalized,” Hickson said.
She also noted that students “feel the pain, too, when the books that describe their lived experience were called disgusting, obscene, and depraved.”
“Students recognized that those insults were also intended for them,” Hickson said. “All of this has created a nationwide climate of fear.”
State Sen. Andrew Zwicker, D-Middlesex, one of the main sponsors of the measure, lamented: ”It is 2024, and we are fighting for something as fundamental as the freedom to read.”
He noted 44% of banned books center on race and characters of color, while 39% center on LGBTQ themes.
“That is not a coincidence,” Zwicker said. “These bans are a deliberate effort to erase voices and perspectives that challenge the status quo, often under the guise of protecting children from discomfort.”
Zwicker said this law is a “bold response” to that.
Gov. Phil Murphy shakes hands Monday in Princeton with Martha Hickson, a retired librarian from North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School, who was harassed by parents for not removing sexually explicit material from the school library. Brent Johnson
“It affirms a simple but powerful principle: You have the freedom to choose what you want to read,” Zwicker said. “Parents have the right to decide what their children reads. But no one in New Jersey will be allowed to make that choice for you.”
Parents and conservative groups such as Moms for Liberty have made a concerted effort to challenge books across the country.
Last year, the New Jersey Association of School Librarians identified 12 titles that have been challenged in New Jersey. They included, ”This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson; ”Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe; and ”Let’s Talk About It” by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan.
The state association championed the bill, arguing “the freedom to read for education and entertainment…is supported by the Bill of Rights, decades of precedent, and the robust libraries that serve K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and New Jersey communities.”
Karen Grant, the association’s president, praised the legislation for recognizing “the professionalism, honor, work ethics and performance of school and public library staff and promoting libraries as trusted sources of information.”
In a statement released after the bill won final passage in the Senate in October, Grant said the law would “protect the intellectual freedom of students and acknowledges that school libraries are centers for voluntary inquiry, fostering students’ growth and development.”
There were 414 attempts to censor library materials from public, school and other academic libraries across the country from January 2024 through August 2024, according to the national association.
A handful of Republican lawmakers issued a blistering statement condemning the law.
“The legislation that Gov. Murphy signed today eliminates longstanding protections that have successfully kept sexually explicit and obscene materials out of the hands of minors for generations,” according to a statement from state Sen. Parker Space, Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, and Assemblyman Michael Inganamort, who represent parts of Morris, Sussex and Warren counties. “Enabling the distribution of obscene material is reprehensible, but absolving accountability for its distribution is heinous and inexcusable.”
Assemblywoman Mitchelle Drulis, D-Middlesex, the main sponsor in the Assembly, said the law strikes the right balance.
“This bill does not remove parental rights — instead, it provides a structured, transparent process for parents to challenge materials they may find inappropriate,” Drulis said. “Parents will continue to have the right to decide what their own child reads, but one parent should not have the ability to solely determine what another parents’ child can read.”
NJ Advance Media staff writers Brent Johnson and Karin Price Mueller and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on X @SusanKLivio
