Education

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Freedom to Read Act

This bill sets rules for school libraries and classroom materials in Tennessee, focusing on age-appropriate content and feedback procedures.

What This Bill Does

• Requires library materials to be suitable for the age and maturity levels of students and useful for their education.
• Prohibits removing or excluding materials based on who created them or personal beliefs about those materials.
• Requires local school boards and charter schools to create policies for developing and reviewing library collections, including procedures for receiving feedback from students, parents, guardians, and employees.
• Ensures that materials under review remain available until the school decides they are not suitable for student access.

Who It Names or Affects

• Local school boards
• Public charter schools
• Students
• Parents and guardians of students

Terms To Know

Library collection

Materials made available to students in a school, excluding those used as part of the curriculum or classroom libraries.

Classroom library

Books and materials donated to or purchased by teachers for their classrooms.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill did not pass in its current session.
• It removes the state's authority to provide guidance on evaluating school library materials.

Official Summary Text

This
bill enacts
the "Freedom to Read Act
,
"
which:



R
equires materials in a library collection or classroom library to be suitable for the age and maturity levels of the students who may access the materials and provided for the interest, information, and instructional support of students and employees of the school.



P
rohibits a material from being excluded or removed from a library collection or classroom library because of (i) the origin, background, or views of the individual who created the material; or (ii) partisan, ideological, or religious disapproval of the material.



R
equires each local board of education and public charter school governing body to adopt a policy for developing and reviewing the library collection of the LEA or public charter school. The policy must include a uniform procedure for the LEA or public charter school to receive and review feedback from a student, a student's parent or guardian, or a school employee regarding one or more of the materials in the library collection of the student's or employee's school.

If an LEA or public charter school receives feedback for a ma
terial, then
this bill requires
the LEA or public charter school
to
review the material in a timely manner to determine if the material is suitable for the age and maturity level of the students who may access the material.

A material under
such
review mu
st remain available in the school's library collection until the LEA's or public charter school's review is complete and the LEA or public charter school determines the material is not suitable for the age and maturity level of the students who may access

the material.

This bill removes the state textbook and instructional materials quality commission's authority to (i) i
ssue guidance for LEAs and public charter schools to use when reviewing materials in a library collection;
(ii) a
ssist LEAs and public c
harter schools in
e
valuating the appropriateness of materials in a library collection and
r
esponding to feedback, complaints, or appeals challenging the appropriateness of materials contained in the library collection;
(iii)

e
stablish a timeline and proces
s for a student, a student's parent or guardian, or a school employee to appeal a determination made by the student's or employee's local board of education or public charter school governing body
; and (iv) e
valuate and determine whether a material in a sc
hool's library collection is appropriate for the age and maturity level of the students who may access the materials, and whether the material is suitable for, and consistent with, the educational mission of the school if the local board of education or p
u
blic charter school governing body does not make a determination.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 1130
By Yarbro

HOUSE BILL 1051
By McKenzie

HB1051
000989
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
Chapter 1 and Title 49, Chapter 6, relative to
educational materials.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 6, is amended by deleting
part 38 and substituting:
49-6-3801.
This part is known and may be cited as the "Freedom to Read Act."
49-6-3802.
As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) "Classroom library" means materials donated to, purchased by, or
acquired by an individual teacher, which are made available in the teacher's
classroom to students assigned to the teacher's class or classes;
(2) "Library collection" means the materials made available to students
by a school operated by an LEA or by a public charter school, but does not
include materials made available to students as part of a course curriculum or in
a classroom library; and
(3) "Materials" means books, periodicals, newspapers, manuscripts,
films, prints, documents, microfilm, discs, cassettes, videotapes, videogames,
applications, and subscription content in any form.
49-6-3803.
(a) Materials in a library collection or classroom library must be:

- 2 - 000989

(1) Suitable for the age and maturity levels of the students who may
access the materials; and
(2) Provided for the interest, information, and instructional support of
students and employees of the school.
(b) A material must not be excluded or removed from a library collection or
classroom library because of:
(1) The origin, background, or views of the individual who created the
material; or
(2) Partisan, ideological, or religious disapproval of the material.
(c) Each local board of education and public charter school governing body shall
adopt a policy for developing and reviewing the library collection of the LEA or public
charter school. The policy must include a uniform procedure for the LEA or public
charter school to receive and review feedback from a student, a student's parent or
guardian, or a school employee regarding one (1) or more of the materials in the library
collection of the student's or employee's school.
(d) If an LEA or public charter school receives feedback for a material pursuant
to subsection (c), then the LEA or public charter school shall review the material in a
timely manner to determine if the material is suitable for the age and maturity level of the
students who may access the material.
(e) A material under review pursuant to subsection (d) must remain available in
the school's library collection until the LEA's or public charter school's review is complete
and the LEA or public charter school determines the material is not suitable for the age
and maturity level of the students who may access the material.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-2201, is amended by deleting
subsection (m).

- 3 - 000989

SECTION 3. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it.