Fighting for the Right to Read Week-by-Week in 2025

As the 2025 state legislative sessions start to kick off this week, EveryLibrary is tracking 26 bills that have been pre-filed in five states that would promote banning books with sexual and racial themes or criminalize librarians and educators. As more states start their sessions over the next few weeks, we expect that bill count to rise. In 2024, over 120 negative bills were introduced across 29 states. Texas, which leads the 2025 pre-file list with 14 anti-library and anti-reader bills, and Missouri, with its 4 negative bills, are early indicators that we need to be active and not just vigilant.

Follow EveryLibrary’s “2025 Legislation of Concern” tracker

Because library and education laws are largely the purview of the states, the 2024 story was not all negative. Last year we directly supported several states in passing positive pro-reading legislation. Our colleagues in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Vermont joined California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and Washington in passing legislation that preserves or extends access to libraries. In 2025, we are already seeing good legislative proposals taking shape in 7 states. We are especially looking forward to seeing several states introduce legislation to support the right to read, starting with Arkansas and a “repeal and replace” of SB81 (2023), anti-library legislation that was recently found to be unconstitutional by a federal judge. 

Find the “2025 Good Bills for Libraries” list on EveryLibrary 

Week By Week in the States – 2025

Sessions that begin the Week of January 5, 2025

Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The week of January 5, 2025, sees 22 state legislatures come into new sessions, with Virginia continuing its off-cycle session from last year. In 2024, several of these states saw bills that would limit access to libraries, criminalize libraries and schools, or otherwise negatively impact readers. We are watching the 2025 filings in Idaho, which saw a criminalization bill pass in 2024, Indiana which is seeing a move to privatize education this session, Montana which was out of session in 2024 but saw a very difficult 2023 session for libraries, and Ohio which had two bills in the lame duck session that would redefine obscenity and criminalize libraries and schools. On the positive side last session, several of these January 5 states including Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Vermont passed right to read bills recently. Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, and New York had good proposals last session that, unfortunately, did not make it to their Governors’ desks. We expect to see pro-reading bills reintroduced in 2025 in Massachusetts and New York, but changes to the makeup of the state legislatures in Michigan and New Hampshire may make it more difficult this session. A new pro-reading bill has been pre-filed in Missouri.

Sessions that begin the Week of January 12, 2025

Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, New Jersey, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. 

The week of January 12, 2025, will see 14 states start new legislative sessions, and New Jersey carry over its off-cycle session from 2024. Texas has fewer anti-library and anti-reader bills pre-filed (14) than last session (33), it also has a few positive bills pre-filed which would support reading and institutions. Whoever wins the Speaker’s race will largely determine how many of the negative bills advance. South Carolina has seen the pre-filing of a so-called “Defense of Children's Innocence Act”, which along with a proposal to defund libraries as a way to ban books, will make for a difficult session. With the Wyoming legislature now dominated by the Freedom Caucus and South Dakota considering a budget request by the Governor to defund and close the state library, advocates will have a lot of work ahead. However, several of these January 12 start date states are coming off of excellent sessions last year including Delaware where the 2025 ask will be for $2.6 million in new state aid and a new school library legislative package, New Jersey, which passed both right to read and information literacy legislation recently, and Washington with fixes to its rural library laws and a new right to read law. In a very positive turn, Arkansas will consider HB1028 to repeal and replace SB81 (2023) which a judge recently declared as having significant constitutional problems.

Read EveryLibrary’s comprehensive report on the 2024 legislative sessions for libraries: Wins, Warnings, and Ongoing Legislative Fights for Libraries in 2024

Sessions that begin…

January 19, 2025 in Alaska, New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah; February 2, 2025 in Nevada, Oklahoma, and Alabama; February 12, 2025 in West Virginia; March 4, 2025 in Florida; and April 14, 2025 in Louisiana

The Weeks of January 19 and February 2, 2025, will see 4 and 3 new states come into session respectively. Alabama library stakeholders are preparing to oppose a pre-filed bill that would criminalize libraries, schools, and museums. Utah school libraries have been living under HB29, which passed last session. It allows the state board of education to ban a book statewide if 3 school districts have banned it. So far, 14 books have been removed because of this law. Hopefully, this will be a quieter session there. As we move through the calendar, Florida and Louisiana have both seen very troubling legislation in the last two sessions. In Florida, well-known legislation that targets LGBTQ+ and BIPOC readers continues to affect local book bans across the state. In Louisiana, new laws require new restrictions on reading and empower Parishes to dismiss library boards without cause.  On the positive side, New Mexico is fresh off several legislative wins including a new Rural Libraries Endowment Fund and an attempt at anti-book ban legislation.

Active and Engaged Advocacy for Libraries All Year

EveryLibrary has partnered with many state library associations and statewide right-to-read groups over the past few legislative sessions. We have helped power smart and effective advocacy campaigns to pass positive bills in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington. We have supported our partners in opposing legislation that would censor books, negatively impact libraries, and criminalize librarians and educators in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, Texas, Wyoming, and Utah. 

We have not always won, but we have always shown up with free resources and our best thinking about ways to fight the good fight. Our focus in 2025 is on mitigating crises in states that oppose the right to read and finding new opportunities to support readers and their libraries in other states. We need your help to make this happen consistently and effectively again in 2025. Please consider donating today to help EveryLibrary, the only national political action committee for libraries, realize this goal.