On Monday, Governor Murphy signed the Freedom to Read Act into law at the Princeton Public Library. The bill prohibits schools and public libraries from excluding books based on the origin, background, or views of the material or of its authors, or simply because a person finds the content offensive. In addition, the bill also provides civil and criminal liability protections for librarians providing materials in accordance with state law.
The bill also requires these institutions to establish policies for the curation and removal of books, including a method of challenging particular books and the creation of a review committee to evaluate complaints.