SB 253 — Library Materials Amendments

(ii) be informed of resources and steps to follow when a student has been the subject, perpetrator, or bystander of bullying, cyber-bullying, hazing, retaliation, or abusive conduct such as:

(A) resources for the student, including short-term mental health services;

(B) options for the student to make changes to the student's educational environment;

(C) options for alternative school enrollment;

(D) options for differentiated start or stop times;

(E) options for differentiated exit and entrance locations;

and (F) the designated employee for an LEA who addresses incidents of bullying, cyber-bullying, hazing, retaliation, and abusive conduct;

(iii) be informed of the steps and resources for filing a grievance with a school or LEA regarding bullying, cyber-bullying, hazing, or retaliation;

(iv) be informed of the steps and resources for seeking accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C.

12101 et seq.;

(v) be informed of the steps and resources for seeking accommodations under state or federal law regarding religious accommodations;

(vi) be informed of the steps and resources for filing a grievance for an alleged violation of state or federal law, including:

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253 (A) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C.

Sec.

2000d-2000d-4;

(B) Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C.

Sec.

1681-1688;

(C) Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C.

Sec.

794;

and (D) Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C.

Sec.

12131-12165;

(vii) receive information about constitutional rights and freedoms afforded to families in public education;

(viii) be informed of how to access an internal audit hotline if established by the state board;

and (ix) be informed of services for military families.

(b) In addition to the information required under Subsection (2)(a), the state board:

(i) shall include in the parent portal:

(A) the comparison tool created under Section 53G-6-805;

(B) school level safety data, including data points described in Section 53E-3-516;

and (C) a link to the public safety portal described in Section 63A-16-1002;

and (ii) may include in the parent portal other information that the state board determines is helpful to parents.

(3)(a) The state board shall post the parent portal at a location that [is easily located by a parent] a parent can easily locate.

(b) The state board shall update the parent portal at least annually.

(c) In accordance with state and federal law, the state board may collaborate with a third-party to provide safety data visualization in comparison to other states' data.

(4) An LEA shall annually notify each of the following of how to access the parent portal:

(a) a parent of a student;

and (b) a teacher, principal, or other professional staff within the LEA.

Section 2.

Section 53G-10-801 is enacted to read:

Part 8.

Library Requirements 53G-10-801 .

General provisions -- Definitions.

As used in this part:

(1) "Collection development policy" means a written plan an LEA adopts in accordance with Section 53G-10-802 guiding selection, removal, and maintenance of a school library collection.

(2) "Contracting entity" means the following entities if that entity contracts with a digital - 3 - S.B.

253 02-17 10:14 resource provider for digital resources:

(a) an LEA;

(b) the state board;

or (c) UETN.

(3)(a) "Digital resource" means a digital or online library resource in a school library collection.

(b) "Digital resource" includes:

(i) a database that aggregates electronic periodical publications;

(ii) a newspaper;

(iii) a magazine;

(iv) an academic or research journal;

and (v) any other similar, regularly published publication.

(4) "Digital resource provider" means an entity that offers a digital resource to customers for license or sale.

(5) "Instructional material" means the same as that term is defined in Section 53G-10-103.

(6)(a) "Library" means a library an LEA:

(i) establishes;

(ii) administers;

or (iii) controls.

(b) "Library" does not include a classroom library.

(7) "Public school" means:

(a) a district school;

(b) a charter school;

or (c) the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.

(8)(a) "Reconsideration" means a process in which school library personnel or a school governing body reviews specific material in a school library collection due to an individual's formal request.

(b) "Reconsideration" includes relocating or removing material from a school library collection.

(9) "Relocation" means changing the permanent location of a library material:

(a) because of the final decision of a reconsideration request;

and (b) to prevent a student from accessing library material that is not age appropriate.

(10)(a) "School library collection" means all material, both physical and digital, accessible to a student in or through a school library.

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253 (b) "School library collection" includes:

(i) books;

(ii) electronic material;

(iii) pamphlets;

(iv) magazines;

(v) audio or visual material;

(vi) software;

(vii) digital resources;

(viii) subscriptions;

and (ix) other information accessed online.

(11) "Sensitive material" means the same as that term is defined in Section 53G-10-103.

(12) "Teacher librarian" means a licensed employee with a masters degree or endorsement in library science assigned to teach at a school.

(13) "Utah Education and Telehealth Network" or "UETN" means the same as that term is defined in Section 53H-4-213.1.

Section 3.

Section 53G-10-802 is enacted to read:

53G-10-802 .

Library collection and development policy.

(i) under the direction of Ŝ→ [[the] {the}a ]a ←Ŝ teacher librarian Ŝ→ or certified 153a language arts teacher ←Ŝ at each school or LEA;

-(i) 1the -purpose Senateof Committeelibrary Amendmentsinstructional material, services, and digital resources is for:

(A) the interest and instructional support of students and school personnel;

and (B) encouraging student appreciation for both informational and recreational researching, reading, viewing, and listening;

(ii) library instructional material is not subject to exclusion, removal, or prohibition from a school library collection solely because of:

(A) the origin, background, or views of the person who created the instructional material;

or (B) partisan, ideological, or religious disapproval;

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253 02-17 10:14 (iii) a teacher librarian is responsible for the development and maintenance of a school's library collection at the school that employs the teacher librarian;

(iv) library instructional material is for the support of the core standards and interests of students, staff, and families, taking into account varied:

(A) interests;

(B) cultural perspectives;

(C) age levels;

(D) ability levels;

and (E) learning styles;

and (v) selection of all purchased or donated library instructional material considers the age appropriateness of the instructional material for the emotional development, ability level, learning styles, and intellectual development of the students and a combination of five or more of the following criteria:

(A) overall purpose and educational significance;

(B) contribution and relevance to state core standards;

(C) teacher, parent, or student request;

(D) accuracy and credibility of the material;

(E) favorable reviews, recommendations, or awards;

(F) contribution to a balanced perspective;

(G) potential appeal and interest;

(H) recreational reading needs of students;

(I) artistic quality and literary style;

(J) reputation and significance of author, producer, or publisher;

(K) support of a multilingual student;

(L) support of a special needs student;

(M) support of advanced learners and students enrolled in college credit earning courses;

or (N) merit of the work as a whole;

(c) create a comprehensive list of each school library collection within the LEA and post the list to the school's website;

and (d) revisit and review the LEA's collection development policy at least once every five years.

(2) Nothing in this section overrides or negates any provision of state law, including the prohibition on sensitive material under Section 53G-10-103.

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253 Section 4.

Section 53G-10-803 is enacted to read:

53G-10-803 .

Library resources -- Reconsideration policy.

(1)(a) An LEA shall create and adopt a policy for reconsideration of material in a school library collection that:

(i) outlines the process an LEA creates under Subsection (2) for material in a school library collection to undergo reconsideration based on a request made under Subsection (5) for reasons other than sensitive material;

(ii) is available on the parent portal, in accordance with Section 53G-6-806;

and (iii) is publicly available on the LEA's website.

(b) The policy described in Subsection (1)(a) operates independently from the policy for reviewing sensitive material required under Section 53G-10-103.

(2) An LEA shall:

(a) develop a process for reconsideration that includes a mechanism for appealing a decision regarding removal of material in a school library collection;

(b) after the material undergoes the process described in Subsection (2)(a) and the LEA deems the material is appropriate for relocation or removal:

(i) remove library instructional material from the LEA's permanent collection;

(ii) relocate library instructional material within the LEA's collection to a more age-appropriate space;

or (iii) remove access to digital resources at the title, issue, or article level;

(c) keep material in a school library collection in circulation while reconsideration is pending;

(d) maintain a record of:

(i) each appeal;

(ii) the final determination after an appeal;

and (iii) the rationale for the final determination;

and (e) make records described in Subsection (2)(d) available to the public upon request.

(3) An LEA may not reconsider the same library instructional material more than once every four years.

(4) Removal or relocation of library instructional material and removal of access to digital resources applies only to the school library collection from which the reconsideration request was filed.

(5)(a) A parent of a student enrolled at an LEA, a teacher librarian, or a teacher the LEA employs may submit a reconsideration request of a material in a school library - 7 - S.B.

253 02-17 10:14 collection by signing a form that affirms the individual has reviewed the entirety of the challenged material.

(b) An individual who makes three unsuccessful reconsideration requests in a single academic year may not initiate further reconsideration under this section for the remainder of that academic year.

(c) An individual may not request a material in a school library collection be reconsidered for reasons related to sensitive material under this section.

(6)(a) A digital resource provider that aggregates electronic periodical publications to a contracting entity shall allow removal of a digital resource at the title, issue, or article level.

(b) A digital resource provider contracted with a contracting entity to provide a database containing or providing access to digital periodicals, shall include a mechanism or tool to remove access to material relocated or removed through reconsideration without disrupting access to remaining digital library instructional material in the school library.

Section 5.

Section 53G-10-804 is enacted to read:

53G-10-804 .

Retaliation against employees -- Data privacy.

(1) An LEA may not retaliate against an individual the LEA employs for refusing to remove material in a school library collection that are the subject of a request for reconsideration under Section 53G-10-803 before an LEA reviews the material in accordance with the reconsideration policy described in Section 53G-10-803.

(2) An LEA may not:

(a) require a school's digital resource provider to track individual users via a school's digital resources;

or (b) curate digital resources or resources on an individual, student level.

Section 6.

Effective Date.

This bill takes effect on July 1, 2026.

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