Books Save Lives Act

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6830 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6830

To require certain libraries to maintain a diverse collection of books, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 14, 2023

Ms. Pressley (for herself, Ms. Adams, Mr. Bowman, Ms. Brown, Mr. Davis 
 of Illinois, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mrs. Foushee, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Horsford, 
 Mr. Ivey, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, 
Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Ms. Lee of California, Mrs. McBath, Mr. Mfume, 
 Ms. Norton, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Omar, Mr. Payne, Ms. Pingree, Ms. 
 Plaskett, Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Veasey, Ms. Velazquez, and Ms. 
   Waters) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
   Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
        fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require certain libraries to maintain a diverse collection of books, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Books Save Lives Act''.

SEC. 2. ACCESS TO LIBRARIES AND DIVERSE BOOKS.

    (a) Access to School Libraries.--A covered school shall maintain a 
library that is staffed by a trained librarian.
    (b) Library Book Selection.--Each public library receiving Federal 
financial assistance and each library of a covered school shall 
maintain a diverse collection of books, including--
            (1) books written or illustrated by an individual who is a 
        member of an underrepresented community; and
            (2) books about an underrepresented community.
    (c) Civil Rights Enforcement.--Proof that the exclusion of books 
from a covered school or library receiving Federal financial assistance 
has had a disparate impact on covered books shall constitute prima 
facie evidence of discrimination against a protected class in violation 
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), the 
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.), or the Education 
Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.), as appropriate.

SEC. 3. REPORT ON BOOK BAN CAMPAIGNS.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall begin the 
creation of a report on the effect that recent campaigns to ban books 
in public libraries and public schools have had on underrepresented 
communities.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Covered book.--The term ``covered book'' means a book 
        or an item of educational media written by, illustrated by, or 
        about an individual who is a member of an underrepresented 
        community.
            (2) Covered school.--The term ``covered school'' means an 
        elementary school or secondary school that is controlled or 
        directed by a local educational agency receiving Federal 
        financial assistance.
            (3) Elementary school, local educational agency, and 
        secondary school.--The terms ``elementary school'', ``local 
        educational agency'', and ``secondary school'' have the meaning 
        given the terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
            (4) Underrepresented community.--The term 
        ``underrepresented community'' means a group of individuals 
        that share a common identity or characteristic, in cases in 
        which discrimination based on such characteristic is prohibited 
        by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), the 
        Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et 
        seq.), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.), 
        or the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.), 
        including a group of individuals who--
                    (A) are members of a racial or ethnic minority 
                group;
                    (B) are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, 
                intersex, or nonbinary;
                    (C) are members of a religious minority group; or
                    (D) have a disability.
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