(1) "Library and other educational material" means any material belonging to, on loan to, or otherwise in the custody of a public library, including, but not limited to, non-fiction and fiction books, magazines, reference books, supplementary titles, multimedia and digital material and software.
(2) "Public library staff member" means a staff member of a public library, a public librarian, any staff member whose assignment is in the public library or any individual carrying out or assisting with the functions of a public library.
(3) "Individual with a vested interest" means any individual residing in the town in which the public library is located or the town in which the contract library is located at the time a reconsideration form is filed under subsection (e) of this section.
(4) "Remove" means deliberately taking library material out of a library's collection. "Remove" does not include the process of clearing such collection of any materials that are no longer useful.
(b) The board of trustees, or other governing body, of each public library shall adopt a:
Each such policy shall ensure that all library materials are evaluated and made accessible in accordance with the protections against discrimination set forth in section 46a-64 of the general statutes, including, but not limited to, discrimination based on race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or disability. In developing each such policy, the board shall have control over the content of each such policy, provided such policies are in accordance with the provisions of this section. The board of trustees or other governing body shall review, and update as necessary, each such policy every five years.
(c) The collection development and maintenance policy shall, at a minimum:
(1) Recognize that library materials should
(2) Recognize the importance of the public library as a place for voluntary inquiry, the dissemination of information and ideas and the promotion of free expression and free access to ideas by residents;
(3) Acknowledge that librarians are professionally trained to curate and develop a collection that provides resident with access to the widest array of library and other educational materials; and
(4) Establish a procedure for a librarian to continually review library and other educational material within a public library using professionally accepted standards, which shall include, but not be limited to, the material's relevance, the physical condition of the material, the availability of duplicates or copies of the material, the availability of more recent age-appropriate or grade-level-appropriate material and the continued demand for the material.
(d) The library display and program policy shall, at a minimum:
(1) Recognize that library displays should
(2) Recognize the importance of displays and programs as resources for voluntary inquiry and the dissemination of information and ideas and to promote free expression and free access to ideas by residents;
(3) Acknowledge that librarians are professionally trained to curate and develop displays and programs; and
(4) Differentiate between library displays and programs that are created or curated by librarians or staff members of the public library and those displays and programs created by members of the public or community groups and exhibited in the public library.
(e) The library material review and reconsideration policy shall, at a minimum:
(1) Establish a process for individuals with a vested interest to challenge any library and other educational material, display or program;
(2) Limit consideration of requests to reconsider material, displays or programs to individuals residing in the town in which the library is located or the town in which the contract library is located;
(3) Require that no library material, display or program shall be removed, or programs be cancelled, because of the origin, background or viewpoints expressed in such material, display or program or because of the origin, background or viewpoints of the creator of such material, display or program;
(4) Require that library materials, displays and programs shall only be excluded for legitimate pedagogical purposes or for professionally accepted standards of collection maintenance practices as adopted in the collection development and maintenance policy or the display and program policy;
(5) Require that any process for petitioners to challenge any library material, display or program shall neither favor nor disfavor any group based on protected characteristics;
(6) Provide for the creation of a request for reconsideration form that may be submitted by an individual to the library director to initiate a review of such material. The form shall require such individual to specify which portion or portions of such material such individual objects to and provide an explanation of the reasons for such objection. Such individual shall not submit a request for reconsideration form without including such individual's full legal name, address and telephone number;
(7) Acknowledge that reconsideration requests are not confidential patron records under section 11-25 of the general statutes;
(8) Require that any library material being challenged remain available in the library according to its catalog record and be available for a resident to reserve, check out or access until a final decision is made by the library director;
(9) Require the library director to evaluate the request for reconsideration form, read the challenged material in its entirety, evaluate the challenged material against the collection development and maintenance policy and make a written decision on whether or not to remove the challenged material not later than sixty days from the date of receiving such request. The library director shall provide a copy of the library director's decision and report to the individual who submitted the form;
(10) Permit the individual who submitted the request for reconsideration form to appeal, in writing, the library director's decision to the board of trustees or other governing body for the library. The board, after evaluating the challenged material under the collection development and maintenance policy, shall
(11) Provide that once a decision has been made by the library director or the board of trustees or other governing board on the reconsideration of any library material, such material cannot be subject to a new request for reconsideration for a period of three years;
(12) Permit a library director to consolidate any requests for reconsideration of the same challenged library material; and
(13) Prohibit the removal, exclusion or censoring of any book on the sole basis that an individual finds such book offensive.
(f) Any librarian or staff member of a public library who, in good faith, implements the policies described in this section shall be immune from any liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred or imposed and shall have the same immunity with respect to any judicial proceeding that results from such implementation.
(g) The board of trustees, or other governing body, of each public library shall make available the
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