Maryland's Freedom to Read Act protects librarians from book ban retaliation

BALTIMORE - A new school year means new changes. For some Maryland librarians, heading back to school means new protections.

"So, we cannot be fired, cannot be fined, cannot have criminal charges pressed against us or any of those types of punitive damages that we've seen happen across the country," Maryland Library Association President Teonja Jung said.

That's because Maryland's Freedom to Read Act protects librarians from retaliation that is often spurred by book ban controversies.

"We didn't have that last year," Jung said. "And it made it very difficult to navigate a lot of these challenges and bans. But this year going in, we know we cannot be penalized for being librarians."

The new law sets standards for public and school libraries where books cannot be removed because of an "author's background or for partisan, ideological or religious disapproval."

Amendment halts change in Carroll County

However, an amendment prevented the law from overriding the change in Carroll County schools.

"They left the counties alone," Moms for Liberty Carroll County Chapter Chair Kit Hart said. "So, we are very happy about that."

In January, the Moms for Liberty group pushed back on some of the reading material in their school libraries, calling them inappropriate.

"All we did was show the board some of the books that were sexually explicit and that were in their very libraries," Hart said.

The county's board of education then changed its book selection process. It was a reassurance for Hart as her children headed back to class.

"I think it was a very solid policy," Hart said. "It got unanimous support across the aisle."

Though both groups may not fully agree on specific policy changes, they both say the main goal in the end is to encourage Maryland children to set the iPads down and pick up a book instead.