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Congressional Daily Record
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Issued
April 27, 2026
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Download official Senate Record PDFReturn to issue contextSCHOOL, ACADEMIC, AND SPECIAL LIBRARIES IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE ESSENTIAL SERVICES THOSE LIBRARIES PROVIDE TO COMMUNITIES, RECOGNIZING
SERVICE AND COMMUNITY SUPPORTS PROVIDED BY LIBRARIES, PRESERVING THE RIGHT OF ALL CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES TO FREELY ACCESS INFORMATION AND RESOURCES IN THEIR COMMUNITIES, SUPPORTING A STRONG UNION VOICE FOR
LIBRARY WORKERS, AND DEFENDING THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF LIBRARY STAFF
Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Mr. Reed, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Lujan, Mr. Markey, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Wyden, and Ms. Blunt Rochester) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions:
S. Res. 688
Whereas library staff are cornerstones of their communities
in the United States, providing visitors with access to books
and media, delivering high-quality programming to visitors of
all ages, ensuring equitable internet access for all, and
linking people to crucial information about accessing social
services;
Whereas libraries are an economic powerhouse in their
communities, providing resources to small business owners,
job seekers, and individuals learning new skills;
Whereas, in recent years, library staff have been called on
to address the fallout from difficult public crises in the
United States, taking on roles that exceed the traditional
role of providing a space for, and access to, educational and
cultural enrichment;
Whereas library staff provide lifesaving care to members of
their communities who are suffering the effects of the
ongoing and tragic opioid epidemic in the United States,
including being called on to administer medication to treat
overdoses;
Whereas libraries are a safe haven for individuals and
families who are unhoused, and library workers provide the
supportive community environment and resources needed by
unhoused individuals and families;
Whereas libraries are often the only source of internet for
underserved communities;
Whereas library staff maintained public access to essential
library services and were relied on to distribute personal
protective equipment and provide testing to the public during
the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic;
Whereas libraries have met an expanded and intensified
demand for community, public health, and safety net services,
often while contending with severe funding cuts, creating
unsustainable and frequently unsafe working conditions for
library staff;
Whereas the EveryLibrary Institute recently found that
Project 2025 encourages the mistreatment and
misrepresentation of minority communities as well as the
harassment of library staff;
Whereas, on March 14, 2025, President Trump signed
Executive Order 14238 (90 Fed.
Reg. 13043, relating to continuing the reduction of the
Federal bureaucracy) to eliminate the Institute of Museum and
Library Services;
Whereas eliminating the Institute of Museum and Library
Services would harm the ability of libraries to provide
critical resources to millions of people in the United
States, especially in rural, Tribal, and other underserved
communities;
Whereas the health and survival of democracy in the United
States requires that everyone be able to exercise rights to
information and services, and it is especially important for
young people to have the opportunity to learn, encounter, and
debate all manner of ideas, including controversial ones;
Whereas students have been shown to spend more time reading
and exhibit higher reading scores when given access to
diverse titles, and library staff play a crucial role in
curating diverse book offerings for young readers;
Whereas a fundamental responsibility of the job of library
staff is making decisions about the books and media in their
collections and assisting visitors in accessing those
materials without fear of censorship or reprisal for
fulfilling the role of providing information and resources to
the public;
Whereas PEN America found 6,870 instances of book bans in
school libraries and classrooms during the 2024 to 2025
school year;
Whereas libraries and library staff are more capable of
providing their communities with access to a diverse,
inclusive, and comprehensive selection of books and media
when they operate free from threats of book bans and
censorship;
Whereas library staff have faced termination and
criminalization for refusing to remove banned books from
their libraries;
Whereas, from 2024 to 2025, there were deplorable incidents
throughout the United States that were orchestrated to
intimidate library staff and prevent them from fulfilling
their central work responsibility to provide the public with
free and unfettered access to information;
Whereas library staff across the United States are
mobilizing for a collective union voice in their workplaces
to elevate their profession, to ensure safe and adequately
resourced spaces that meet the needs of the communities they
serve, and to protect the essential role of libraries in the
democracy of the United States; and
Whereas the week of April 19 through April 25, 2026, would
be an appropriate time to celebrate “National Library
Week”: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate—
(1) commends the work of library staff in the United
States;
(2) supports the goals and ideals of National Library Week;
(3) recognizes that libraries and library staff provide
critical infrastructure for the United States and are
essential to the future of the United States;
(4) supports the prioritization of full funding of library
services at the Federal, State, and local levels to ensure
the continuation and improvement of library services;
(5) reaffirms—
(A) the fundamental right of the people of the United
States to access information, which is made real through the
efforts of library staff;
(B) the fundamental right of library workers to organize
and collectively bargain at work and to have a protected
voice in their workplace; and
(C) the civil rights of library workers to exercise their
responsibilities to the public without threats or
intimidation; and
(6) recognizes the right of library staff—
(A) to speak out on matters of public concern;
(B) to address themselves to elected officials and to the
administration of the entities that employ library staff; and
(C) to inform the people of the United States about their
right to free and unfettered access to information, and about
threats to that access.