Sponsors (31)
The bill provides substantial, targeted federal investment and policy tools to expand staffed, modern school libraries and boost literacy and digital skills—particularly for high-need students—but increases federal spending and administrative requirements, risks shifting funds or burdens to states and districts, and constrains some local choice while changing liability and oversight balances.
Students in high-need and general public schools receive sustained new federal funding and program support (about $600M/year FY2026–FY2030 plus Title IV flexibility) to build staffed, modern school libraries, recruit/retain librarians, and provide technical assistance.
Low-income, minority, disabled, English‑learner, and rural students are more likely to gain equitable access to effective school libraries because State and LEA plans, targeting rules, and funding prioritize schools lacking library services.
Students nationwide gain stronger digital and information literacy instruction (critical online skills, research skills, safe tech use) through explicitly allowable activities, Title IV flexibility, and funded programs in school libraries.
Taxpayers and the federal budget face higher spending obligations (roughly $600M/year for five years) to finance the new library programs and related data/administration costs.
States, LEAs, and school districts will incur new administrative, planning, reporting, and data-collection burdens (staff time and costs) to meet plan, reporting, and NCES data requirements, potentially diverting resources from direct services.
Rural and underfunded districts may struggle to hire certified librarians, maintain facilities, or meet program standards if additional resources are insufficient, risking widened disparities despite the bill's equity goals.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Requires states and districts to support certified school librarians and effective school libraries, expands federal literacy grants (FY2026–FY2030), mandates library data collection, and conditions funds on First Amendment assurances.
Introduced December 4, 2025 by Adelita S. Grijalva · Last progress December 4, 2025
Directs states and school districts to strengthen school libraries and literacy supports by defining an “effective school library,” treating school librarians as teachers, adding “right to read” and information literacy definitions, and requiring states and local education agencies to include library and reading protections in their plans. It authorizes new federal literacy grant funding for FY2026–FY2030, expands allowable uses of existing K–12 programs to include digital and information literacy, requires biennial national data collection on school libraries, shields school staff from liability when acting under local “right to read” policies, and conditions federal funding on assurances that school libraries protect students’ First Amendment and equal‑protection rights.