Sponsors (8)
The bill substantially expands federal support, data, and protections to strengthen school libraries and information/digital literacy—improving access and skills for many students—while imposing new costs, reporting burdens, and likely local conflicts over contested materials and control.
Millions of K–12 students gain materially stronger school libraries through new federal grants and multiple funding/implementation paths (annual $600M grants FY2026–2030 plus Title IV flexibility and state/local supports), increasing books, devices, librarian staffing, and facility resources.
Students across income, racial/ethnic and disability lines gain better access to staffed, resourced libraries because the bill requires State plans to prevent disproportionate enrollment and targets high‑need schools for support.
Students receive expanded digital and information‑literacy instruction (in‑person and online), improving academic achievement and college/work readiness as libraries become hubs for information‑seeking and critical‑thinking skills.
Local school districts—especially small, rural, and low‑revenue districts—face substantial new staffing, facility, materials, and training costs to meet standards, risking unequal implementation where poorer districts cannot comply.
The federal cost of the grant program (~$600M/year) plus data and administrative expenses increases federal spending and places a budgetary burden on taxpayers.
States, SEAs, LEAs, and schools will face added administrative, monitoring, and reporting burdens (public measures, NCES data, assurances tied to funding) that increase compliance costs and staff workload.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Establishes a federal "right to read" framework, sets standards for effective school libraries, authorizes grants for librarians/literacy, mandates NCES library data collection, and adds staff liability protections.
Introduced December 4, 2025 by John F. Reed · Last progress December 4, 2025
Creates a federal “right to read” framework that sets minimum standards for school libraries, defines information literacy and school librarian roles, and requires states and local school districts to adopt policies protecting student access to diverse reading materials. It authorizes multi‑year grant funding for programs that support effective school libraries and librarians, requires the Department of Education to collect nationwide school library data, and adds liability protection for staff who follow local or state "right to read" policies. The bill changes state and local Title I and Title II plan requirements to address library access and literacy, adds digital/information literacy as an allowable use under Title IV, and requires states/LEAs receiving federal funds to give formal assurances that they will protect First Amendment rights in school libraries; it also authorizes new funding streams for competitive/formula grants for FY2026–FY2030 and directs NCES to report library data within one year and biennially thereafter.