Bill > HB3005

This bill establishes a formal process for the reconsideration of materials, including digital content, within public libraries and public school libraries. It defines "digital library material" as electronic resources like e-books and databases accessible through the library, and "material" as any form of recorded information. The bill mandates that libraries and school districts create publicly available policies outlining how formal requests or complaints about materials, made by community members or parents of enrolled students respectively, will be reviewed. Materials can only be removed, relocated, or have their digital access restricted after this review process, and cannot be altered while a reconsideration is pending; any changes apply only to the specific library or school where the request was filed. To initiate a reconsideration, an individual must affirm they have fully consumed the challenged material and either reside in the library's taxing district with a library card or reside in the school district and be the parent or guardian of an enrolled student. An appeals process is also required, involving review boards composed of local professional librarians and, for school libraries, teachers, with records of appeals made public. The same material cannot be reconsidered more than once every two years, though libraries can set longer periods, and a process for reinstating materials must be developed. For digital databases of periodicals, specific articles or issues can be removed without affecting the rest of the database, but this curation is not required for databases that don't aggregate periodicals and is applied at the library level, not for individual users, to protect privacy. Finally, library staff are protected from disciplinary action for refusing to remove materials before they have undergone the established reconsideration process.

https://house.mo.gov/Bill.aspx?bill=HB3005&year=2026&code=R