At the February meeting, the Readington board passed Library Policy 2535, which was supposed to comply with the Freedom to Read Act. 

However, the Readington board added language about “sensitive materials” to the policy and added a process establishing a committee to review “sensitive materials” before purchase to the regulation.  They voted to adopt this language despite public comments (including comments from the teachers’ association president) and over 100 emails expressing concerns.

On March 10 teachers, parents, and other residents spoke at the Readington board meeting expressing concerns that the unclear language about “sensitive materials” was creating pressure on teachers and librarians to self-censor book recommendations and school/classroom library materials.

Please ask the Board at their March 23 meeting to remove the language that was added about “sensitive materials” and pre-purchase review committees from Policy and Regulation 2535 and revert to the mandatory policy language provided by Strauss Esmay.