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When Tennessee enacted a 2022 law requiring each public school to publish a list of its library books online for parents to see, many educators were surprised later when state officials said the law applies to teachers’ classroom book collections, too.
Now, two Democratic lawmakers have proposed legislation to clarify that Gov. Bill Lee’s Age-Appropriate Materials Act was intended to scrutinize books in traditional school libraries, not collections that teachers keep in their classrooms to encourage reading.
The goal of the proposal, said Sen. Jeff Yarbro, is to shield teachers from having to spend their personal time cataloging their classroom collections, which often include hundreds of books. It’s a task that Yarbro views as burdensome and unnecessary — and which he worries could backfire if exasperated teachers opt to box up their books and take them home to avoid the hassle.
“I am hopeful we can work with folks on both sides of the aisle to remove this absurd burden from our teachers,” said the Nashville lawmaker, who is scheduled to bring his bill before the Senate Education Committee next week.