U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and newly sworn-in U.S. Representative Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ-07) have reintroduced the Right to Read Act, designed to increase federal funding to address the nation’s literacy crisis. The bill was first introduced in 2022 by Reed and the late Representative Raúl Grijalva, Adelita’s father, who died earlier this year, but it did not advance in a lame-duck session. It was also reintroduced in 2023, but again failed to advance. Since then, Adelita Grijalva won a special election in September to assume her father’s seat.
Some of the goals of this latest bicameral bill, according to a release from Reed and Grijalva’s offices, are to provide access for all students to evidence-based reading instruction, certified school librarians, well-resourced school libraries that have a wide range of reading materials, the freedom to choose what to read, and more, in an effort to improve literacy rates and prepare students for lifelong success.
The bill would authorize $500 million for the Comprehensive Literacy State Development grant program and $100 million for the Innovative Approaches to Literacy program. According to the statement, the legislation also “reaffirms that first amendment rights apply to school libraries in response to the alarming trend of book banning, and it protects school librarians and other educators in carrying out their duty to protect students’ right to read.”
This legislation is especially important in an era when school libraries, book access, and reading choice are under attack more than ever, as evidenced by the broad spread of book bans across the country in recent years. PEN America recorded 6,870 instances of book bans across 23 states and 87 public school districts during the 2024–2025 school year alone.
Reed and Grijalva cited the decades of research from numerous studies demonstrating the correlation between strong school library programs and student achievement: students with access to a well-resourced school library and a certified librarian perform better in school. The Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics has reported that more than 8,800 public schools nationwide do not have a school library. And roughly 17,000 schools that do have a library do not have a librarian to staff it. NCES data analyzed in “The School Librarian Investigation—Decline or Evolution?”, a study by Caitlin Garrity, Debra E. Kachel, and Keith Curry Lance, additionally shows an equity gap, pointing out that students experiencing the highest levels of poverty are 30% more likely to not have a school library at all.
Though Reed and Grijalva are leading the charge, cosponsors include U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Angus King (I-ME), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR); and U.S. Representatives Joyce Beatty (D-OH-03), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-01), and Summer Lee (D-PA-12).
Among the major library and literacy organizations that have officially voiced their support are the American Library Association and its division, the American Association of School Librarians, the American Federation of Teachers, PEN America, Reach Out and Read, the National Education Association, and the National Council of Teachers of English.
“I am incredibly excited that Senator Reed and the new representative Grijalva decided to reintroduce [the bill] this year,” AASL president Amanda Kordeliski told PW. “They tweaked just a few things, and I think that this is on the correct path to get us back to having kids who read.” She cited a recent HarperCollins UK study that reveals that younger generations of parents are not reading to their children. “We see in school districts that kids are coming to school without foundational literacy skills,” Kordeliski added. “They’re not familiar with books, or that you can even read for pleasure or for fun. Having legislation that not only recognizes the importance of having a fully stocked school library, but also that you need certified librarians who know how to teach information and media literacy and can connect kids to books is really essential in getting our reading scores back on track.”
She encourages AASL membership to support the bill, saying, “I hope that everyone would join in reaching out to their senator or their representative to encourage them to read the bill and let them know you think that it’s a travesty that nearly 17,000 schools don’t have a full or part time librarian. Let them know that this is something that is very important to the health of our country.”
Kordeliski is “cautiously optimistic” that this time the Right to Read Act will move forward. “Since it was last introduced, we have seen several states pass Right to Read acts and really try to protect that access to information,” she said. As the tide begins to turn, she noted, “I’m hoping that people start realizing we need to have a culture that’s full of books and literature, and our kids need to understand that we read to learn, and you never stop learning, no matter what grade you are in or how old you are.”
