Urgent Call to Action
It’s time to email your representatives again! The legislative year ends on July 31, 2026, which means time is running out to protect the freedom to read in Massachusetts.
Here’s how you can help right now:
You wrote to your state senators last fall, urging them to pass the senate version of H.3594, An Act Regarding Free Expression — and they did! You wrote to your representatives and participated in Mass Freedom To Read Advocacy Day in March. You followed up with your reps during Library Week in April. But the House Ways and Means Committee still has not scheduled H.3594 for a vote, and time is running out.
July 31, 2026 is the last day of this legislative session, and we need them to vote on H.3594 before then — or else Massachusetts will fail to protect the freedom to read again.
That’s why we’re asking you to email your state representative one more time, and to copy the Chair of the Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee, Representative Aaron Michlewitz (Aaron.M.Michlewitz@mahouse.gov) in your email.
To get you started, we’ve posted a sample email below. We strongly encourage you to personalize your message and share why the freedom to read matters to you, your family, your students, your library, or your community.
You can find and contact your Massachusetts state representative by clicking the button below, and don’t forget you’re searching for your State Representative (NOT your state senator):
Sample Email:
To: [Your State Representative’s Email]
CC: Aaron.M.Michlewitz@mahouse.gov
Subject: Please support H.3594 and bring it to a vote now
Dear Representative [NAME],
As your constituent, I am writing to urge you to support H.3594, An Act Regarding Free Expression, which is currently in the House Ways and Means Committee, and help ensure it advances to a vote before the end of the legislative session on July 31, 2026.
H.3594 is important to me because: [add your personal connection to this bill here!]
Across the country — including here in Massachusetts — we have seen unprecedented efforts to ban books from schools and libraries through organized censorship campaigns that aim to influence what students can learn and what families can access in their local libraries. According to just released data from the American Library Association, in 2025 Massachusetts ranked 5th in the nation for number of reported formal challenges (21 in 2025), and 5th in the nation for the number of unique titles targeted for censorship (229 titles targeted in 2025).
Additionally, H.R.7661, the mendaciously named "Stop the Sexualization of Children Act," could be brought to a vote at any moment in the U.S. House of Representatives, ushered through by the Republican majority, and would cement censorship as our national policy.
This wave of censorship has placed immense pressure on librarians, educators, parents, and students, and has had devastating effects on writers’ First Amendment rights and their livelihoods.
Massachusetts has an opportunity and a responsibility to lead in the fight against censorship. H.3594 would establish clear, consistent standards for library collection policies and book challenge procedures while protecting intellectual freedom and ensuring access to diverse viewpoints and ideas. This legislation respects parental rights by allowing parents to guide decisions for their own children without permitting any one person to decide what materials are available to all families in a community.
I urge you to support H.3594 and help move this important legislation forward before the end of session. Please let me know if you have any insight into when H.3594 will move forward, so that I can offer my support during the voting process.
Thank you for your time and your service to the Commonwealth.
Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR CITY/TOWN]