Ahead of the upcoming 30-day legislative session, a state lawmaker has introduced the first in an expected series of proposed bills that would prohibit banning books in public libraries.
State Rep. Kathleen Cates (D-Rio Rancho) pre-filed House Bill 26 last week, which, along with prohibiting book banning, would also require publicly run libraries to establish a procedure for people to challenge library materials “believed to be obscene, unlawful or incompatible with the library’s purpose;” prohibit retaliation against library employees; and would make public libraries ineligible for state funding if they do not follow state law.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will have to explicitly include the issue in her “call” for the session starting Jan. 20, which is otherwise limited to budgetary matters. Michael Coleman, the governor’s communications director, told Source NM via email that the proposal “is one of many that the governor and her staff are reviewing prior to the 30-day session. While a decision about this bill hasn’t been made yet, the governor is staunchly opposed to banning books — a view that she believes most new Mexicans share.”
Cates sponsored a similar bill last year, the Librarian Protection Act, but the proposed legislation failed to make it to the House for a floor vote. Cates told Source New Mexico that HB26 is “almost identical” to the previous bill, but described it as “refined” due to more stakeholder input.
“We wanted some protections on employment for librarians as well, so that’s really our biggest change, is making sure that librarians are not fired or passed over because they’re following their policies rather than political whims,” Cates said.
The bill also clarifies that the state Department of Cultural Affairs’ library division is responsible for the bill’s enforcement.
Rep. Kathleen Cates previously presented the Librarian Protection Act to the House Consumer & Public Affairs Committee Jan. 28, 2025. (Photo by Leah Romero / Source NM) Cates said she has received emails from library staff across New Mexico who shared personal stories of threats to themselves and their employment because they followed their respective libraries’ process for challenging books and other material. Local authors have also voiced their experiences with censorship of their published work and calls for removing their books from public library catalogues.
The Rio Rancho Public Library system faced a challenge to some of their books by a small group in 2023. Much of the criticism focused on books with LGBTQIA themes and characters. The city’s governing body passed a resolution later that year reiterating its support for library staff and stating the procedures for challenging books and other library resources was sufficient.
“[HB26] is aimed at assisting communities ensure their public libraries maintain free and open access to information free from political influences; and would protect librarians who have dedicated their lives’ to upholding the First Amendment,” Jason Shoup, Rio Rancho library director, told Source in a written statement.
Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez (D-Albuquerque) told Source she is working on a similar bill to address prohibiting book banning in K-12 public school libraries. A third expected bill would address academic libraries tied to public universities and colleges.
Kit Rosewater, a middle-grade and young adult author based in Albuquerque, told Source that her debut middle-grade novel, “The Derby Daredevils: Kenzie Kickstarts A Team,” was challenged in Staten Island, New York, after it was added to the curriculum for all New York City public schools.
“They didn’t burn books, but basically they raided their school library and took out a bunch of books by marginalized authors with marginalized characters and content and they kind of like ceremoniously threw them into this giant dumpster,” Rosewater said. Her book was included because Rosewater identifies as queer and the novel has a transgender character.
In New Mexico, Rosewater was scheduled to host an author visit and writing workshop at a public Albuquerque elementary school in September 2025, but a group of parents disapproved and protested. “They had, I would say, about a five- or six-week harassment campaign against me that unfortunately was targeted completely at the librarian who had invited me,” she said. “I felt like the librarian was getting really nervous…so ultimately I was the one to cancel the event just for everybody’s safety.”
Rosewater described this instance as “soft censorship,” or actions taken against books and authors that are outside of the formal challenging process. “We want people to know that it is an issue here. This isn’t kind of some niche thing that we’re bringing over from some other area. All the people who are behind this legislation and this work, we’re all very deeply kind of plugged into what’s happening in New Mexico, in schools and libraries,” she said.
Rosewater connected with the anti-censorship organization Grandparents and Allies for Truth and began reaching out to other advocacy groups to form a coalition. Freedom to Read New Mexico officially launched in November 2025 with Rosewater as chair. She and representatives of other coalition members have since worked with lawmakers to shape HB26 and the other two pending book banning bills.
“New Mexico is an extremely diverse state in terms of how different counties, regions, towns all operate. And so we really needed to kind of connect with each other about what was going to work best for New Mexico as a state versus any one particular school or library or even city,” Rosewater said. “We feel that [HB26 is] extremely timely and there’s just no way we can just sit on our hands and let this session pass us by without at least trying to get it on the call list.”
She added that states across the country have acted recently to pass anti-book ban legislation. According to American Libraries, nine states have passed such legislation since 2023, with an additional five states passing bills in 2025.
