An Act to Establish a Rating System for Books in School Libraries
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1008
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: DRINKWATER, BOYER, FOSTER, MASON, PAUL, RUDNICKI, THORNE, LYFORD
Amends: 20-A MRSA §4710-C

Legislative Document
No. 1008
H.P. 644
House of Representatives, March 7, 2023
An Act to Establish a Rating System for Books in School Libraries
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative DRINKWATER of Milford.
Cosponsored by Representatives: BOYER of Poland, FOSTER of Dexter, MASON of Lisbon, 
PAUL of Winterport, RUDNICKI of Fairfield, THORNE of Carmel, Senator: LYFORD of 
Penobscot.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §4710-C is enacted to read:
§4710-C.  Content rating of books and written materials
1.  Definition.  For the purposes of this section, "publisher" means an organization that 
sells or distributes books or written materials to a school administrative unit or public 
charter school under chapter 112 for placement in a school library.
2.  Content rating requirements.  A publisher may not sell or distribute to a school 
administrative unit or public charter school under chapter 112 for placement in a school 
library a book or other written material that is not assigned a standard content rating as 
provided by this subsection. The publisher shall affix to the front cover of the book or 
written material a label indicating its assigned content rating.
A.  The publisher shall assign the content rating "BK-G" to a book or written material 
that is intended for all ages. Content with this rating may contain little or no profanity 
or violent or sexual themes.
B.  The publisher shall assign the content rating "BK-PG" to a book or written material 
that is intended to be read by young children only with the guidance of an adult. Content 
with this rating may contain sexual dialogue or situations, infrequent profanity and 
moderate violence.
C.  The publisher shall assign the content rating "BK-13" to a book or written material 
that is intended to be read by children 13 years of age or older. Content with this rating 
may contain intensely sexual dialogue or situations, profanity and intense violence.
D.  The publisher shall assign the content rating "BK-MA" to a book or written material 
that is intended for persons 18 years of age or older. Content with this rating may 
contain explicit depictions of sexuality, strong profanity and graphic violence.
3.  Rating restrictions; school libraries.  A school administrative unit or public 
charter school under chapter 112 may not make available:
A.  Books or written materials with BK-PG, BK-13 or BK-MA ratings in elementary 
school libraries;
B.  Books or written materials with BK-13 or BK-MA ratings in middle school 
libraries; and
C.  Books or written materials that do not have an assigned rating as provided in this 
section.
4.  Department review.  The department may review a content rating assigned by a 
publisher to a book or written material under this section.  If the department disagrees with 
the assigned content rating, the department shall provide written notice to the publisher, 
which must include the content rating the department determines appropriate for the book 
or written material and information about the publisher's duty under this subsection.  No 
later than the 120th day after the publisher receives the written notice from the department, 
the publisher shall:
A.  Change the content rating for the book or written material per the department's 
recommendation; or
B.  Cease all sales and distribution of the book or written material to a school 
administrative unit or public charter school under chapter 112 and issue a recall for all 
copies of the book or written material sold or distributed to a school administrative unit 
or public charter school.
A publisher shall notify the department of the publisher's action taken under this subsection.
5.  Rules.  The department may adopt rules in order to implement this section.  Rules 
adopted under this subsection are routine technical rules pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A.
SUMMARY
This bill establishes a content rating system for books or written materials in school 
libraries.  The bill  requires that publishers that distribute books or written materials to a 
school administrative unit or public charter school for placement in their libraries assign 
such ratings to each book or material.  The Department of Education may disagree with the 
content rating assigned by the publisher and recommend a rating determined by the 
department to be appropriate.  In such case, the department must provide written notice to 
the publisher about the rating and the publisher must either change the rating according to 
the department's recommendation or cease all sales and distribution of the affected book or 
materials and issue a recall of all copies sold or distributed to a school administrative unit 
or public charter school.