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<section article="ged" article_name="Education" number="23-112" effective_note="EFFECTIVE UNTIL DECEMBER 31, 2028 PER CHAPTERS 367 AND 368 OF 2025" title_number="23" title_name="Libraries" subtitle_number="1" subtitle_name="State Library Agencies">
  <level label="a">
    <level label="1">
      <text>In this section the following words have the meanings indicated.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>“Child” means a biological or adopted child, a stepchild, a grandchild, or a legal ward of an incarcerated individual.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>“Program” means the Family Literacy Pilot Program.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <text>There is a Family Literacy Pilot Program.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <text>The purpose of the Program is to foster family literacy and strengthen parent–child relationships by providing children’s books in State correctional facilities to incarcerated individuals and a means for an incarcerated individual to read aloud to the incarcerated individual’s child.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="d">
    <text>The Program shall be administered by the State Library Agency.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="e">
    <text>The State Library Agency, in consultation with the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and the Correctional Education Council, shall select four State correctional facility libraries or prerelease centers to participate in the Program that shall:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Represent each of the western, central, and eastern regions of the State;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Consist of at least one correctional facility serving female incarcerated individuals; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Consist of at least one correctional facility serving male incarcerated individuals.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="f">
    <text>The State Library Agency shall select the children’s books for use in the Program including children’s books in languages other than English.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="g">
    <text>The State Library Agency, in consultation with the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and the Correctional Education Council, shall:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Establish a process to secure written permission to participate in the Program from the custodial parent or guardian of an incarcerated individual’s child;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Establish a process to assist an incarcerated individual in selecting an age–appropriate children’s book, preparing a recording of the incarcerated individual reading the book aloud, and distributing a copy of the book and the recording to the incarcerated individual’s child; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Ensure participation in the Program is free of charge for the incarcerated individual, the child, and the custodial parent or guardian.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="h">
    <text>The State Library Agency may adopt regulations necessary to carry out the requirements of this section.</text>
  </level>
</section>
