N.J. Stat. tit. 18A, ch. 34

in effect

N.J. Stat. § 18A:34-1 Textbooks; selection; furnished free with supplies; appropriations

Textbooks shall be selected by the recorded roll call majority vote of the full membership of the board of education of the district and they and other school supplies shall be furnished free of cost for use by all pupils in the public schools and money therefor shall be appropriated and raised annually in each school district in the same manner as other school moneys are appropriated and raised in the district. L.1967, c.271.

N.J. Stat. § 18A:34-2 Care and keeping of textbooks and accounting

Every board of education shall make rules for the safekeeping and proper care of textbooks, and shall keep an account of all moneys expended by it for textbooks and supplies, in accordance with bookkeeping directions prescribed by the state board. L.1967, c.271.

N.J. Stat. § 18A:34-3 Statewide textbook bank, creation; database

1. a. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the Department of Education shall coordinate the sharing of textbooks among school districts by creating a Statewide textbook bank. The Department of Education shall create and maintain a database of all textbooks that will be discarded by each school district. The textbook bank database shall be made available on the Department of Education's website and a list of all available textbooks shall be sent to each school district periodically. b. Each school district shall notify the Department of Education of any textbooks the district intends to discard. The Department of Education shall within 14 days of receiving notification from the school district of the intent to dispose of the textbooks, list the textbooks in the textbook bank database. School districts shall retain the textbooks to be discarded for a period of 120 days after the district has notified the Department of Education. c. Districts acquiring textbooks using the textbook bank database are responsible for all costs associated with receiving them from the donating district. d. The department shall make the textbook bank database available for use by nonpublic schools. L.2002,c.98,s.1.

N.J. Stat. § 18A:34-4 Guidelines on useful life of certain textbooks

2. a. The Department of Education shall develop and disseminate to school districts, guidelines on the useful life of textbooks in the core curriculum content standards subject areas. Textbooks exceeding the useful life guidelines established by the department shall be exempt from the provisions of section 1 of this act. b. The provisions of section 1 of this act shall not apply to textbooks that are worn out or useless due to damage or mutilation. L.2002,c.98,s.2.

Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislative-activity/statutesFetched: 10/17/2026