PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Books Are Wings, a Rhode Island nonprofit that gives free books to children, has honored state Rep. Jennifer A. Stewart for sponsoring the Freedom to Read Act, a law that prohibits the censorship of library materials, the General Assembly said Tuesday.

Stewart, a Pawtucket Democrat, received the group's Elizabeth M. Dennigan Community Champion award. The award also went to Sen. Mark McKenney, a Warwick Democrat, and Rep. David Morales, a Providence Democrat and the city's mayor-elect, who also sponsored the legislation.

Stewart first introduced the Freedom to Read Act in 2024, and the General Assembly enacted it in 2025. According to the legislature, the law encourages library selections that offer a wide range of viewpoints and requires a model policy for materials in public and school libraries. Library staff members who follow that model policy in good faith are protected from civil and criminal liability.

"I'm so grateful to Books Are Wings for providing children across Rhode Island — especially in our most struggling communities — with books," Stewart said.

The award is named for former state Rep. Elizabeth M. Dennigan, who founded Books Are Wings in 1998. The organization works with more than 100 volunteers a year and gives out an average of 60,000 books annually in cities and schools around Rhode Island, according to the release.

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