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U.S. Book Challenges Update: April 7 Edition

Phil Morehart on April 7, 2023

Libraries and schools across the country are experiencing unprecedented levels of attempts to ban or remove books from their shelves. I Love Libraries will continue to raise awareness by highlighting attempts to censor library materials, as well as efforts by librarians, parents, students, and concerned citizens to push back against them. This report includes news from Iowa, Virginia, Texas, and Florida.

After bomb threats, Iowa City school district removes book targeted by anti-LGBTQ Twitter account

Juno Dawson’s This Book is Gay is being removed from shelves at certain Iowa school libraries after a pair of bomb threats in late March, reports Iowa City Press-Citizen.

Following a Twitter blast aimed at Northwest Junior High School in Coralville, Iowa, the school received bomb threats and was subsequently evacuated. The Libs of TikTok Twitter account, which has 2 million followers and is known for its anti-LGBTQ stance, published a Tweet on March 21 that denounced the school for having Dawson’s book. It generated hundreds of responses, many of them graphically homophobic.

Iowa City Community School District Superintendent Matt Degner, in an email to district families and staff Tuesday, said the March 23 and 24 bomb threats against Northwest appeared “to be part of larger nationwide efforts designed to cause disruption and panic as well as draw attention to the availability of the book This Book is Gay in school libraries.” As a result, the book is being removed and will be reviewed as part of a district policy.

Virginia town to remove 14 books from school libraries for explicit content

Days after he proposed closing school libraries to address budgetary concerns, a Virginia school district superintendent has also ordered the removal of 14 books from school libraries for containing “sexually explicit material,” including two by Toni Morrison, reports the Washington Post.

Spotsylvania County Public Schools Superintendent Mark Taylor said in a memo that the titles must be removed from school libraries and delivered to his office by Friday, March 31 at 4 p.m. The move comes in response to complaints about sexually explicit content in the books. The books, however, were reviewed by committees of parents and teachers and found to be appropriate for high school libraries. Taylor argues in the memo that since library books are classified as “instructional material,” the books make it difficult to comply with a state law requiring school divisions to ensure “parental notification of any instructional material that includes sexually explicit content.” The easiest solution was to remove them from the library, he said.

The books being removed include: All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson; Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian; Dime and America by E.R. Frank; Sold by Patricia McCormick; Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez; Beloved and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison; Looking for Alaska by John Green; The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky; Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen; Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe by Preston Norton; More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera; and Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult.

Judge stops removal of banned books in Llano, Texas, libraries

A Texas federal district court judge interrupted the ongoing removal of books from the Llano County library system, reports the Dallas Morning News. The move will immediately reinstate books-many of which have LGBTQ themes-that government officials in the county pushed out of three libraries.

Seven residents of Llano County, with support from the American Library Association and the Freedom to Read Foundation, filed the federal lawsuit in April of last year against several public officials, including the county judge and the library system’s director, for removing books that had received community complaints. Nearly a year later, the court found that library officials violated the First Amendment by restricting access to some books based on the materials’ message and content.

“This is a ringing victory for democracy,” plaintiffs’ counsel Ellen Leonida said in a statement. “The government cannot tell citizens what they can or can’t read.”

Florida board bans This Book Is Gay from middle school libraries

The school board of Hillsborough County, Florida, voted to ban Juno Dawson’s This Book Is Gay from all public middle schools in the area on March 28, reports The Hill.

The controversy began last year when a parent filed a complaint because the book was available in the Pierce Middle School library in Tampa. A committee at the school reviewed the book and decided it should stay. Their decision was appealed, after which a district committee reviewed the book, also voting that it could remain on library shelves. That decision was also appealed, leading to Tuesday’s special school board meeting.

The board’s vote was troubling to many of the book’s supporters at the meeting.

“Very upsetting, and very scary. This, that’s a very scary precedent for our future of books,” said library media specialist Kathleen Daniels.

“I may not agree with a content, but others might,” said one student. “And how is it my decision to choose what is to be read and what is not?”

Take action

Alarmed by the escalating attempts to censor books? Here are five steps you can take now to protect the freedom to read.

1. Follow news and social media in your community and state to keep apprised of organizations working to censor library or school materials.
2. Show up for library workers at school or library board meetings and speak as a library advocate and community stakeholder who supports a parent’s right to restrict reading materials for their own child but not for all
3. Help provide a safety net for library professionals as they defend intellectual freedom in their communities by giving to the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund.
4. Educate friends, neighbors, and family members about censorship and how it harms communities. Share information from Banned Books Week.
5. Join the Unite Against Book Bans movement to learn what you can do to defend the freedom to read in your community.

U.S. Book Challenges Update: March 24 Edition

Phil Morehart on March 24, 2023

Libraries and schools across the country are experiencing unprecedented levels of attempts to ban or remove books from their shelves. I Love Libraries will continue to raise awareness by highlighting attempts to censor library materials, as well as efforts by librarians, parents, students, and concerned citizens to push back against them. This reports includes news from New York, Florida, and Connecticut, as well as a shocking update on book bans numbers.

Bomb threats to New York state school centered around LGBTQ+ book in school library

An anonymous bomb threat targeting the Hilton (N.Y.) Central School District (HCSD), centered around Juno Dawson’s bestseller This Book is Gay and its availability in school libraries, forced law enforcement to evacuate schools and cancel classes on March 22, reports WHAM 13. Another threat was reported on March 24.

The threats accused school leaders of “grooming” children and remains under investigation. No explosives were ever found, and no arrests have been made at press time.

HCSD School Superintendent Casey Kosiorek called the March 22 threat a hate crime and said the book in question has only ever been checked out twice. However, it is currently under a review because parents have brought forth concerns.

Florida school board votes to keep 4 challenged books

After more than 7 hours of debate, Escambia County (Fla.) Public Schools board has voted to keep four challenged library books in circulation, reports Pensacola News Journal. However, the books will only be accessible to certain grade levels the board has deemed age appropriate. The books in question were The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, Drama by Raina Telgemeier, The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed, and New Kid by Jerry Craft. All four books were challenged by a district teacher, who cited reasons such as “indoctrination of LGBTQ,” “sexual introductions,” “race-baiting,” and “anti-whiteness.” The school board meeting marked the third round of evaluations to remove books from the district’s reconsideration list-a list that has climbed to 176 challenged titles.

Connecticut mother wants “vulgar” LGBTQ+ books removed from high school library

A Westport, Connecticut, mother of three has formally challenged three LGBTQ+ books she wants removed from the local Staples High School library, saying that she considers them “vulgar” and “without educational value,” reports Westport Journal.  

More than 40 people attended Superintendent’s Review Committee hearing in Westport Town Hall on March 22 where the mother aired her complaints about the books This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson, Flamer by Mike Curato, and Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe.

“We’re raising our kids with certain values consistent with our religion,” the mother said. “That’s my job, to protect them. I expect the schools to do the same.”

Two Staples High librarians read comments from the positive reviews of the books by educational publishers and reviewers at the meeting. The meeting was part of a nine-step complaint review process adopted by school officials to clarify the district’s policies on controversial books and other materials.

Florida teachers, librarians, and parents challenge censorship agenda

The Florida Education Association (FEA), the Florida Freedom to Read Project, and Families for Strong Public Schools filed a petition on March 16 challenging two policies put forth by Governor Ron DeSantis’s administration that shutter classroom libraries and undermine public education, writes the FEA. Backed by the right-wing movement in Florida, DeSantis and Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. “have ushered in a new era of censorship-unlawfully attacking the freedom to read and public education and harming parents, students, educators and librarians,” says the FEA.

“Parents want their children to have access to a wide variety of books in school libraries and in the classroom, and they have been forced to make a difficult choice between the schools they love and access to books,” said Damaris Allen, executive director of Families for Strong Public Schools. “Public school parents should not be forced to leave their local public school in order to have access to classroom libraries.”

Book ban attempts at record level in 2022

The American Library Association (ALA) has released new data documenting 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago. The unparalleled number of reported book challenges in 2022 nearly doubles the 729 challenges reported in 2021. A record 2,571 unique titles were targeted for censorship, a 38% increase from the 1,858 unique titles targeted for censorship in 2021. Of those titles, the vast majority were written by or about members of the LGBTQIA+ community and people of color.

Take action

Alarmed by the escalating attempts to censor books? Here are five steps you can take now to protect the freedom to read.

1. Follow news and social media in your community and state to keep apprised of organizations working to censor library or school materials.
2. Show up for library workers at school or library board meetings and speak as a library advocate and community stakeholder who supports a parent’s right to restrict reading materials for their own child but not for all
3. Help provide a safety net for library professionals as they defend intellectual freedom in their communities by giving to the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund.
4. Educate friends, neighbors, and family members about censorship and how it harms communities. Share information from Banned Books Week.
5. Join the Unite Against Book Bans movement to learn what you can do to defend the freedom to read in your community.

U.S. Book Challenges Update: March 17 Edition

Phil Morehart on March 17, 2023

Libraries and schools across the country are experiencing unprecedented levels of attempts to ban or remove books from their shelves. I Love Libraries will continue to raise awareness by highlighting attempts to censor library materials, as well as efforts by librarians, parents, students, and concerned citizens to push back against them. This reports includes news from Oregon, North Carolina, and Florida, as well as thoughts on book bans from the U.S. Secretary of Education.

Group of Oregon moms pushes for book ban

In the West Linn-Wilsonville School District (WLWSD)  in Oregon, a group of parents-some of whom do not have children attending WLWSD schools-is trying to get books banned from the district’s libraries, reports KGW8. The group in question has focused its ire on eight books: Crank by Ellen Hopkins, The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews, Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin, Heartstopper, Vol. 2 by Alice Oseman, Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison, and Flamer by Mike Curato. Six of the books are by or about people of color or LGBTQ+ people.

The books are currently up for review by the district. Under district policy, when a book is challenged, a committee that includes a parent, librarians, and other educators and community members will evaluate whether the book should stay or go. The books will stay on school shelves while they’re being evaluated.

Books on race, sexuality among most targeted across N.C. schools

Over the past two years, at least 189 book challenges have been initiated across North Carolina’s 115 public school districts, reports WUNC North Carolina Public Radio. The challenged titles span a wide range of topics, but the most challenged books are on topics about race and racism or coming-of-age books that include characters with LGBTQ+ identities. In one county, a book that references Islam was challenged.

Journalists from nine North Carolina newsrooms learned this information by surveying the districts. The reporting project also discovered that, for now, many book challenges do not result in full removal. According to PEN America, only 16 titles have been banned from North Carolina schools, including All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Life is Funny by E.R. Frank. Library advocates in the state say this doesn’t capture the full scope of censorship and warn that proposed legislation could make future challenges more successful in North Carolina.

Enrich public schools, not ban books, says education secretary 

“Some of the very politicians who claim to promote freedom are banning books and censoring what students can learn,” writes U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona in the Tampa Bay Times. In the editorial, Cardona said that parents don’t want politicians dictating what their children can learn, think and believe. Such moves are antithetical to how public education is supposed to work in a free country, he said. Cardona said he has first-hand knowledge of it.

“The parents, families, teachers and school leaders I have met while visiting more than 40 states over the last two years are saying this loud and clear,” he said. “Parents also are speaking out about their worries that politicians are using our kids’ education as a political football.”

The recent wave of book bans is having a detrimental effect of learning, according to Cardona. “[Politicians] want to ban kids from learning the truth when it doesn’t align with their political agenda,” he said. “But it’s vital for all of us to understand our full history-the triumphs and the tragedies-so we can build a stronger, shared American future …. Censorship is not only against our values as a nation; it makes it harder for children to learn. The thousands of families I’ve met want more-not fewer-books on the shelves of their schools and local libraries.”

James Patterson book series under fire in Florida schools

Best-selling author James Patterson was pulled into the book-banning fray when a Florida school district removed his young adult series Maximum Ride from elementary school libraries but kept it accessible for older students, reports USA Today.

Patterson’s nine-book series follows the adventures of friends who are winged human-avian hybrids. Martin County, Florida school district officials removed it after a request from one parent, according to The Palm Beach Post. Patterson, who lives in nearby Palm Beach, said, “There’s nothing in that book that should scare anyone. Kids who are into science and math love it, because I talked to scientists for it about whether you can put wings on kids, which is kind of fun. If you are going to ban this book, then no kids under 12 should go to any Marvel movies.”

Take action

Alarmed by the escalating attempts to censor books? Here are five steps you can take now to protect the freedom to read.

1. Follow news and social media in your community and state to keep apprised of organizations working to censor library or school materials.
2. Show up for library workers at school or library board meetings and speak as a library advocate and community stakeholder who supports a parent’s right to restrict reading materials for their own child but not for all
3. Help provide a safety net for library professionals as they defend intellectual freedom in their communities by giving to the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund.
4. Educate friends, neighbors, and family members about censorship and how it harms communities. Share information from Banned Books Week.
5. Join the Unite Against Book Bans movement to learn what you can do to defend the freedom to read in your community.

ALA Executive Director to Receive Beacon Award from Illinois Humanities

Phil Morehart on March 15, 2023

American Library Association Executive Director Tracie D. Hall’s list of accolades grows with the announcement this week that she will receive the Beacon Award from Illinois Humanities.

Founded in 1974, the nonprofit Illinois Humanities is an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities that activates the humanities through free public programs, grants, and educational opportunities. It provides free humanities experiences throughout Illinois, particularly for communities of color, individuals living on low incomes, counties and towns in rural areas, small arts and cultural organizations, and communities highly impacted by mass incarceration.

Illinois Humanities presents the Beacon Award annually to an individual or organization who has been a champion for-or investor in-the humanities in Illinois, elevating the work of humanists in ways that have improved the quality of the state for its residents.

“Advocating for access and inclusion-through libraries, through the arts, through economic and community development-is not something I took on, it was something I was born into,” Hall said, upon learning about receiving the award. “Equity and fairness were central values in my family. Coming to Chicago 20 years ago gave me the opportunity to work alongside people across the state who understand that the arts and humanities are strengthened to the degree that they are accessible and reflective of all our histories and experiences. It is both humbling and energizing to be honored by the community of thinkers, makers, and doers that I so deeply respect and whose work has guided and anchored mine.”

Illinois Humanities will present the Beacon Award to Hall on May 17 at the Public Humanities Awards Ceremony in Chicago. In addition to Hall, three others who exemplify the humanities in action across the state will receive Public Humanities Awards at the event: Chicago radio producer, journalist, and activist Stephanie Manriquez, executive director of Contratiempo and executive producer of Lumpen Radio; Rebecca Ginsburg, director of the Education Justice Project, associate professor of education policy, organization, and leadership at University of Illinois at Urbana Champagne, and co-founder of the Illinois Coalition for Higher Ed in Prison; and librarian, historian, and archivist, Alyson Thompson, library director of Marshall (Ill.) Public Library.

Illinois Humanities said all of the 2023 honorees “highlight the role of libraries and access to stories in this national moment where the question of who has access to stories and whose stories get to be told is front and center.”

“I can’t think of a more timely and impactful group of honorees to acknowledge this year,” said Gabrielle Lyon, executive director of Illinois Humanities. “At a time when books are being banned, histories are being censored, and people who are incarcerated are kept from reading, these awardees have worked to create and protect the ‘windows and mirrors’ we all need to be part of a just society.”

U.S. Book Challenges Update: March 10 Edition

Phil Morehart on March 10, 2023

Libraries and schools across the country are experiencing unprecedented levels of attempts to ban or remove books from their shelves. I Love Libraries will continue to raise awareness by highlighting attempts to censor library materials, as well as efforts by librarians, parents, students, and concerned citizens to push back against them. This reports includes news from Arkansas, Florida, and North Dakota.

Arkansas bill that would make librarians criminally liable for distribution of obscene material fails

An Arkansas State House bill that would make librarians criminally liable for distributing materials deemed obscene by courts failed to advance from a House panel on March 7, reports ArkansasOnline.

Senate Bill 81 failed in the Judiciary Committee after nearly three hours of discussion and testimony. Opponents of the measure argued that it would invest legislative bodies with judicial power and disproportionally impact books written by and about LGBTQ people. They also claim the bill could lead to libraries and local elected officials being inundated with requests from people outside of their communities to remove books.

A mobile bookstore with a mission: delivering banned books

In response to new legislation in Florida that gives the state the power to ban books from schools, a Sarasota bookstore is raising money for a Book Bus that will feature and sell banned books, reports Sarasota Magazine.

The store, called Shelf Indulgence, set up a Kickstarter campaign to fund a mobile bookstore that will prominently feature banned and challenged titles.

“We want to make a big part of the bus raising awareness of banned books,” said store owner Nikki Snyder. “That is a very real issue all over the country, but especially in our area. If we have the power to bring awareness to it and make those books more accessible, then that’s what we want to do.”

Part of the Kickstarter funds will go to paint the bus. Snyder plans to hire local artists to paint on the vehicle images and quotes from famous authors about the perils of book bans.

“We have to pick it up in Ohio and drive it back down here,” said store owner Nikki Snyder. “We didn’t realize it costs $10,000 to $15,000 to have a professional paint the bus. We feel like if the bus stays yellow, it looks like every other bus and our message will get lost, so we are painting it purple. It needs to stand out.”

Florida students push back against book bans 

Students, parents, and teachers came out in droves to a mid-February Pinellas County (Fla.) School Board meeting to protest the removal last month of Toni Morrison’s 1970 novel, The Bluest Eye, from high schools following a parent’s complaint, reports WUSF Public Media. At issue in the complaint were passages in the book describing a father raping his daughter.

“I feel like I’m living on the pages of a dystopian novel,” said Largo High English teacher Heidi Arndt, who said she has been teaching Fahrenheit 451, about a book-burning fireman, for the past 30 years.

The Pinellas County book ban is one of many to emerge in the wake of House Bill 1467, signed into law last year by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, which “preserves the rights of parents to make decisions about what materials their children are exposed to in school,” according to the Florida Department of Education. Some at the Pinellas County School Board meeting questioned why the challenge to Morrison’s book did not follow established procedures, and why the decision to pull the book from school shelves was made so hastily.

“How is it that one mother thinks that she can keep all the children of all the other mothers from reading that or any book? What gives her the right?” said one parent.

North Dakotans stage read-ins to protest book bans

People protesting legislation that would ban books in North Dakota recently held “read-in protests” at libraries in the state, reports KFYR TV.

Patrons at Veterans Memorial Library in Bismarck and Minot Public Library in Minot mounted the protests in opposition to North Dakota Senate Bill 2360, which states that any written or visual depiction of sexually explicit content inappropriate for minors shouldn’t be available in public libraries and businesses.

Minot Public Library Board member Christine Cherry told KFYR that, with the way the bill is written, it would include such content in movies, TV shows, and video games carried anywhere in the libraries and businesses.

“It would have a detrimental effect on our independent bookstores especially, so that is why we shelve our books the way that we do. We have a children’s section which is downstairs,” said Cherry.

Cherry said the read-ins are easy ways to show support without submitting testimony to state lawmakers.

Take action

Alarmed by the escalating attempts to censor books? Here are five steps you can take now to protect the freedom to read.

1. Follow news and social media in your community and state to keep apprised of organizations working to censor library or school materials.
2. Show up for library workers at school or library board meetings and speak as a library advocate and community stakeholder who supports a parent’s right to restrict reading materials for their own child but not for all
3. Help provide a safety net for library professionals as they defend intellectual freedom in their communities by giving to the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund.
4. Educate friends, neighbors, and family members about censorship and how it harms communities. Share information from Banned Books Week.
5. Join the Unite Against Book Bans movement to learn what you can do to defend the freedom to read in your community.

U.S. Book Challenges Update: March 3 Edition

Phil Morehart on March 3, 2023

Libraries and schools across the country are experiencing unprecedented levels of attempts to ban or remove books from their shelves. I Love Libraries will continue to raise awareness by highlighting attempts to censor library materials, as well as efforts by librarians, parents, students, and concerned citizens to push back against them. This reports includes news from Arizona, South Carolina, and Florida, as well as testimony from a former Oklahoma teacher who says she lost her job for helping students access banned books.

Experts call Arizona Senate bill to ban ‘lewd or sexual’ books unconstitutional

Experts say a bill in the Arizona state Senate that would give parents more control over what books students read in school is unconstitutional, reports the Tucson Sentinel.

Sponsored by state Senator Justine Wadsack, SB1700 would let parents request that books be banned from Arizona public schools if they contain “lewd or sexual” content, “promote gender fluidity or gender pronouns” or “groom children into normalizing pedophilia.”

Experts and scholars say the bill is unconstitutional, citing a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding the removal of certain books by a New York school district. In its ruling, the Court held that “local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books and seek by their removal to ‘prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion.'”

An attorney with the National Coalition Against Censorship says a school’s removal of a book because it mentions “gender fluidity and gender pronouns” directly contradicts that decision.

South Carolina library considers banning 24 books

Two dozen books, many with LGBTQ+ themes, could soon be banned from the Greenville County (S.C.) Library System, reports Greenville News. The potential ban has sparked outrage among LGBTQ+ advocates, library experts, and library system employees.

The move is in-line with Greenville County Republicans, who passed a resolution last September urging Greenville County Council to move books with “sexually explicit” content from the children’s section of county libraries into the adult section. By considering this latest book ban, library employees say the board of trustees has platformed conservative ideologies and injected the national culture wars currently dominating the political landscape into Greenville’s library system.

Three library employees said they have experienced an increase in harassment from patrons since the GOP passed its resolution. One employee said she’d been called a pedophile and a groomer both in person and over the phone.

Florida school district bans three more books

George M. Johnson’s All Boys Aren’t Blue, Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson’s And Tango Makes Three, and Kyle Lukoff’s When Aidan Became a Brother-three books that explore topics such as gender identity and same sex relationships-are the latest book titles to join the growing list of banned books in Escambia County (Fla.) Public Schools, reports Pensacola News Journal.

In a February 20 board meeting, all three books were voted for immediate removal, and they will not be able to be challenged again for five years following the vote. The books are among more than 160 other titles that sit on the district’s challenged title list.

Sara Latshaw, deputy political director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said that the board’s repeal of the books would be a direct attack on student representation.

“The school board faces civil liability for removing the books. The school board cannot engage in viewpoint discrimination,” Latshaw said. “I hope we can rise above unnecessary political divides to represent the values of this community and ensure that all children our represented by our school library and the first amendment is protected in Escambia County.”

Oklahoma teacher speaks out after facing death threats for helping students access banned books

A former Oklahoma teacher who said she lost her job for helping students access banned books is speaking out against the movement to censor books in schools.

Summer Boismier, who now works for Brooklyn Public Library, was a high school English teacher in Norman, Oklahoma. After Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill into law in 2021 that limited student engagement with critical race theory, gender identity, and sexuality in the classroom, Boismier gave her students a QR code that directed them to Brooklyn Public Library’s Books Unbanned project, which allows kids to read books that have been banned throughout the U.S.

Boismier said she received complaints, threats, and harassing messages on social media and via email as a result.

“There’ve been countless individuals who’ve wanted me criminally charged, who’ve suggested at various points and times and comment sections across the internet,” Boismier told Business Insider. “Individuals who’ve called for my prosecution and even my execution.”

Take action

Alarmed by the escalating attempts to censor books? Here are five steps you can take now to protect the freedom to read.

1. Follow news and social media in your community and state to keep apprised of organizations working to censor library or school materials.
2. Show up for library workers at school or library board meetings and speak as a library advocate and community stakeholder who supports a parent’s right to restrict reading materials for their own child but not for all
3. Help provide a safety net for library professionals as they defend intellectual freedom in their communities by giving to the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund.
4. Educate friends, neighbors, and family members about censorship and how it harms communities. Share information from Banned Books Week.
5. Join the Unite Against Book Bans movement to learn what you can do to defend the freedom to read in your community.

U.S. Books Challenges Update: February 24 Edition

Phil Morehart on February 24, 2023

Libraries and schools across the country are experiencing unprecedented levels of attempts to ban or remove books from their shelves. I Love Libraries will continue to raise awareness by highlighting attempts to censor library materials, as well as efforts by librarians, parents, students, and concerned citizens to push back against them. This roundup includes news from Florida, Missouri, California, and New Hampshire.

Teacher fired over video of bookshelves allegedly empty from DeSantis’s book banning

A Florida teacher has been fired from his job after posting a video of a school library’s empty bookshelves on social media that went viral, reports LGBTQNation. The video reportedly shows the effects of Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s ban on LGBTQ+ and racial content in schools.

Brian Covey, a substitute teacher at Mandarin Middle School in Jacksonville, posted the original video on January 27. In one of his posts about the books’ removal, he wrote, “They removed every single book from my children’s classrooms… I read books about the consequences of this when I was in school.” Two days after posting the video, Covey was informed by Education Staffing Solutions, a third-party service used by Duval County (Fla.) Public Schools, that he had been fired because he “had violated their cellphone and social media policy.”

DeSantis has publicly disavowed the video as a “fake narrative.”

Missouri ACLU, librarians sue over law that led to schools banning hundreds of books

Missouri librarians are suing over a new law that bans sexually explicit material from schools, reports the Kansas City Star. The law has led to the removal of hundreds of books from districts throughout the state, according to a lawsuit filed in Jackson County (Mo.) Court.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri is suing Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker on behalf of the Missouri Library Association (MLA) and Missouri Association of School Librarians. The suit argues the law is unconstitutional and amounts to government censorship and the suppression of students’ First Amendment rights. The law threatens librarians and other school employees who violate it with a misdemeanor, with penalty of up to a year in jail or a $2,000 fine.

“The law presents specific peril for school librarians, but also endangers the work and livelihoods of public and academic librarians who work with K-12 schools in various capacities,” said Joe Kohlburn with the MLA Intellectual Freedom Committee, in a news release. “Librarians have been undermined politically in this state for long enough, and the fear of prosecution is an ongoing issue for keeping qualified professionals in Missouri, as well as bringing new people into the profession.”

Clashes at California school board meeting over book banning

San Ramon Valley (Calif.) Unified School District’s February 21 Board of Education meeting devolved into “shouting, moral panic, and personal attacks” over the district’s library book acquisition policies, reports SFGate. The meeting was schedule to discuss the policies because of parent uproar over books with LGBTQ+ themes, specifically Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe. Some district parents allege the book and others like it contain pornographic materials unsuitable for children.

The school district told SFGate that Gender Queer was first put on parents’ radar in January after claims that a student at San Ramon Valley High School was punished by a teacher for refusing to read the book. The district has no record of a complaint filed over the alleged incident, and no one has come forward to corroborate any of the claims. Nevertheless, some arguments at the meeting were based on the erroneous idea that children were being forced to read Gender Queer and similar books.

Some meeting attendees also made incredibly hyperbolic remarks to try to justify books’ removal, according to SFGate. One claimed that a journal read by school librarians is “an echo chamber for twisted librarians drawn themselves to porn like flies to dog poop.” Another attendee equated offering books with LGBTQ+ themes to students as tantamount to endorsing cruelty to animals, stating that the library books “allow opportunities for students to see the lived experiences of others in order to nurture empathy and compassion,” so “if a student likes to torture and kill cats, the policy says the school board should teach other students to have empathy and compassion for him and read books about torturing and killing cats.”

K-12 obscene materials bill sparks debate in New Hampshire

House lawmakers in New Hampshire are considering a bill to remove staff and teachers in K-12 schools from exemptions to state obscenity laws, a move that may lead school officials to remove books proactively or face misdemeanor charges, reports New Hampshire Public Radio.

Since 1979, schools, museums, public libraries, and governmental agencies in New Hampshire have been shielded from charges for distributing or providing “obscene” materials, unless those materials have already been deemed by a superior court to be obscene. House Bill 514 would redefine that exemption, specifying that “school” means “institution in the university system or community college system of New Hampshire” and not K-12 schools. The change would mean employees of K-12 schools could be subjected to charges under the obscenity law even if the materials in question had not been previously adjudicated by a state court.

Opponents of the bill say it will allow parents to ban books and other materials from school libraries and classrooms.

Take action

Alarmed by the escalating attempts to censor books? Here are five steps you can take now to protect the freedom to read.

1. Follow news and social media in your community and state to keep apprised of organizations working to censor library or school materials.
2. Show up for library workers at school or library board meetings and speak as a library advocate and community stakeholder who supports a parent’s right to restrict reading materials for their own child but not for all
3. Help provide a safety net for library professionals as they defend intellectual freedom in their communities by giving to the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund.
4. Educate friends, neighbors, and family members about censorship and how it harms communities. Share information from Banned Books Week.
5. Join the Unite Against Book Bans movement to learn what you can do to defend the freedom to read in your community.

Notes from the Field: Library Work in an Environment of Book Banning

Susan Maguire on February 21, 2023

This is a tough time to be a librarian. Materials and programs are being challenged, and core library values of inclusivity and freedom of information are at stake. I spoke to two librarians on the front line of the struggle to find out what it’s really like and how they are holding up. They asked to remain anonymous to protect their jobs, but they are both degreed librarians who work extensively with the public, including young people, at a medium-sized library in the Midwest. “V” is a librarian and “F” is their supervisor.

Thank you for agreeing to talk to me. I know this is a wild time to be working with the public. Let’s start with a little background. How has the past year or so been different for you in terms of materials challenges?

V: Historically, I have observed maybe one or two challenges per year. This past year the number of challenges has significantly increased, and the original challengers have not been satisfied with the verdicts, so they then appeal the challenges and become publicly adversarial. There’s also an added organized political element (the misleadingly named Moms for Liberty, Moms for Libraries) getting involved, which definitely doesn’t help in conducting civil and rational discourse with the challengers and agitated community members.

F: I’ve worked in various library systems both small, very large, and medium; typically, even in the very large system, there would be maybe one challenge a year. Most of these challenges (which were again very few) were LBGT-focused and were “hot button” controversial titles that appeared on social media. For this library’s size, we have gotten more than 10 times the normal number of challenges. Many of the challenges are alleging that the library is full of pornography and its librarians are selecting that pornography to endanger minors.

What was the procedure for book challenges before? Are folks following that procedure?

F: Procedures for challenging books were consistent. Patrons who wanted to challenge a book received a form that they would then fill out explaining why they believed the material should be removed from the specific section and/or library. That form would then go to a staff committee who would take a deeper dive into that challenge. Most patrons who are adamant about the challenge will follow the process, as that’s the only way it can possibly be changed. Sometimes this process deters folks from formally challenging and they are satisfied with just being heard by staff members.

If you are selectors, has this new environment of challenges/selection policy changed how you select books, especially for young people?

V: I am not a selector, but every time I encounter a book, a display, a potential program opportunity at my library, a part of me is starting to look at it through a lens of “What problem will this cause for us? Will I get myself/my supervisor/my department/my admin in trouble?” I fear I’m beginning to preemptively censor things for self-preservation and institutional survival.

F: I too am not a selector but work very close with the selectors. I would say that this has caused delays in materials being selected, especially in our teen collection, because we are under such high scrutiny that we cannot afford to make a “mistake”-which I put in quotations because it’s not that we make a mistake on the professional level in selecting materials for all, but in the eyes of the very conservative board majority and public minority. Unfortunately, it feels like we must make our choices based on that public minority rather than the whole community, just so that we stay out of trouble with the board.

Are you getting challenges to programs as well, or just materials?

F: Programs that are being challenged are in regards to book clubs.

V: We are having to be more cautious about potential programs, too. We’ve had a few youth programs about health and bodies that our admin, in an abundance of caution that I absolutely understand, have nixxed. I’m not sure I am using the term correctly, but it’s beginning to feel as though all of these challenges and the ignorance/hostility of the board is starting to have a “chilling effect” on our future program plans.

What kind of support do you get from your administration or library board?

F: I will say that the majority of the library board does not “support” us in the way that would typically happen from a board. Part of this is in their demeanor. When community members are representing the board’s views, they pay attention; when community members don’t, they will scoff and/or not pay attention. Sometimes lack of support from the board does take the form of the materials being relocated against the judgment of library professionals, professional reviewers, etc. On the flipside, there are board members who are very much in support of us as library professionals who know how to do their jobs. Most of our board members are new members within the last year. I would also point out, while there have been these challenges towards materials, the majority of people who attend the board meetings are in support of the library.

V: Perhaps mine has been an unusual experience, but the boards at the past libraries I’ve worked at have been extraordinarily supportive of the library directors and the ways in which they run things-the boards have been very trusting and respectful. People in the communities challenged things at those libraries, but the boards really supported the directors’ decisions. This current environment, however, seems to be up-ending things. Of course we expect challenges and concerns from the community; that’s no surprise. What is surprising is that now, not only is the majority of the Board not supporting the library staff in their decisions, they seem to be creating challenges themselves. Censorship and book banning? Although it’s definitely on the rise, ultimately nothing new there. Hostile and disconnected library boards joining in on the nonsense? That’s a new one, at least for me.

How has this new environment of challenges/selection policy affected your day-to-day work life?

V: On a practical level, the added work and problems that have arisen from all of the challenges have really impacted our ability to pursue many of the projects that we want to take on to serve the community. It’s pretty discouraging to realize how much taxpayer money is being wasted as a result of these attempts at censorship. On a mental and emotional level, I’m discouraged and afraid; I’m beginning to hear rumors of library workers being doxxed, to say nothing of character assassination and the threats to our careers and livelihoods. You can imagine the impact this has on our mental and emotional health.

F: I absolutely agree with everything that D said. Large library-wide initiatives have had to move to the back burner to make capacity for changes with the selection policy as well as challenges. Each book that is challenged has to be read in its entirety by a committee of staff members, thorough research done surrounding age-appropriateness, etc., which pulls staff from other projects. The library is a place for all and because of the vocal minority, initiatives and projects that would bring resources and support to other community members gets pushed back. For me, mentally, I feel like I am constantly having to be on guard and feeling like Big Brother is watching over me. It’s taxing, has forced me to attend more therapy sessions, has taken me away from normal interactions with staff just so I can do the other new projects that have come up because of this.

F, as a supervisor, how do you help your employees feel empowered to do their work in the face of such challenges?

F: I let my employees know that my door is open any time that they need to talk or work through new board created/modified policies. I try my best to detail and operationalize the policies that the board creates in a way that can be accomplished by staff. It’s important to be as open and honest as one can be, especially in the wake of challenges both by patrons and board members, when it goes against everything you’ve been taught about best practices in librarianship. At the end of the day, we are doing what we can to best serve the community and remain a place for all.

Susan Maguire is senior editor, collection management and library outreach, at Booklist.

*First published February 13, 2023 (Booklist Online). Photo by Element5 Digital.

Super Bowl Rivals Join the Fight Against Book Bans

Phil Morehart on February 14, 2023

Philadelphia and Kansas City were gridiron rivals this past weekend at Super Bowl LVII, and the competition extended to the cities’ respective libraries.

The directors of Kansas City Public Library and the Free Library of Philadelphia had a friendly wager going: After the game, the losing city’s library director will host a special storytime wearing the winning team’s jersey. We can’t wait to see the photos of Kelly Richards, director of the Free Library of Philadelphia, in that Kansas City gear!

Despite the rivalry, the two libraries have teamed up to raise awareness about a growing problem in the United States: book banning. They’ve created TackleCensorship.org, a repository of resources to help protect the freedom to read. From a list of the top 10 most banned books in the country to information on relevant legislation to current statistics on book bans and challenges, the site is invaluable in the fight for the freedom to read. It even has information on how to obtain a library card if you live in Philadelphia, Kansas City, or anywhere!

Visit TackleCensorship.org to learn more.

Alarmed by the escalating attempts to censor books? Here are steps additional you can take now.

  1. Follow news and social media in your community and state to keep apprised of organizations working to censor library or school materials.
  2. Show up for library workers at school or library board meetings and speak as a library advocate and community stakeholder who supports a parent’s right to restrict reading materials for their own child but not for all
  3. Help provide a safety net for library professionals as they defend intellectual freedom in their communities by giving to the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund.
  4. Educate friends, neighbors, and family members about censorshipand how it harms communities. Share information from Banned Books Week.
  5. Join theUnite Against Book Bans movement to learn what you can do to defend the freedom to read in your community.

U.S. Books Challenges Update: February 9 Edition

Phil Morehart on February 9, 2023

Libraries and schools across the country are experiencing unprecedented levels of attempts to ban or remove books from their shelves. I Love Libraries will continue to raise awareness by highlighting attempts to censor library materials, as well as efforts by librarians, parents, students, and concerned citizens to push back against them. This roundup includes news from Iowa, Florida, and New Jersey, as well as a look at the sports world’s reaction to bans on books about famed athletes.

Parents, lawmakers call for more restrictions on certain books in Iowa schools

Quad-City Times reports that parents and conservative activists said in a February 6 hearing with Iowa state lawmakers there should be more restrictions and parental permission required for books they found obscene and divisive. In the House Government Oversight committee meeting, the parents-many of whom are activists with the conservative group Moms for Liberty-read passages from books they found offensive. Almost all of the books dealt with LGBTQ characters and people of color. They also claimed that procedures that are in place to challenge the books in their local school districts are too difficult.

Ranking committee member Lindsay James (D-Dubuque) said being too quick to restrict a book could conflict with the rights of students and of parents who don’t object to the books presented at the meeting.

“What I am concerned with is upholding constitutional free speech for our children, making sure that your parental right to choose is upheld, and that, as a mom with children in my districts, in both elementary and middle school, that I would have the right to choose what my child would be exposed to,” she said.

Florida school district bans 23 books, with more under review

A Florida school district that covers 48 schools serving more than 50,000 students released on February 7 a list of books that will be banned from all of its school and classroom libraries, reports The New Republic.

St. John’s County Superintendent Tim Forson reviewed books that were objected to by parents and community members and unilaterally decided that some of the titles must be removed from school libraries. The list of 23 books includes All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, Forever by Judy Blume, a graphic novel version of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, adapted by Renee Nault, and the entire Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas. Forson noted that some other titles are to be “quarantined” away from libraries and media centers until a final decision is made.

Books to remain in New Jersey public library despite push from conservative group

Members of a conservative group were unsuccessful in their attempt to remove several books from a New Jersey public library, reports New Jersey Education Report.

Citizens Defending Education attempted to have six books removed from Glen Ridge (N.J.) Public Library, but the library’s board of trustees voted unanimously to keep the books in a February 8 meeting. According to its website, Citizens Defending Education is “seeking transparency and accountability on all issues involving the school district,” with particular attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at area schools. 

In the meeting, the board announced it had received 240 letters from community members and groups about the book ban attempt. More than 40 community members, leaders, librarians, educators, students, parents, elected officials, medical professionals, and LGBTQIA+ advocates spoke before the board, including the mother and aunts of author George M. Johnson, whose book All Boys Aren’t Blue was amongst the books under review. The other books in question were: Here and Queer by Rowan Ellis, This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson, It’s Not the Stork by Robie H. Harris, It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie H. Harris, and You Know, Sex by Cory Silverberg.

Sports world reacts to book bans

Duval County, Florida, has banned two children’s books on baseball legends: Henry Aaron’s Dream by Matt Tavares and Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates by Jonah Winter, reports The Comeback. Tavares responded to the news on Twitter.

The Comeback has collected tweets from sports journalists, athletes, and more reacting to the news. Here’s a selection:

Take action

Alarmed by the escalating attempts to censor books? Here are five steps you can take now to protect the freedom to read.

1. Follow news and social media in your community and state to keep apprised of organizations working to censor library or school materials.
2. Show up for library workers at school or library board meetings and speak as a library advocate and community stakeholder who supports a parent’s right to restrict reading materials for their own child but not for all
3. Help provide a safety net for library professionals as they defend intellectual freedom in their communities by giving to the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund.
4. Educate friends, neighbors, and family members about censorship and how it harms communities. Share information from Banned Books Week.
5. Join the Unite Against Book Bans movement to learn what you can do to defend the freedom to read in your community.

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