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 Tennessee, reactions from Brown University faculty and librarians to book bans, and an Oscar-winner’s reaction to the banning of her book.
More than 500 books removed from Tennessee schools
Classics of American literature and books about the Holocaust, the Civil War, race, and religion have been pulled from school library shelves in Monroe County, Tennessee, reports WBIR 10 News.
10 News filed an open records request for a list of the titles pulled to comply with Tennessee’s Age-Appropriate Materials Act. The Age-Appropriate Materials Act was first passed in 2022 and required school districts to create a policy and governing body to review books. The law only applies to books in school libraries, not in classrooms.
Among the 574 titles pulled were “The Grapes of Wrath,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Of Mice and Men,” “Fahrenheit 451,” “Lord of the Flies,” and “The Outsiders,” as well as books that have been the target of book bans nationwide, including “The 57 Bus” and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” Other books offered lessons in history and health, such as “Hidden Figures: The Untold True Story of Four African-American Women Who Helped Launch Our Nation Into Space” and the “Mayo Clinic Family Health Book.” Popular young adult titles like “Divergent,” “The Hunger Games,” and “Twilight” were also removed.
The law was recently amended to include language about content that the state considers to be inappropriate for students, including nudity, sexual abuse or sexual content, as well as “excessive violence.” Books that have that content are to be removed from school shelves.
“They were looking at removing things that have to do with the Holocaust and World Wars and it’s just, it’s insane to me,” one parent said. “Some of those books were books that I was required to read.”
A full list of the books removed is available online.
Julianne Moore says her book “Freckleface Strawberry” was banned by Trump administration
Actor Julianne Moore is speaking out about the censorship of one of her books, reports USA Today.
In an Instagram post, Moore reacted to the news that her book, “Freckleface Strawberry,” was reportedly removed from schools within the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA).
“It is a great shock for me to learn that my first book, Freckleface Strawberry, has been banned by the Trump Administration from schools run by the Department of Defense,” wrote Moore, whose father is a Vietnam War veteran.
“It is a book I wrote for my children and for other kids to remind them that we all struggle but are united by our humanity and our community,” Moore wrote on Instagram. “I am particularly stunned because I am a proud graduate of Frankfurt American High School a #DOD school that once operated in Frankfurt, Germany.”
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Released in 2007, “Freckleface Strawberry” is a semi-autobiographical picture book about a 7-year-old girl who struggles to embrace her freckles. It has spawned numerous sequels, most recently 2016’s “Freckleface Strawberry and the Really Big Voice,” and a 2010 stage musical.
Operating 161 accredited schools for children of military families, DoDEA oversees the management of educational programs for students pre-K through 12th grade on behalf of the Department of Defense, according to the official DoDEA website.
In a February 10 memo, the Department of Defense announced that several books and learning materials had been removed from class curriculums and flagged for review, according to The Washington Post and The Guardian. DoDEA spokesman Will Griffin told The Washington Post in a statement that the restrictions were in response to a pair of executive orders issued by President Donald Trump targeting discussions of the trans community in schools and the “radical indoctrination” of students via DEI.
Federal support for book bans will harm students, librarians warn
Librarians and staff at Brown University are speaking out about the impacts that book bans have on students access to diverse literature around the country in the wake of the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights revoking all guidance that characterized book bans as violations of civil rights laws, reports the Brown Daily Herald. A January 24 press release by the office dismissed 11 complaints regarding local district removal of books in schools.
Book bans are typically framed as protections for children against “overtly sexual or explicit content,” said Heather Cole, head of special collections instruction and the curator of literary and popular collections the John Hay Library. But she argued these bans often restrict students’ ability to learn from a diverse range of works. “It’s about controlling the narrative that children or readers have access to.”
“I see book banning as counterproductive,” said English professor James Egan. “It only makes people less knowledgeable and educated and thoughtful.” Egan said he includes Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” Octavia Butler’s “Kindred,” and other books from challenged book lists in his curriculum. These novels “are designed to get people to see the world through different perspectives,” he added.
Cole said that banning books can also put librarians at risk, as they can face “prosecution or criminalization (for) making materials available.” In recent years, several states have passed legislation that allows for the prosecution of librarians and educators who provide “obscene” or “sexually explicit” content to students.
“Librarians across the country are under-resourced and understaffed,” Cole said. “Everyone’s just hanging on right now and doing what we can.”
Take action
Alarmed by the escalating attempts to censor books? Here are five steps you can take now to protect the freedom to read.
- Follow news and social media in your community and state to keep apprised of organizations working to censor library or school materials.
- 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
- 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.
- Educate friends, neighbors, and family members about censorship and how it harms communities. Share information from Banned Books Week.
- Join the Unite Against Book Bans movement and visit our Fight Censorship page to learn what you can do to defend the freedom to read in your community.
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