Advocates react to Utah ban of 13 books in schools and libraries: ‘It’s a tragedy’

Library associations, free speech groups and advocates are expressing outrage and concern after the state of Utah ordered 13 books to be removed from public school classrooms and libraries in accordance with a new state law that passed earlier this year.

“It’s a tragedy,” said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.

“Many of those works are highly praised, some award-winning works of literature, others are books that many read for enjoyment, and none of them come anywhere near to meeting the definition of illegal materials and arguably they have a place on the shelf for voluntary reading for students for whom they’re developmentally appropriate.”

On 2 August, with just a few weeks before students in Utah return to school, state officials released a list of books to be removed from public school classrooms and libraries. The move comes on the heels of Utah’s Republican-controlled state legislature passing a law in February and the state’s governor signing it in March, which free speech organizations say make it the first state in the country to outlaw titles statewide.

The law, which formally took effect on 1 July, states that education agencies in Utah should prioritize “protecting children from the harmful effects of illicit pornography over other considerations”.

The books banned on Friday, which included Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur and Forever by Judy Blume, were banned because they were considered to contain “pornographic or indecent” material.

The banned materials must be “legally disposed of” and “may not be sold or distributed” per the guidelines. Utah’s public school districts are also required to remove books if a book was previously banned in either three districts, or two school districts and five charter schools. (For reference, Utah has 41 public school districts in total.)

Free speech and education advocates across the country and the state are concerned about the possible impact the law may have.

“It really is an effort to allow a minority to dictate the contents of library shelves, and conform what’s on library shelves to their own political, religious and moral values,” Caldwell-Stone said, adding that the Utah law differs from other similar measures across the county because it is the only one (so far) that mandates the removal of books from every public school in the state. Most other bans have been a local district issue.

Caldwell-Stone believes that the law will be used in an “expansive fashion”.

“It will create a chilling effect,” she said, before noting that a vocal minority will now be able to control the curriculum and access to books for every student in the state.

Their definition of “sensitive materials” can often encompass things like gender identity, sexual orientation, race and racism, which has been seen at the local level, Caldwell-Stone said.

She also noted that this could deny Utah students access to reading about these topics, the opportunity to develop critical thinking skills, and to learn about the lives and experiences of others, among other things.

Kasey Meehan, the director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program, which has been tracking book banning efforts across the country for years, said on Thursday that she was not surprised by the books on the list released in Utah on Friday, as they are books that have been targeted nationally for their content.

“Predominantly, they’re books that are written by females, predominantly they’re books that include depictions of sex as well as sexual assault and violence,” she said. “And we just see a really continued campaign to eradicate those books from public school libraries.”

Like Caldwell-Stone, Meehan is also concerned about the impact on the students in Utah.

“We’ve written about this and it’s been demonstrated, but having information about sex and sexual abuse does not encourage individuals to have more sex, but instead, actually is a valuable tool in preventing sexual assault and sexual violence,” she said. “To see those resources removed just opens up potential harms on students without access to that kind of information.”

The law also places the burden on school educators, administrators and librarians to remove books, taking their attention away from students and educating, she said.

Meehan has criticized the guidelines for disposing of the books, calling them “vague” and stating that the law will “undoubtedly result in dumpsters full of books that could otherwise be enjoyed by readers”.

Peter Bromberg, co-chair of the advocacy committee of the Utah Library Association, echoed Meehan’s concerns on how many of the banned books deal in some way or another with the themes of sexual assault, particularly as sexual assault affects thousands of Utah residents – including many young girls – a year, per government data.

“These books can help teens understand that they’re not alone,” he said. “It might give them the language and the ability to talk about what happened to a trusted adult.”

Bromberg is also concerned that this law is a criminal statute, calling it “very disturbing that this law now puts librarians and teachers and school board members in legal jeopardy just for having highly regarded and award winning works of literature on high school library shelves”.

Advocates expect that the number of books banned in Utah will only increase in the coming months. Many also believe that the Utah law will be challenged in the courts.

Across the country, other states are passing book ban legislation with similar language to Utah’s, including in South Carolina earlier this summer.

In 2023 alone, more books were banned in US schools and libraries than any other year for which records have been kept, the ALA reported.