Rightwing groups across US push new bans to limit ‘obscene' books in libraries

The Guardian

01-04-2025

Rightwing groups around the US are pushing legislation that would place new limits on what books are allowed in school libraries in a move that critics decry as censorship often focused on LGBTQ+ issues or race or imposing conservative social values.
Caught up in the attempts at suppressing books are classics like The Color Purple and Slaughterhouse Five.
Opponents of such bills argue that they would actually hinder individual rights because the proponents would be imposing their beliefs on parents and children who do not share their views. Those campaigning for the restrictions say it would prevent children from being exposed to what they label sexually explicit and obscene content and increase parental rights.
There are at least 112 proposed state bills concerning school – and public – libraries that seek to expand the definition of what is deemed obscene or 'harmful to minors' and to limit librarian staff's ability to determine which books are in their collections, according to the American Library Association.
Judges have already declared some recent laws that banned books unconstitutional and if approved, the other legislation would probably face court challenges.
The battle over school libraries represents another front in the culture war over how American society deals with race, sexual orientation and gender identity.
'Parents want to be able to have a certain way of making sure that inappropriate, sexually explicit books aren't being put in school libraries, and if they ever find these books in the school library, that they can easily and smoothly remove those books,' said Mary Elizabeth Castle, director of government relations for Texas Values, a conservative advocacy group that has tried to ban books that they describe as pornography and has pushed for creationism to be taught alongside evolution.
While there have always been efforts to censor books, there has been a surge in recent years in legislation that concerns material in libraries. In 2014, there were 183 titles targeted for removal from public and school libraries; in 2023, there were 4,240, according to the American Library Association (ALA), which also states that it is not a complete list.
'There has been a coordinated effort by' groups like Moms for Liberty that 'because of their personal, political, moral or religious beliefs don't want young people to be reading certain books, and they want the publicly-funded schools and publicly funded libraries to reflect their views', said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the library association's office for intellectual freedom.
In Texas, there are at least 31 bills – the most of any state – that would impair libraries ability to 'acquire and provide diverse materials, resources and programming', according to the library association. During the 2023-24 school year, there were 538 book bans in Texas, which trailed only Florida and Iowa, according to PEN America, a group dedicated to promoting free expression.
Texas state lawmakers are now considering senate bill 13, which would require that local school boards – rather than librarians – approve all books added or removed from school libraries.
They would have to establish a local advisory council, comprised mostly of parents or students in the district, that would recommend which books should be in the school catalog. And they would not be allowed to have 'indecent' or 'profane' content, including books with 'grossly offensive language'.
Christin Bentley, a member of the state Republican executive committee who chairs a subcommittee, stop sexualizing Texas kids, has advocated for the senate bill because she is concerned about 'sexually explicit [books] and books that tell kids to go look at porn online', she said.
'It's sexually grooming children,' said Bentley, a mother of two who lives near Tyler in the north-eastern part of the state.
Texas districts have also banned books such as Beloved and The Handmaid's Tale, along with newer novels like Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and The Underground Railroad, according to the Dallas Observer.
Bentley said she was most concerned about books like Blue Is the Warmest Color and A Game of Thrones graphic novel because of their sexually explicit content.
'A lot of the books that are sexually explicit or very indecent and profane, they are part of a genre called young adult, and that's relatively new,' Bentley said.
While supporters of such legislation argue that parents need greater control over what their children are exposed to in schools, librarians already welcome parent input, according to Lucy Podmore, a librarian and former chair of the Texas Association of School Librarians.
'If a parent has a concern about their specific child's reading options, we have always been willing to have those conversations with parents to make sure that we tailor their reading options to whatever it is that the parents have decided,' Podmore said.
Proponents of legislation to ban certain books in schools argue that students who want to read banned books can still obtain them in a library or store. But Carolyn Foote, a retired librarian in Texas, said there are towns throughout the state that do not have a bookstore or public library.
'Sometimes the school library is just the center for academic pursuits,' said Foote, who along with other librarians founded a group, Texas FReadom Fighters. 'Also, it assumes a certain amount of privilege that everyone has money and can just go to the bookstore.'
Foote spent 29 years as a librarian and said she has experienced other 'waves of censorship', but she said the scale of those did not compare to the last few years.
The Texas senate passed the bill on 19 March, and it now goes before the state house.
Part of the bill could violate the first amendment's right to freedom of speech and expression, according to Catherine Ross, a professor of constitutional law at George Washington University.
Determining what books are 'harmful' is 'incredibly subjective, and it would potentially sweep in much too much material that is protected, even for students in grades K through 12', Ross said.
If the bill becomes law, librarians would also have a harder time adding books, and it would require a significant time commitment from volunteers who serve on the advisory committee to review all new books, Podmore said.
But banning books because some parents think they are obscene means that other students can no longer access them in schools.
'If you don't want your child to read a book, they don't have to read it, but you're not allowed to tell every child in my campus that they can't read this book because you don't believe in it,' said Margarita Longoria, a Texas school librarian.