Utah bans 13 books from public schools | News, Sports, Employment

(AP) — Thirteen popular books have been banned from all Utah public schools in the first wave of bans expected under a new law that prohibits books when at least three of the state’s 41 school district boards say they contain pornographic or indecent material.

According to PEN America, a free speech organization that tracks book banning across the United States, allowing only a few districts to make statewide decisions makes the law one of the most lenient on book banning in the United States.

The state board of education released its first list of banned books this month, which includes a popular series of young adult novels by author Sarah J. Maas called “A court of thorns and roses” and books by Judy Blume and Margaret Atwood. The state’s two largest school districts, which are located in conservative parts of the state, led the charge to ban the books. The Davis school district voted to ban all 13 books on the list, while the Alpine school district banned seven of them, including Maas’ series.

The books are still available in public libraries.

Utah’s actions come amid a renewed push in recent years to ban more books by conservatives across the country despite concerns from free speech advocates and some educators and parents.

“The state’s banned books list will impose a dystopian censorship regime in public schools and, in many cases, will directly contravene local preferences.” said Kasey Meehan, director of the Freedom to Read program at PEN America.

“Allowing only a handful of districts to make decisions for the entire state is undemocratic, and we are concerned that implementation of the law will result in less diverse library shelves for all Utahns,” Meehan said.

At least three more states — Tennessee, Idaho and South Carolina — are moving toward putting state government in the business of banning books, rather than leaving the matter in the hands of local communities, PEN America said.

Under Tennessee law, a complaint filed by an individual with a school board could be escalated to a textbook commission, which could ban the book from school libraries statewide if the commission finds the book is not appropriate for the age and maturity level of the students.

Idaho law requires school and public libraries to move material that is considered “harmful to minors” to an adults-only section or face lawsuits. The new law uses Idaho’s current definition of “obscene materials”, which includes any act of homosexuality.

The Utah law went into effect July 1 and requires school districts to report to the Utah Board of Education which books they have banned from their school libraries that fit the criteria set out in the new law. More books are likely to be added, Meehan said.

Two books by Ellen Hopkins are also on Utah’s list, and all but one of the banned books are by female authors.

“A trend we see across the country is the suppression of books that describe and discuss sex, that share stories of sexual violence, often against women,” as well as issues facing the LGBTQ+ community and people of color, Meehan said.

Under law, public school libraries must dispose of the books, which cannot be sold or distributed, the state said.

“You have to throw the books in the trash” Meehan said. “I think it is an alarming picture of the situation we find ourselves in.”

Only a member of the Utah Board of Education can appeal by asking the full board to hold a hearing within 30 days of a book being placed on the banned list and then vote on whether to overturn the ban. So far, no appeals have been filed, said Sharon Turner, spokeswoman for the Utah Board of Education.