Banning the Book Bans
Last December, librarian Martha Hickson stood next to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy as he signed into law the state’s Freedom to Read Act. The legislation prevents schools and libraries from removing books based on viewpoint discrimination, requires clear policies for challenging library materials, and protects librarians from lawsuits and criminal charges that might be filed by people offended by library materials. “I was thrilled,” Hickson says. “I felt like my work, my voice, had been heard.”
That relief has been a long time coming for Hickson, who retired late last year from her job as media specialist at North Hunterdon High School in Annandale, New Jersey. Just three years earlier, she had been called a pedophile and a pornographer at a public school-board meeting by a group of parents demanding to have a handful of books with LGBTQ+ themes removed from school library shelves. Hate mail and threats ensued.
With the new law in place, “I feel I’m leaving a legacy behind,” Hickson says. “Librarians that I’ve spoken to are relieved to see action at the state level.”
During the current extraordinary surge of book-banning efforts, committed advocacy by library workers and their allies is stemming the tide of censorship attempts in both school and public libraries, with more and more states enacting anti-book-ban laws.
Since 2023, nine states have passed such legislation: California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Vermont, and Washington. (While Connecticut passed library protections in a larger bill addressing youth wellness in 2023, the measure did not include mention of intellectual freedom, the right to read, diverse collections, or protecting library workers.)
This year, at least 19 more states—including Michigan, New Hampshire, and New Mexico, as well as more conservative states like Arkansas, South Carolina, and Tennessee—have already seen new anti-book-ban bills introduced.
Many of these laws—some of which are titled “the Freedom to Read Act”—include common features. They tie state-level funding to library agreements not to remove books for ideological, political, or discriminatory reasons; they require libraries to adopt formal policies governing collection development and challenge processes; they provide librarians with strengthened legal protections; or all three.
To Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom and executive director of the Freedom to Read Foundation, these growing efforts to counteract censorship mean something wonderful: “We have the power to push back.”
That said, library advocates aren’t relaxing just yet. In January, just days after President Trump returned to the White House, the US Department of Education declared book bans a “hoax.” In a press release, it dismissed all complaints and pending allegations related to school library book bans, adding that the department’s Office for Civil Rights “will no longer employ a ‘book ban coordinator’ to investigate local school districts and parents working to protect students from obscene content.”
The moves punctuate a national surge in book banning efforts that ALA and PEN America have called “unprecedented.” PEN America, a nonprofit that raises awareness for the protection of free expression, has counted more than 10,000 public school book bans in the 2023–2024 school year alone. About 8,000 of those bans were in just two states—Florida and Iowa. In 2023, both states enacted legislation creating processes for school districts to remove books with sexual content.
In other words, “we’re going to be grappling with a high number of challenges for a while,” says Caldwell-Stone. All the more heartening for anti-censorship advocates, then, that so many state-level fights are proving successful. Here’s a look at six of the states that have passed laws to help prevent book bans.
California
Dates of passage: September 25, 2023 (A.B. 1078) and September 29, 2024 (A.B. 1825)
Vote counts: A.B. 1078: Senate 31–9, Assembly 61–17; A.B. 1825: Senate 31–7, Assembly 64–9
Effective dates: A.B. 1078: September 25, 2023; A.B. 1825: January 1, 2026
Key features: Taken together, the laws prohibit school and public libraries from banning books for partisan and doctrinal reasons, tie public library funding to intellectual freedom policies, and strengthen protections for librarians.
When you have clear, transparent processes established, far less drama ensues, says California State Librarian Greg Lucas. As of January 1, 2026, California state law will require public libraries to establish, adopt, and maintain a collections development policy and process for addressing book challenges.
“The intent is not to inoculate local libraries against book challenges but to have a system in place to handle them,” Lucas says. The law, Assembly Bill 1825, requires libraries to submit collection development policies to the California state librarian for review. Simply having detailed policies can make librarians’ jobs easier when challenges occur, Lucas says: “It just becomes a thing that you deal with when it comes up.”
People have the right to express their views, and the reality is that challenges will come from both sides of the ideological spectrum, Lucas adds, noting that part of the value of the new law is its ability to help librarians sidestep arguments and potential stress.
The law prohibits libraries from banning books because of race, nationality, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other protected categories. (A separate law—Assembly Bill 1078, passed in 2023—similarly prohibits bans in school libraries.) Librarians will have the ability to put an end to some challenges by simply saying, “‘Here’s what the law says, and you’re not obeying it,’” Lucas says.
More broadly, the existence of neutral policies and processes governing collections and book challenges can help turn the temperature down. “You’re not trying to smother somebody’s freedom of speech,” Lucas says. “You’re just creating a process that’s published, placed on the library’s website that everyone can see, that [provides] certain parameters that the people making the decision have to follow.”
Illinois
Date of passage: June 12, 2023
Vote count: House 69–39, Senate 39–19
Effective date: January 1, 2024
Key features: To be eligible for state grants, libraries must adopt ALA’s Library Bill of Rights or a policy that similarly upholds intellectual freedom principles.
When, on June 12, 2023, Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker signed into law Public Act 103-0100 in Chicago’s Harold Washington Library Center, the city’s central library, he said it would make the state the first in the nation to outlaw book bans. How the law works: Instead of directly prohibiting book bans in school and public libraries, it effectively cuts funding if a library removes material because of “partisan or doctrinal” disapproval. Libraries that do could lose eligibility for state grants.
To be eligible for those grants, libraries must either adopt ALA’s Library Bill of Rights or put in place a similar policy alternative. In a 2023 Associated Press article, Illinois Secretary of State and State Librarian Alexi Giannoulias said, “What this law does is, it says, ‘Let’s trust … our librarians to decide what books should be in circulation.’”
Not everyone is a fan of Illinois’ law. The flaw in connecting funding to intellectual freedom policies is that libraries can choose to opt out of funding and then proceed with book bans, argues Rosie Stewart, senior manager of public policy at Penguin Random House. The publisher is involved with anti-book-ban legislative advocacy campaigns in nine different states this year, working with state library associations and other groups.
“Tying these standards to funding is not [a strategy] we encourage,” Stewart says. “Book banners are actually for the defunding of libraries. We don’t want to do their job for them.” Since the Illinois law was implemented, multiple localities have eschewed state funding rather than comply, she adds.
Maryland
Date of passage: April 25, 2024
Vote count: House 100–36, Senate 34–11
Date in effect: April 25, 2024
Key features: Maryland’s Freedom to Read Act bans the removal of books for partisan or discriminatory reasons and requires school and public libraries to put in place policies governing both collection development and challenges. It also protects library staff from retaliation for following the law.
It takes a coalition. That’s what high-school librarian Brittany Tignor learned while advocating for her state’s Freedom to Read Act, which became law last year.
“Things like this don’t happen unless there is a coalition of people working in every capacity that they possibly can,” says Tignor, who is treasurer of the Maryland Association of School Librarians (MASL) and librarian at Stephen Decatur High School in Berlin, Maryland. “MASL was just a tiny piece of getting the law passed.” Key partners included the Maryland State Library Agency, Maryland Library Association, and Maryland State Education Association.
Another important lesson for Tignor: Librarians need to be comfortable explaining what their jobs entail and how they’re affected by book ban efforts, since “people don’t know what school librarians do every day.” (There’s a misperception, she half-jokes, that they just go on Amazon and choose books that look cute.)
After surveying its members to understand the impact of book challenges in Maryland, MASL published a study and submitted it as written testimony to lawmakers as the legislative effort heated up. MASL members also submitted their own written and oral testimony for the record.
“These are things that school librarians don’t generally do, right?” Tignor says. “But we did. And the legislators thanked us, because they really got a different perspective.”
The new law stipulates that librarians within systems that receive money from the state cannot be fired, demoted, suspended, disciplined, reassigned, transferred, or otherwise retaliated against for doing their job. And part of that job is meeting state-backed standards, which includes following policies and procedures relative to book collections—such as challenges.
Tignor says this simple idea—that all libraries should operate under a certain set of standards, and librarians shouldn’t be punished for upholding those standards—is part of the reason the law passed. “I think a lot of people could get behind that,” she says.
Minnesota
Date of passage: May 17, 2024
Vote count: House 68–59, Senate 35–31
Date in effect: August 1, 2024
Key features: Prohibits school and public libraries (as well as public universities) from banning books for discriminatory reasons, protects librarians from being discriminated against or disciplined for complying with the law, and requires libraries to have formal policies governing both selection of and challenges to materials.
Minnesota’s new law begins with a clear prohibition: “A public library must not ban, remove, or otherwise restrict access to a book or other material based solely on its viewpoint or the messages, ideas, or opinions it conveys.” Advocates of the statute, known as Access to Library Materials and Rights Protected, believe it strikes a balance between protecting intellectual freedom and allowing individuals to challenge books.
The law, which applies to school and public libraries as well as public institutions of higher education, requires all libraries to adopt policies and procedures that allow individuals to challenge books. (The policies are designed to allow parents or guardians to opt their children out of specific materials.)
One notable aspect of the law is its requirement that library professionals handle book challenges and report the results of challenges to the state’s Department of Education. Book Riot Editor Kelly Jensen has noted that this requirement will help track patterns in targeted content by leaving a “robust paper trail” that could help prevent “silent/quiet censorship,” meaning failure to acquire certain books due to fear.
Another important feature: the law forbids punishment of librarians for following policies related to book challenges. For Johannah Genett, deputy director for support services at Hennepin County Library, the explicit protections for library staff are the most important part of the law. “We have seen librarians in this country lose their jobs over this issue,” Genett told The Minnesota Daily last year. “So having this legislation here really makes it black-and-white.”
New Jersey
Date of passage: December 9, 2024
Vote count: Assembly 53–20, Senate 24–15
Date in effect: December 9, 2025
Key features: New Jersey’s Freedom to Read Act bans the removal of books for partisan or discriminatory reasons, protects librarians from civil and criminal liability, and requires school and public libraries to put in place policies governing both collection development and challenges.
The Freedom to Read Act’s origin in New Jersey begins with Martha Hickson’s decision to keep speaking out.
Despite being called a pedophile and groomer of children by name at a school board meeting, harassment that included calls for her firing and arrest, and vandalism of her car, Hickson—who won ALA’s 2022 Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced with Adversity—has spoken publicly and passionately about her ordeal and the principles for which she was fighting.
One of the people who heard her was State Sen. Andrew Zwicker (D-Hillsborough), who, after asking how he could help, went on to introduce the state’s Freedom to Read Act. For Hickson, the lesson is clear: “Speak out and don’t stop, because you never know who is going to be listening.”
It would take another 20 months before the act became law. During that time, the draft bill evolved substantially. It began as a near-copy of the Illinois measure, Hickson says, but it turned into a law that offers librarians new protections, prohibits removal of books from school and public libraries for discriminatory reasons, and requires that libraries have formal policies governing collection acquisitions, evaluations, and challenges.
The new law also stipulates that only people with a “vested interest” can request removal of materials from a school library. (It defines those people as teaching staff members, students enrolled in the district at the time of the request, and those students’ parents or guardians.)
The legislative development process underscored another key lesson: “Know who your allies are,” Hickson says. “You cannot do this alone. And there is no shame in asking for help.”
Momentum built as local supporters of the bill contacted members of the progressive organizations Indivisible and SWEEP NJ, she says. The latter organization’s statewide reach and advocacy infrastructure proved particularly valuable. The New Jersey Library Association and the New Jersey Association of School Librarians (NJASL) were also powerful and persistent advocates, she adds. Ultimately, the bill passed largely on party lines. (NJASL threw a Zoom dance party for librarians to celebrate.)
But the work is not over, Hickson says. Implementation and awareness matter as the measure is set to go into effect later this year. “Just because a law is on the books doesn’t mean people will necessarily follow it, or be aware of it,” she says. One of the people who led the book-banning effort in her school district back in 2021 is now vice president of the school board, she notes.
“I fully expect challenges to come back to the district,” she says. “So it’s important for people to be aware of the laws that are on the books, the policies that exist in their district, and make sure that those are followed.”
Washington
Date of passage: March 28, 2024
Vote count: House 57–38, Senate 29–20
Date in effect: June 6, 2024
Key features: Essentially prohibits schools from banning books (including textbooks) for discriminatory reasons and requires school boards to enact policies governing how books and other materials are reviewed and evaluated if challenged.
Washington state’s anti-ban law, which addresses public schools and went into effect in June 2024, does not include new protections for librarians. Otherwise, it largely mirrors laws recently passed in other states: House Bill 2331 prohibits schools and school boards from banning books (and other instructional material) because of content related to “a legally protected class,” which includes marginalized groups such as people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.
Starting with the 2025–2026 school year, the law requires school boards to put in place policies governing how library books and classroom instructional materials will be reviewed and evaluated if challenged. The new law also blocks anyone who is not a parent or legal guardian in a school’s district from challenging books and other materials in that school.
The law, which explicitly affirms the value of diverse instructional materials, includes two notable features. School district instructional material committees are required to recruit diverse members, at least one of whom must be a parent of an enrolled student. And the law prevents individuals from appealing a district superintendent’s decision about a book to the district’s school board.
As with some of the other recent state laws, Washington’s passed along strict partisan lines, with Republicans claiming the erosion of local school boards’ power. “The legislature is slowly moving school boards toward extinction,” then–State Sen. Ann Rivers (R-La Center) told radio station KIRO-FM. “When we take away local control, we are also taking away parental control to help define the way things happen in a school district.”
Democrats, however, argued that safeguarding students’ access to diverse, inclusive books is essential.
Young people need access to books that “will allow them to see themselves,” then–State Sen. Emily Randall (D-Bremerton) told radio station KUOW-FM in February 2024. It’s especially essential for LGBTQ+ youth given the higher rates of mental health challenges, bullying, and violence they experience, she added: “It is so important that we stand up and stand alongside young people who may not feel welcomed in their classrooms or their school districts or their communities, but find a welcoming space in a book that reflects them for who they are.”
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