Six publishers—Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster, and Sourcebooks—have filed suit challenging a book banning law in Idaho that went into effect on July 1, 2024. The publishers are joined as plaintiffs by Authors Guild; authors Malinda Lo, David Levithan, and Dashka Slater; the Donnelly Public Library District; a teacher; two students; and two parents. The law, HB 710, affects both public and school libraries. Like other book banning laws, it prevents minors of any age from accessing any books with “sexual content,” with a definition of the term that’s “exceptionally broad, vague, […]
Book Bans
Under the New Administration, DOE Says There Are No Book Bans In Schools
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has quickly dropped 11 complaints “related to so-called ‘book bans'” and “rescinded all department guidance issued under the theory that a school district’s removal of age-inappropriate books from its libraries may violate civil rights laws.” Additionally, the OCR “will no longer employ a ‘book ban coordinator’ to investigate local school districts and parents working to protect students from obscene content.” The release claims it is overturning a “book ban hoax.” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor says in the announcement that “the department is beginning the process of restoring the […]
Publishers File Amended Complaint Against Iowa Book Ban Law
Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster, as well as The Authors Guild and authors including John Green and Jodi Picoult, have filed a new complaint in their suit against a book banning law in Iowa. The case has been litigated since late last year: In December a district court enjoined the law, but after an appeal by the state, the appellate court reversed the decision and sent it back to the district court. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the previous decision did not properly address whether the law, SF 496, violates […]
Book Restrictions Skyrocket, Though Permanent Removals Are Down
In anticipation of Banned Books Week this week, both the American Library Association and PEN America released preliminary reports on book restrictions in public schools and libraries. In the first eight months of 2024, the ALA tracked 414 book banning attempts of 1,128 individual titles, down from 695 attempts and 1,915 titles in the same period last year. That’s a 40 percent decrease in attempts from last year, though the ALA notes that the current numbers are a marked increase since 2020. And there are likely more bans that the ALA didn’t track, as they weren’t reported by the news […]
Books to Be Restored To Libraries After Settlement in FL Case
Books including And Tango Makes Three will be restored to public school libraries in Nassau County, FL, following the settlement of a lawsuit brought by the authors and local students and parents. In their May complaint, plaintiffs including authors Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson asserted that the school board and district officials “unconstitutionally targeted And Tango Makes Three, a widely acclaimed children’s book containing LGBTQIA+ characters and themes, for removal from the District’s public school library shelves…at the behest of an anti-LGBTQIA+ advocacy group,” Citizens Defending Freedom. CDF challenged 35 other books, including those by Toni Morrison, Khaled Hosseini, Jonathan […]
Six Publishers And Authors Guild Sue Florida Over Book Banning
The Authors Guild, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, Harper Collins, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, and Sourcebooks have filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida over HB 1069, a law that restricts books in school libraries. Two Florida students and two parents have also joined the suit, along with the authors Julia Alvarez, Laurie Halse Anderson, John Green, Jodi Picoult, and Angie Thomas. The law demands removal of any titles containing “sexual conduct” from school libraries. Since it went into effect in July 2023, hundreds of books have been banned, including Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, A Tale […]