Censorship

Young Adult author Ellen Hopkins is the second-most-banned author statewide in Utah schools. It’s a distinction she’d prefer not to have.

Ivory’s news conference at the Utah State Capitol featured educators and clergy, and showed attendees passages from books banned statewide in schools.

The Utah State Board of Education will send out a list by Aug. 5 of any books that need to be removed from public schools statewide under the new law.

Across the country, book bans and attempted bans have soared to the highest levels in decades.

Lawmakers have passed HB29, which updates Utah’s sensitive materials law and allows for books to be banned statewide.

Some of the proposed changes would allow schools to remove some books quicker and without the input of parents. It would also allow certain books to be banned statewide.

Utah lawmakers continue to criticize the Davis School District for banning the Bible in some schools, and vocal support is growing for revising Utah’s “sensitive materials” law.

Rep. Ken Ivory said he wants school districts to vote in a public meeting before any books are banned.

Several of the books that the Alpine School District removed are among the most challenged books of 2021, according to the American Library Association.

School districts are updating policies to comply with the new state law on inappropriate materials, but conflicting guidance has some unsure of how to address the issue.

Amid the growing calls from parents to remove books from Utah schools due to inappropriate materials, Utah librarians have released a 20-page e-book to help address and navigate the issue.

Parents in Utah are mobilizing to identify and potentially remove books they consider inappropriate from school libraries. That’s raising concerns from civil rights groups and library associations.