You may recall that a Texas state legislator named Matt Krause released a list of some 850 books that he thought should be removed from school libraries. Even public libraries are under pressure to clear their shelves of the books that Krause identified. The books are about race, racism, sex education, anything related to LGBT, student legal rights, and gender.
This link includes the full list of books that Krause wants to ban.
Yesterday, Christopher Tackett (@cjtackett) tweeted that the book purge has begun in his district.
He wrote:
Today in Granbury ISD, at the High School library, they came with a hand cart and carried away multiple boxes of books tagged with “Krause’s List”.
They can do this because the board voted 7-0 on Monday to change district policy allowing books to be removed prior to a review.
He wrote that students, parents, and teachers protested to the school board but their voices were ignored. The superintendent pushed for the purge and ridiculed the opponents as “gaslighters and radicals.”
Some excellent comments from outside Texas. This one from Hugh G. Merriman:
The parallels are chilling…
And this advice, quoted from Stephen King:
I disagree with the opening line in the King quote. I am very much disturbed when books are banned from schools and school libraries. Next, they will pull them from the public library, and not many students can afford to buy the banned books. Protest, wave signs, speak up. Be loud. Make noise.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Tragic and misguided. As you point out, Diane, this reminds us of book banning in other places & times.
The right often ridicules left wing “cancel culture.” Indiscriminately pulling books from libraries is beyond “cancel culture.” It is censorship creeping toward fascism.
The local public-school board is the quintessential example of our representative democracy. It’s close, personal, manageable & quickly accessible. It also serves at the will of the community & reflects the value its citizens place on its children’s education. If this is what they want, they got it, if they don’t, they can change it but it will take effort. Let us watch what they think about their student’s education.
Attack of the right-wing thought police by Krugman;
https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/attack-of-the-right-wing-thought-police/
This should be overturned:
Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853, was a case in which the United States Supreme Court split on the First Amendment issue of local school boards removing library books from junior high schools and high schools.
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1981/80-2043
Two brief points:
(1) I would bet money that none of these people have seen Fahrenheit 451. That scene . . .
(2) On the side of the book banners, but not to the extreme since there IS such a thing as reasonable and age-appropriate selections: Librarians used to distinguish Adult from Children’s sections for a good reason.
Also, there’s this: A friend who has three children (7/10/13) said that some books in their school library were not age-appropriate . . . “they want to steal my children’s innocence.” Now THAT certainly needs unpacking, but I thought she had a point. CBK
“CHRISTIAN BELIEF OFFENDED” Ridgeland, Mississippi Mayor Withholds $110,000 in Library Funding Over ‘Homosexual Materials’. GRANDAD’S CAMPER, a children’s book about a young girl learning about her late grandfather.
https://www.mississippifreepress.org/20068/ridgeland-mayor-demands-lgbtq-book-purge-threatens-library-funding/
I’d like to know where he got this list of books.. Surely, he didn’t do his own research.
Exactly. Follow the supplied-to-him book 📚 list and Follow the $$$ that funded the organization supplying him with his “ammunition”.
I wonder if this school still has a school librarian. Librarians generally know the literature and the community and make appropriate selections. Some school libraries have been lost in “reform” and turned into tech centers. Why should a legislator select books based on his own interests and/or biases?
an interesting point about the shrinking number of librarian jobs: who will oppose far right invasions?
Next these illiterate fools will want to band “Gone with the Wind” (Frankly my Dear I don’t give a damn.”; “To Kill a Mockingbird”‘ Plato, Socrates, Shakespeare, etc., etc., etc. Every one of these books have something that may be construed as offensive. Everyone of the mentioned authors and others have all written something offensive to someone else. Maybe we should band the books like “Star Wars”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Peter and the Wolf”, “Scrooge”, “Sherlock Holmes”, “The Lord of The Rings”, The Hobbit”, etc. Maybe we should even band the “Bible” because there are some really scary stories in that book. How stupid can people be? Very stupid is the answer.
C = Courage and compassion
R = Reason and responsibility
T = Temperance and tolerance
love it
Many of the books on these lists have influenced my daughter’s generation to consider heretofore outsiders in society with open hearts. These kids are not becoming radical hate mongers. They are, to a youthful extent, becoming radical lovers of humanity, redeeming instead of damning, reaching out instead of thrusting away.
To grant sacrificial love to humanity is too radical for many
Hmmm, unless this country has changed a lot, this is going to probably backfire on the fascists. Tell kids they can’t do something like read a book, and many of them are going to do it anyway.
A lot of books lead young people to empathy and understanding of times and people they otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to explore. If someone reads a book about drug addicts, it does not imply that the reader will become a drug addict. It may give young people some understanding of the people and issues. There may be a tendency for some conservatives like Krause to miss the point and over regulate some 850 books!
Bezoz is going CHA CHING!!!! What do you want to bet that these books will be trending on Amazon very soon. Rich get richer!
Pennsylvania Junior high school students in Kutztown, PA created a teen-banned book club to discuss and celebrate challenging stories, discussing both classic novels and current hot topics.
The club’s first meeting, held at the Firefly Bookstore in Kutztown on January 12, 2022 was attended by a group of nine young people, primarily from grades 7 to 11 in the Kutztown area.
14-year-old Kutztown 8th grade Joslyn Diffenbaugh founded the club after reading about a public protest to ban books in national and regional schools based on the topics of race, gender identity and sexuality.
“I wanted to give teens access to books that could be personally relevant or interesting, and prevent groups in the community from pointing out what we could and couldn’t read. It was, “Joslyn said.
“I was worried about censorship in our community after seeing the banned book in Texas and my experience in the Central York School District,” said her mother, Lisa, who helped set up the club. “Unfortunately, we see a group of our community starting to propose a ban during a school board meeting.”
In November, there was intense debate between parents and school board members at several meetings about LGBTQ + -themed books that would be available to high school library students. Worried parents said the book contained adult content with inappropriate graphics and demanded that the book be removed.
Director Christian Temchatin confirmed that the books in question were purchased by the district, but they were not placed on the shelves of the school library or made available to students. School officials did not specify the title of the book.
Following a challenge to the material or topic policy procedure, the book will be evaluated and will not be distributed until the process is complete. No further updates have been announced since then.
Joslyn shared her concerns with her mother and came up with the idea of a reading club for teens. Her goal is to have a good open conversation with other teens about books that others may not necessarily want their teens to read and form their opinions.
“This club gives teens the opportunity to read books that speak to themselves and freely discuss their opinions without censorship. It also looks at the history of the banned book and makes it Gives them the opportunity to relate to what is happening today, “her mother said.
They said the first meeting had great results.
“It’s very exciting to see the level of support we receive at home and abroad,” Lisa said. “It’s great to see Kutztown talking around something very positive about what we can be a supportive and inclusive community.”
https://pennsylvanianewstoday.com/teens-appear-in-the-newly-created-kutztown-banned-book-club/304939/
Great news! Access to books can open, hearts, minds and doors. I hope these young people gain some understanding and empathy for others as it is very much needed today.
More of this!!!! Hmmm. OK. How to organize these everywhere in the country?
Bookmarked this entry in record time.
Keep up the good fight, all.
Given the current makeup of SCOTUS I am not sure it would agree today, but the currently operable precedent is Board of Education v Pico, which this action and that in TN banning Maus among others seems to violate https://www.oyez.org/cases/1981/80-2043
Thanks for this, Ken!
In Austin, we need to erect our own Bebelplatz and include a copy of Krause’s list as well as other banned books. This is just too much for my mind to comprehend. My mother was a reader, and she read to my brother and I constantly. She recognize early I read far above grade level and comprehended everything. When I was in 6th grade, I went to the public library and wanted to check out Gone With the Wind. I had already been reading Faulkner, Hemmingway, and Wolfe. The librarian refused to check the book out to me citing that I was not an adult. My mother stepped up and told her in no uncertain terms that yes, she was going to check that book out to her child. My mother believed in free reading for both of her children. It didn’t hurt us. I ended up with a doctorate in curriculum and instruction and my brother was a parole supervisor who spoke five languages.
Neither of us had any twisted ideas except we both like graphic novels. LOL!