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Kids’ Right To Read

Pinellas County Schools Bypass District Policy and Remove ‘The Bluest Eye’ from Libraries

By |2023-02-09T13:27:31-05:00February 9th, 2023|News|

The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has written a letter to the Pinellas County School Board in Largo, Florida regarding the district’s recent removal of the book The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison from school libraries. NCAC is deeply concerned that the Associate Superintendent misinterpreted state guidance and improperly removed The Bluest Eye from school libraries and curriculum. District [...]

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NCAC releases new resource for authors of banned or challenged books

By |2023-01-27T15:18:20-05:00January 27th, 2023|Blog, News, Press Releases|

NEW YORK – The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) today released a new resource that provides practical advice for authors whose books are being challenged and banned in K – 12 schools and libraries. Prepared in collaboration with writers who have faced censorship, it is available on the NCAC website. Book challenges can be exasperating, demoralizing, and deeply painful for [...]

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NCAC demands return of 13 books by Ellen Hopkins to Hernando School District libraries

By |2023-01-25T08:26:45-05:00January 24th, 2023|News|

NCAC contacts Hernando School District in Brooksville, Florida, to express its concerns about the removal of 13 books by Ellen Hopkins from its libraries. A district administrator claimed that the materials are "harmful to minors" under Florida Statute 847, which makes it illegal to provide minors with access to "obscene" materials. This is problematic because, under Florida law, a book [...]

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St. Lucie Public Schools in Florida Remove Books Before Review | UPDATED

By |2023-02-02T15:42:40-05:00January 18th, 2023|News|

Updated 2/2/23 – NCAC has received a response from the Superintendent of St Lucie Public Schools. He has agreed to follow the district's appeal process and to reconsider the four books that were improperly removed. On 1/18/23 - The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) wrote to St. Lucie Public Schools in St. Lucie, Florida regarding their response to book [...]

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South Carolina Middle School Removes Book on Anti-Racism from Library

By |2022-10-25T13:11:33-04:00October 25th, 2022|News|

The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has written to Batesburg-Leesville Middle School in South Carolina regarding the removal of Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism, and You from the school library. As we understand it, the school removed the book from the library in order to be compliant with South Carolina State Proviso 1.93, which prohibits certain school spending on ideas often [...]

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Spotsylvania, Virginia, School District Removes Books Without Review

By |2022-09-27T13:37:27-04:00September 27th, 2022|News|

The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has written to Spotsylvania County Public Schools in Virginia, regarding the removal of district library books without following their established review policy. As we understand the situation, in response to a local parent challenging 13 district library books, four were removed by district personnel without following Board Policy IIA*-R. This policy explicitly states [...]

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Texas School District to Remove Books on Race and Gender

By |2022-09-15T12:54:54-04:00September 15th, 2022|News|

The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has written to Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District in Grapevine, Texas, regarding recent policy changes which seem to allow library books to be removed based on the ideas they contain. As we understand the changes to Board Policy EMB (Local), the policy has been amended to restrict the use of instructional materials that advocate [...]

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NCAC calls on Norman Oklahoma School District to Clarify HB 1775 Only Applies to Curriculum

By |2022-09-12T15:03:41-04:00September 12th, 2022|News|

A high school English teacher at Norman School District in Norman, Oklahoma, was recently admonished for sharing a QR Code with students that led to book recommendations from the Brooklyn Public Library. A parent filed a complaint and claimed that recommended materials supported critical race theory, which is against the law in Oklahoma under HB 1775. HB 1775 has put [...]

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Madison, Mississippi, School District Restricts Books on Race and LGBTQ+ Themes

By |2022-08-26T15:08:18-04:00August 26th, 2022|News|

The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has written to the Madison County School Board in Ridgeland, Mississippi, regarding recent restrictions on 10 books, requiring students to obtain parental permission in order to read them. The 10 books in question address race-related or LQBTQ+ themes, and we are concerned that the district may have unconstitutionally targeted these books for the [...]

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Naples, Florida, School District Adds Hundreds of “Advisory Notices” to Library Books

By |2022-08-24T17:54:50-04:00August 24th, 2022|News|

The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the School Board of the Collier County Public Schools in Naples, Florida, after District libraries recently added an “Advisory Notice” to hundreds of library books—raising censorship concerns. Placing advisory notices, or “red-flagging” books often misleadingly reduces complex literary works to a few isolated elements—those that some individuals may find objectionable—rather than [...]

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Pennsylvania School District Passes Strict Book Banning Policy

By |2022-07-28T11:49:18-04:00July 27th, 2022|News|

The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the School Board of Central Bucks School District in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, after recent proposed changes to the District’s Library Materials Policy raised serious censorship concerns. The Board voted to adopt the policy on July 26, 2022. The policy leaves the authority to remove materials in the hands of a single person. NCAC [...]

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Fairview, Pennsylvania, Superintendent Removes Gender Queer from Library

By |2022-07-20T14:54:31-04:00July 20th, 2022|News|

The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the Fairview School District School Board in Fairview, Pennsylvania, regarding a recent decision to remove Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer from the Fairview High School library.  It appears that the decision was made unilaterally by Superintendent Erik Kincade, circumventing district policy, which explicitly states that book challenges must be adjudicated by a committee [...]

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Texas Students Distribute BIPOC and LGBTQ+ Books During ‘FReadom Week’ Initiative | Student Perspective

By |2022-03-23T17:39:47-04:00March 23rd, 2022|Blog, News|

When Jerry Craft's New Kid was banned from school libraries in Katy, Texas earlier this year for "pervasively vulgar" content, I defended his book and advocated against this inexplicable censorship. After that, school board meetings in Texas only intensified. After months of persistent demands for intellectual freedom being outnumbered by conservatives and drowned out by more book bans, we finally [...]

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The Free Expression Educators Handbook

By |2020-12-19T16:54:19-05:00November 19th, 2020|Resources|

The Free Expression Educators Handbook contains practical tools and advice for managing book challenges and censorship controversies in schools and school libraries. The handbook, created by NCAC in collaboration with the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), is intended for teachers, librarians, and school administrators.  It offers guidance for educators developing inclusive and viewpoint-neutral instructional material policies, including sample [...]

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Alaska School Board Rescinds Ban of Classic Books

By |2020-06-08T11:47:51-04:00May 19th, 2020|News|

Following widespread protest by local citizens and national groups, including National Coalition Against Censorship, an Alaska school board has voted 6 to 1 to rescind its decision to remove five classic works of fiction from the reading list for 11th grade English classes. Students will once again be able to read:  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya [...]

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Defend LGBTQ Stories: A Resource

By |2020-08-31T18:50:26-04:00February 28th, 2019|Resources|

Despite hard-won progress towards LGBTQ equality, books centering LGBTQ characters and stories remain among the most frequently challenged and banned in schools and libraries. The freedom to read stories about people of diverse sexual and gender identities can validate and empower all youth, especially those who may identify as LGBTQ. When LGBTQ youth do not see themselves represented in [...]

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Virginia School District Caves To Parent Pressure, Scraps Summer Reading List; UPDATE: Republican Senator Blasts Librarians For Selecting ‘Trash’, Petition Pushes Back

By |2020-01-03T15:31:26-05:00June 22nd, 2016|Blog, NCAC at work, Updates|

The Chesterfield County Public School summer reading list contained books that were "pornographic" and contained "vile, vile, nasty language," one mother complained.

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Read ‘Em and Weep: Quotes from a Real, Live Book Censorship Debate over Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye”

By |2020-01-03T14:07:26-05:00July 17th, 2013|Blog|

The following may inspire tears of pride and/or rage, depending on your disposition. They are Change.org quotes from two petitions: one on each side of a debate over the use of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and other texts in Adams County, Colorado. Bailey Cross, a student at Legacy High School, is combatting censorship in her district in Colorado [...]

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Marjane Satrapi to CPS: ‘Find your Brain Again. Stop Lying’

By |2016-01-14T12:18:10-05:00April 9th, 2013|Blog|

Khury Petersen-Smith of SocialistWorker.org caught up with Persepolis author Marjane Satrapi to talk about the shady restrictions being placed on the teaching of her book in Chicago. Again, Satrapi showed her insight and savvy and aptly expressed the utter confusion and dismay we are all feeling: What is so horrible in my book that you need guidance? Am I inviting people to [...]

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Judge Upholds Arizona Law Banning Ethnic Studies

By |2020-01-03T13:50:19-05:00March 12th, 2013|Blog|

Arizona state officials rejoiced yesterday as a U.S. Circuit Judge upheld state law HB 2281, which prohibits any class that "advocates ethnic solidarity." The law was written to advance the dissolution of the popular and effective Mexican-American Studies (MAS) Program in Tucson in January 2012. Though Judge A. Wallace Tashima did not believe objections to the law met "the high [...]

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You All Remember Boy Jim, Aunt Polly’s… “Little Helper”?

By |2020-01-03T13:50:12-05:00February 27th, 2013|Blog|

Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported on a mother's attempt to have Toni Morrison's Beloved banned from AP English classes in Fairfax County. When we heard about the challenge, we immediately contacted board members to take the temperature of the situation. In Fairfax County -- a huge public school system with beefed up district operations serving 180,000 studentss -- there's a [...]

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Just Like the Original, Teen-Lit Version of Homer’s “Iliad” Contains Sex, Gossip and Violence

By |2019-03-15T18:10:41-04:00February 25th, 2013|Blog|

...and this was a problem for the mother of a student in Pennsylvania, who recently lodged a challenge against Adele Geras' Troy (Scholastic). The book was housed in the Northwestern Lehigh Middle School library and will stay there: the school board voted 5-4 to keep the book, in spite of the challenge. Two things caught my attention about this story. First of [...]

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On the 6th Day of Censorship the Censors Gave to Me… Nude Adults Laying

By |2019-03-07T23:32:29-05:00December 10th, 2012|Blog|

The Twelve Days of Censorship Years of Censorship Battles 120 Days of Sodom Egyptian Breasts Milking Nude Ladies Dancing Lords Banned for Witchcraft Bush Monkeys Swimming Nude Adults laying A golden chastity key Aristophanes‘ The Birds Catholic French outrage, a Clear Channel Dove and no art in Newark library   A school administration in South Dakota pulled an entire set of encyclopedias off library shelves after discovering [...]

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“Uncle Bobby’s Wedding” Will Stay in Missouri Library

By |2020-01-03T13:49:40-05:00October 25th, 2012|Blog|

Today the Brentwood Public Library board handed down its unanimous decision to keep Uncle Bobby's Wedding, a picture book by Sarah S. Brannen that had recently drawn objections from a patron. Library Director Vicky Wood initially offered a written response to the complaint, affirming the library's duty to provide access to a variety of materials: "Today, even in Brentwood, there [...]

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Censorship is More Terrifying than Stephen King Books

By |2019-03-14T17:45:43-04:00October 24th, 2012|Blog|

The American Library Association teamed up with us this week on a letter to the Rocklin Unified School District, where they are currently considering pulling Different Seasons by Stephen King out of school libraries. After her ninth grade son brought the book home from the library, a parent complained about sexual content in the book, specifically in the story "Apt Pupil." [...]

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Missourian Publishes “Unfit to Read” Banned Book Project

By |2019-03-14T17:46:47-04:00August 29th, 2012|Blog|

A belated update, but one worth taking a second look at if you've seen it already. Missouri School of Journalism Associate Professor Charles Davis organized a group of students in working on an awesome project about book challenges in schools from across the state. Using Freedom of Information Act Requests, the participants gathered data on censorship issues in Missouri and [...]

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News Round-up: Book Challenges, Huck Finn Racism and Whoopi

By |2020-01-03T13:47:59-05:00July 17th, 2012|Blog|

The news is blossoming today with book challenge-related stories, and we thought we'd take a moment to share. 1.) A teacher's aide in Dubuque, Iowa was fired (though she apparently about to quit anyway) after disrupting classes by insisting that Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a racist book that shouldn't be taught in schools. Afterward, a judge [...]

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Non-Traditional Families Book Banning Bonanza

By |2020-01-03T13:47:51-05:00June 18th, 2012|Blog|

(applause for alliteration, please) This month we've been working on restoring two children's picture books teaching tolerance for different types of families. Though they are quite different in content, tone, reading level and appropriateness, their challenges parallel one another immensely. Book one is The Family Book by Todd Parr, a peppy, colorful and simple picture book teaching that families might be [...]

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Talking “Dark” YA Lit with Terry Trueman

By |2020-01-03T13:47:40-05:00May 30th, 2012|Blog|

Discussing the "dark" qualities of YA books and their strong language is much in vogue of late. Yes, books can"scar" you--in that they effect you, they leave their mark, they cause an emotional reaction that sticks with you after you've read them. There seems to be an impulse to keep teens "unscarred" in the well-meaning, but perhaps naive hope that [...]

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Goodbye Jean Craighead George, “Julie of the Wolves” author

By |2020-01-03T13:47:34-05:00May 17th, 2012|Blog|

It's been a rough week for the world of arts and letters--Maurice Sendak, Carlos Fuentes, now Donna Summer. And the great and prolific author Jean Craighead George, who died yesterday at the age of 92. I doubt Craighead George's name is as immediately recognizable to the general public, but as one of the many people who grew up on her [...]

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Farewell to Sendak, but not to Censorship

By |2020-01-03T13:47:28-05:00May 8th, 2012|Blog|

We were saddened to hear today about the passing of beloved children’s book author Maurice Sendak at the age of 83. His books, the most well-known being Where the Wild Things Are, captivated the imaginations of readers both young and old with their sometimes dark, fantastical stories.  Because of the nature of his tales, many critics and censors marked his [...]

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