NCAC Opposes Attempts to Ban Drag Queen Story Hour in Houston
NCAC supports the Houston Public Library’s commitment to open and diverse programming.
City of Thieves Removed from Florida High School
Fort Myers High School in Florida has removed City of Thieves, a 2008 novel by David Benioff, one of the creators of HBO’s Game of Thrones, from the 10th grade curriculum.
Wisconsin High School Cancels Production of To Kill A Mockingbird
Shorewood High School canceled the production hours before it was scheduled to debut, to the dismay of both supporters and planned protesters.
Local Pastors Attempt to Ban Books from Banned Books Display at Maine Public Library
A group of pastors in Rumford, Maine are attempting to have LGBTQ books banned from the Rumford Public Library's display of banned books.
Fraternal Order of Police Challenges Summer Reading List in South Carolina High School
Both The Hate U Give and All American Boys have been highly praised for their complex handling of stories centering on the intersections of racism and police violence, but local police are challenging the books' inclusion on Waldo High School's summer reading list.
Florida School District Textbook Policies
A key step to defending the right to read freely in your school is understanding the policies that govern the selection and review of instructional materials. What To Look For A Clear Selection Procedure: A good policy should outline a clear process and criteria for textbook selection. Criteria can include subject matter relevance, accuracy, and recommended grade level. These same [...]
Read with Pride: 10 Great LGBTQ YA Books for Summer
Kick off summer with NCAC's recommendations for books that amplify LGBTQ stories and voices, and that are frequently banned in schools!
Fun Home Under Fire in New Jersey
Fun Home is under attack again, this time in a New Jersey High School.
San Diego Parents Stage ‘Opt-Out’ Protests Against Sex Ed
A group called the Concerned Parents of San Diego held their children from school to protest the district's Sexual Health Education Program, SHEP. Among the material the group finds objectionable is the award-winning It's Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris.
Prosper High School Journalists Stand Up to Censorship | UPDATED
Student journalists at Prosper High School wrote to their Superintendent to protest the dismissal of their journalism instructor and the repeated censorship of editorial pieces in the student publication, Eagle Nation Online.
ALA Reveals Top 10 Silenced Stories of 2017
Often, the most frequently challenged books tell the stories that most need to be heard. The 10 most challenged books of 2017, according to the American Library Association, were no different.
Meet Maggie Budzyna: A Young Filmmaker Determined to Resist Injustice
Maggie Budzyna's debut film, CENSORED, tackles the slippery slope of banning words from public dialogue. We spoke with the 17-year-old filmmaker about censorship, youth activism and the importance of using her artistic freedom to resist injustice. Watch her film and read the interview.
How I Became a Lit Activist: A 5-Step Guide
When her school district banned her favorite book, The Hate U Give, from libraries, 15-year old Ny'Shira Lundy was inspired to take action.
Cody School Board Removes Novel Against Recommendation of Review Committee
After a review committee voted to keep Tanya Lee Stone's novel in Cody Public School libraries, the school board elected to remove it.
NCAC Opposes Removal of To Kill A Mockingbird and Huckleberry Finn from Minnesota Classrooms
While it is understandable that a novel that repeatedly uses a highly offensive racial slur would generate discomfort among some parents and students, the problems of living in a society where racial tensions persist will not be resolved by banishing literary classics from the classroom.
Support Community Advocacy to Reverse Ban on The Hate U Give
With a Texas school board set to meet on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to determine the fate of an acclaimed young adult novel in district libraries, a local teenager has emerged as a vital voice for freedom of inquiry and expression.
NCAC Calls for Swift Action to Defend Teacher’s First Amendment Rights
Deyshia Hargrave was inappropriately removed from a school board meeting in Louisiana. The First Amendment guarantees all Americans a right to speak, inquire and petition the government.
The State of the First Amendment: 2017’s Top Free Speech Offenders and Defenders
During a year of marked ideological divisions, the right to free expression has been challenged by everyone from the alt-right to the far left. Our core values have been attacked by activists across the political spectrum. In this tumultuous year, we commend the allies who refuse to be silenced and continue to defend the right to free speech and its value to our society.
Free Speech and Educational Advocacy Organizations Call on Baltimore City School Administrators to Restore BUCK in Classrooms
An Open Letter to the Baltimore City Public School District: The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and its partners in the Kids’ Right to Read Project urge administrators to return BUCK: A Memoir by Professor M.K. Asante to the high school curriculum so that students can see their lives reflected in the books they read. Its removal was arbitrary and damaging to students.
NCAC Urges Texas School District to Reverse Ban on The Hate U Give
Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give has been removed from school libraries in Katy Independent School District in suburban Houston, Texas. After reviewing the district’s own book review policy, NCAC is formally urging the district’s superintendent to reinstate the book while it is under review.
Cody High School Urged to Keep Acclaimed Book in School Library
Cody District Public Schools will convene a committee in early December to determine whether Tanya Stone’s acclaimed novel, A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl, will remain in the Cody High School library after a single parent complaint led to an appeal for its removal.
Conejo Valley Unified School District Back in Censorship News UPDATE: Board Adopts Controversial Opt-Out Policy
A CA school board is set to vote on a widely criticized policy that would stoke parental fears and anxieties, invite self-censorship and wreak havoc with the curriculum.
NCAC Protests Banning of To Kill A Mockingbird; UPDATE: Victory!
Although some may understandably dislike the book’s use of racial slurs, it is essential to any realistic and pedagogically sound understanding of our nation’s history.
NCAC Criticizes Illinois School’s Decision to Remove Book Prior to Review UPDATE: Book Restored to Curriculum!
The groups argue the decision to immediately cease teaching the book in response to a single complaint imposes a “heckler’s veto” on the curriculum and deprives all students of their First Amendment right to read a pedagogically valuable, National Book Award-winning novel. UPDATE: Book restored to curriculum!
Victory! NCAC Successfully Defends ‘Part-Time Indian’ in Minnesota
In a letter sent last week to the Annandale Board of Education, NCAC affirmed that the right of students to read pedagogically valuable literature must be prioritized over the subjective concerns of select parents
Censorship Made Me More Defiant – An Interview with David Levithan
David Levithan, an award-winning author and editor of dozens of books, will be honored along with former NCAC Executive Director Joan Bertin, at the NCAC Celebration of Free Speech and Its Defenders on Nov. 6 in New York.
NCAC’s Book Censorship Action Kit
If you are embroiled in a censorship controversy, this is the resource for you. NCAC's action kit offers practical advise for understanding, addressing and fighting censorship incidents.
NCAC Praises CA School for Rejecting Calls to Restrict Classroom Reading
The board met on Monday night to review their literature policy in light of the controversy but voted unanimously to keep it unchanged.
Chicagoans Unite to Defend LGBT-themed Book Against Religious Group’s Campaign
NCAC is praising the grassroots efforts of Chicagoans who have set an example for the rest of the country.
What You Need to Know About the Arizona Mexican-American Studies Trial; UPDATE: Judge Rules Ban Unconstitutional
The trial will decide whether the cancellation of the Mexican-American studies curriculum in 2010 in Tucson Arizona was done with discriminatory intent.
San Diego School District Rejects Challenges to Sex Ed. & Anti-Bullying Initiatives
In the face of discord and subjective morality-based arguments, the board stood up for the rights of all of its students to learn in a safe and respectful environment.
NCAC Urges Wisconsin Superintendent to Retain Award-Winning Novel in Curriculum; UPDATE: Victory! Board Finally Votes to Retain Book
The groups emphasize that the mere presence of explicit language and violence in a book provides no justification for its removal.
NCAC’s Executive Director Honored for Free Speech Advocacy by the Freedom to Read Foundation
The award will be presented at the 2017 American Library Association Annual Conference during its Opening General Session on Friday, June 24, in Chicago.
NCAC Criticizes Elementary School’s Ban on Personal Copies of 13 Reasons Why
The groups underline that the First Amendment protects a student’s right to receive and possess literature, as long as the books in question do not cause disruption to the educational process.
Elementary School Bans Students from Possessing 13 Reasons Why on School Grounds
NCAC is in the process of writing to the elementary school underlining that students have a First Amendment right to receive and possess literature, provided the books in question do not cause disruption to school activities.
NCAC Demands Ohio High School Restore Eleanor & Park to English Curriculum
The groups’ letter underlines that the hasty removal of the book, after a single complaint, sets a harmful precedent that could leave an entire curriculum in tatters.
NCAC Joins HarperCollins for #WhyIRead Campaign, Celebrating Company’s 200th Anniversary
As an organization committed to defending authors’ free expression and the right to read, NCAC was selected by HarperCollins employees to receive a donation as part of its #WhyIRead campaign, which pledges to donate $200,000 to charities supporting causes that are important to HarperCollins.
NCAC + Lambda Legal Request Tennessee School Apologize for Removing pro-LGBT Student Artwork
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and Lambda Legal are calling on a Tennessee high school to apologize for removing a displayed student artwork featuring the word “GAYDOM” and a rainbow motif. The groups demand the drawing be immediately restored, arguing that the school’s justification for the removal-- that some students were offended by the artwork-- violates the student artist’s First Amendment rights.
NCAC Demands Idaho Middle School Retain Popular Manga Novel in Library; UPDATE: Committee Votes to Keep Book
The notion that the mere presence of inappropriate language and allegedly suggestive images is justification for a book’s removal sets a harmful precedent that, for example, a classic work of literature that contains adult language, or an art history textbook that includes a nude, should also be kept away from teens.
NCAC Protests AZ School District’s Unjustifiable Removal of ‘The Kite Runner’ from English Curriculum
The letter argues that choosing to remove a book citing "community standards" sets a dangerous precedent for future book challenges.