In Brevard County, Florida, an artist and member of the Central Brevard Art Association (CBAA), John Cielukowski, participated in the Association's "Art in Public Spaces" initiative, which hangs art in publicly-owned buildings. For the Catherine Schweinsberg Rood Central Library, the artist submitted his painting A Mother's Love, which depicts a mother cow with an ear tag, separated from her [...]
(St. Petersburg, Florida) — A group of free expression and anti-censorship groups sent a letter to schools across Florida today, alerting them to legal filings by the state’s Attorney General that the “Don’t Say Gay” law doesn’t apply to school libraries. Although many Florida schools shuttered or restricted their libraries as the school year began, three separate legal filings by Attorney [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) sent a letter to the Montgomery County Commissioners Court in Conroe, Texas, expressing concern over the recent decision to label certain children's books as containing "explicit or questionable materials" and potentially relocate them to the library's adult section. Labeling and segregating books is ill-advised and conflicts with the stated goals of the Montgomery [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship recently wrote a letter to the School Board of Hernando County School District in Brooksville, Florida, regarding their choice to remove Louis Sachar's "Marvin Redpost: Is He a Girl?" from elementary school libraries. This decision was made despite a review committee's recommendation to keep the book. The board's action appears to be based on [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has contacted the school board in Mansfield, Texas, regarding a proposed library materials policy. NCAC shared our concern that the policy provision banning the discussion of "gender fluidity" violates the principles set forth by the Supreme Court in Board of Education v. Pico. Furthermore, NCAC is also concerned with the policy's blanket ban on [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Updated 11/28/2022— NCAC has written an additional letter to the Conroe ISD Board of Trustees. Originally published 8/22/2022— The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the Conroe Independent School District in Conroe, Texas, regarding recently adopted policies which require parental permission to check out allegedly obscene books from libraries while they are under review. Under the new policies, [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship has delivered a letter to the Auburn Enlarged City School District Board in Auburn, New York, in response to proposed amendments to its Instructional Materials and Controversial Issues policy that will allow parents to limit access to school library materials. Policy amendments are in response to complaints made early this year about All Boys Aren't [...]
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 [...]
Updated 11/28/23 - The graphic novel Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe was returned to school libraries, although students must request access from the nurse. 7/19/22 - 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. [...]
NCAC has written to the Nampa School District in Idaho after the School Board voted to permanently remove 22 books from the District’s libraries.
Kyle Lukoff’s Call Me Max and Jazz Jennings’s I Am Jazz, which both feature transgender main characters, were removed from school libraries in Palm Beach County, Florida, without review. NCAC has written to the district urging them to immediately return the books to library shelves. The removal was purportedly in compliance with Florida House Bill 1557 which was recently signed [...]
NCAC is deeply concerned about a series of new Florida laws that threaten the ability of students to access information and are likely to cause a dramatic increase in censorship in Florida’s public schools.
Thirty books have been removed from Prosper Independent School District libraries in Prosper, Texas, without following the district’s book challenge procedures.
George M. Johnson’s All Boys Aren’t Blue was removed from from libraries in Wicomico County Public Schools in Maryland, without review.
Schools in Yorktown Heights, New York, removed several books from library shelves after a challenge was filed but not yet reviewed.
Arkansas school district removes "Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out" from school libraries against the recommendation of its own review committee.
Forsyth County Schools in Cumming, Georgia, removed numerous books from school libraries in violation of district regulations.
Schools in Granbury, Texas, removed 130 books from library shelves before reviewing a single one.
Polk County Public Schools in Florida removed sixteen library books before completing an official review.
School officials in Wayzata, Minnesota, recently removed Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison from the Wayzata High School library in violation of District regulations.
One of Texas's largest school districts removed hundreds of books for review, in violation of district policy, in response to a legislator's investigation of books in schools.
An organized political attack on books in schools threatens the education of America’s children. NCAC and over 600 co-signers are deeply concerned about this sudden rise in censorship and its impact on education, the rights of students, and freedom of expression.
The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the Board of Education of Pinellas County Schools in Largo, FL, to protest the recent removal of Gender Queer from school libraries shelves. This is the latest in a series of book removals across the country that ignore policy and best practice in removing books before a formal review takes place.
Fairfax County, Virginia, school district removed two books, Lawn Boy and Gender Queer, from school libraries after a parent complaint.
North Kansas City Schools improperly censored two books--Fun Home and All Boys Aren't Blue--from district libraries in violation of their book review policy.
Superintendent in Harrisonburg, Virginia, unilaterally removed Gender Queer from school libraries in violation of district policy and free expression principles.
Brevard County Public Schools in central Florida recently removed Maia Kobabe's graphic novel/memoir Gender Queer from school library shelves without regard to its own book challenge procedures.
A school district in Orlando, Florida, violated its book challenge procedures in removing Gender Queer from libraries without formal review.
NCAC has objected to an unconstitutional order from Spotsylvania County Public Schools in Fredericksburg, Virginia, that “sexually explicit” books be removed from district libraries.
In violation of district policy, Wissahickon School District in Pennsylvania censored Gender Queer from library shelves.
Canyons School District in Utah has censored several award-winning books from school libraries in violation of its own district policies.
A New Jersey school district did not include any librarians in its review of several challenged award-winning LGBTQ-themed library books.
Virginia Beach City Public Schools removed several books, including such award-winning books as A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines, The Bluest Eye by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, and Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison, from school libraries.
Hudson, Ohio, school officials improperly removed Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison from school library shelves before a review of the book was complete.
Katy Independent School District in Texas removed two books by Jerry Craft from school libraries because of a parent complaint about "promoting Critical Race Theory", possibly violating the First Amendment
NCAC urges Missouri's Cass County Public Library to resist calls to censor It's Perfectly Normal, a book about puberty.
