Thirteen popular books have been banned from all public schools in Utah in the first wave of bans expected under a new law that prohibits books when at least three of the state’s 41 school district boards claim they contain pornographic or indecent material.
Allowing just a few districts to make decisions for the whole state makes the law one of the most lenient for book banning in the United States, according to PEN America, an organization that advocates for free speech and tracks book banning around the U.S.
The state education board released its first list of banned books this month, which includes a popular young adult novel series by author Sarah J. Maas called “A Court of Thorns and Roses” and books by Judy Blume and Margaret Atwood. The state’s two largest school districts, which are located in conservative parts of the state, led the charge to ban the books. The Davis School District voted to ban all 13 books on the list, while Alpine School District banned seven of them, including Maas’ series.
The books are still available at public libraries.
Utah’s actions come amid a renewed push in recent years to ban more books by conservatives around the country despite concerns from free speech advocates and some educators and parents.
“The state’s no-read list will impose a dystopian censorship regime across public schools and, in many cases, will directly contravene local preferences,” said Kasey Meehan, Freedom to Read program director at PEN America.
“Allowing just a handful of districts to make decisions for the whole state is antidemocratic, and we are concerned that implementation of the law will result in less diverse library shelves for all Utahns,” Meehan said.
At least three other states — Tennessee, Idaho and South Carolina — are moving toward putting the state government in the book-banning business, rather than leaving the issue to local communities, PEN America said.
Under Tennessee’s law, a complaint by one person to a school board could be escalated to a textbook commission that could ban the book in school libraries statewide if the commission finds the book unsuitable for the age and maturity level of students.
Idaho’s law requires school and public libraries to move material deemed “harmful to minors” to an adults-only section or face lawsuits. The new law uses Idaho’s current definition of “obscene materials,” which includes any act of homosexuality.
Utah’s law went into effect on July 1 and required school districts to report to the Utah Board of Education which books they have banned from their school libraries that would fit under the criteria set in the new law. It’s likely more books will follow, Meehan said.
Two books by Ellen Hopkins are also on Utah’s list, with all but one of the banned books written by female authors.
“A trend that we see playing out nationwide is this suppression of books that depict and discuss sex, that share stories of sexual violence, often against women,” as well as issues facing the LGBTQ+ community and people of color, Meehan said.
Under the law, public school libraries have to get rid of the books, They cannot be sold or distributed, the state said.
“You have to actually throw out books,” Meehan said. “That I think is just an alarming image for where we’re at.”
Only a member of the Utah Board of Education can appeal by asking the full board to hold a hearing within 30 days of a book being placed on the ban list to vote on whether to overturn the ban. So far, no appeals have been lodged, said Sharon Turner, spokesperson for the Utah Board of Education.
Natalie Cline, who sits on the board, is happy with the move, but said the list of banned books falls far short. Cline is an outgoing board member who lost in the Republican primary this year after she questioned the gender of a high school basketball player.
“Removing only those 13 books when there are hundreds more that are just as explicit, that also need to go, is problematic,” said Cline, saying that tests for literary value in books is “absurd” and “subjective.”
Cline added that all sexually explicit content, including in science or medical classes that the new law permits, should be out of K-12 schools, citing the state’s criminal code.
Another board member, Carol Lear, thinks the new law is overbearing in allowing some parents’ concerns to govern the choices of other parents across the state.
“I don’t think it makes me pro-pornography to say the parents should have the right to choose with their children what they want to read,” said Lear, adding that there are other, less restrictive options, including parents being notified what their kids check books out of the library.
Across the country, book challenges and bans have soared to the highest levels in decades. Public and school-based libraries have been inundated with complaints from community members and conservative organizations such as as Moms for Liberty. Increasingly, lawmakers are considering new punishments — crippling lawsuits, hefty fines and even imprisonment — for distributing books some regard as inappropriate.
The trend comes as officials seek to define terms such as “obscene” and “harmful.” Many of the conflicts involve materials featuring racial and/or LGBTQ+ themes, such as Toni Morrison’s novel, “The Bluest Eye,” and Maia Kobabe’s memoir, “Gender Queer.” And while no librarian or educator has been jailed, the threat alone has led to more self-censorship. Already this year, lawmakers in more than 15 states have introduced bills to impose harsh penalties on libraries or librarians.
Some Republicans are seeking penalties and restrictions that would apply nationwide. Referring to “pornography” in the foreword to Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for a possible second Donald Trump administration, the right-wing group’s president, Kevin Roberts, wrote that the “people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders.”
Hanson reported from Helena, Montana, and Bedayn reported from Denver.
Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.