Nearly a dozen investigations into how book bans impact students were dropped by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on Friday.
Amidst a record-breaking surge in bans—many race- and gender-based—the Biden administration had been assessing whether removing books created a hostile environment for students.
Calling reports of the bans a “hoax,” the Trump administration’s Office of Civil Rights has “rescinded all department guidance issued under the theory that a school district’s removal of age-inappropriate books from its libraries may violate civil rights laws.”
Civil rights officials have decided that books are not actually being banned. Rather, school districts, parents and community members are simply opting to remove age-inappropriate materials.
“By dismissing these complaints and eliminating the position and authorities of a so-called ‘book ban coordinator,’ the department is beginning the process of restoring the fundamental rights of parents to direct their children’s education,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor in a statement.
“The department adheres to the deeply rooted American principle that local control over public education best allows parents and teachers alike to assess the educational needs of their children and communities,” Trainor added.
The anti-censorship organization PEN America responded, saying that calling the complaints a “hoax” dismisses the experiences of students, educators, librarians and authors who are encountering censorship in schools.
“We will continue to raise awareness and resistance to ongoing book bans in defense of students’ freedom to read,” Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program, said in a statement. “All students deserve to see themselves and the world around them reflected in the books shelved within their public schools.“
Book bans skyrocketed
Book bans soared by 200% during the 2023-2024 school year, with the challenges coming predominantly from far-right activists targeting stories of race, sexuality and gender identity, PEN America reported last year.
There were 10,046 book bans in public K12 last school year, leading to the removal of 4,231 titles by 877 authors, illustrators and translators, according to PEN America’s final 2023-24 count.
Some 8,000 of the bans occurred in Florida and Iowa. A Florida law that went into effect in July 2023 mandates that any book challenged for “sexual conduct” be removed while officials are reviewing it. Subsequent state guidance on the law has made the restrictions even tighter, PEN America notes.
An Iowa law, enacted over the same summer, requires that all materials are “age-appropriate,” a standard that prohibits any description or depiction of a “sex act.” Thousands of book bans resulted last school year, a sharp increase from the 14 bans occurring over the two years prior.
The American Library Association this week echoed Pen America’s warning about the damage done by book bans.
“Book bans are real,” the Association said in a statement. “Ask students who cannot access literary classics required for college or parents whose children can’t check out a book about gay penguins at their school library. Ask school librarians who have lost their jobs for protecting the freedom to read.
“While a parent has the right to guide their own children’s reading, their beliefs and prejudices should not dictate what another parent chooses for their own children.”
