You Can't Read That in Utah

As recently reported by PEN America, Utah's State Board of Education has just released a list of 13 books that must be removed from school libraries statewide. As the PEN America press release explains, Utah's unique law requires all schools to "dispose" of any book that has been banned by at least three districts. Thus, all of Utah's 42 districts, with over 600,000 students, must comply with the literary prejudices of the three most conservative districts, which may have fewer than 300 students. In fact, the three smallest districts in Utah enroll a total of only about 650 students, whose parents are now in a position to dictate reading lists for the entire state. (The three largest districts enroll a total of about 190,000 students.)

Of the 13 banned books, 12 were written by women, including Sarah Maas, Judy Blume, Margaret Atwood, and Rupi Kaur. 

Making things worse, the banned books cannot be set aside and saved for a more enlightened time, or even donated to public libraries. The statute evidently requires the "disposal" of the books, stipulating that they “may not be sold or distributed.”

Nor will it end with just these 13 books. The list will continue to be updated as more and more books are banned by right-wing school boards in conservative locales.

Here is PEN America's statement: 

“It is a dark day for the freedom to read in Utah,” said Kasey Meehan, Freedom to Read program director at PEN America. “The state’s No-Read List will impose a dystopian censorship regime across public schools and, in many cases, will directly contravene local preferences. 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.”

Here is the list of banned books:

• “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas 
• “A Court of Frost and Starlight” by Sarah J. Maas 
• “A Court of Mist and Fury” by Sarah J. Maas
• “A Court of Silver Flames” by Sarah J. Maas
• “A Court of Wings and Ruin” by Sarah J. Maas
• “Empire of Storms” by Sarah J. Maas
• “What Girls are Made of” by Elana K. Arnold 
• “Milk and Honey” by Rupi Kaur
• “Forever” by Judy Blume
• “Tilt” by Ellen Hopkins
• “Fallout (Crank, Book 3)” by Ellen Hopkins
• “Oryx and Crake” by Margaret Atwood
• “Blankets” by Craig Thompson

One more thing. PEN America has done enormous good by bringing the Utah law to public attention. This service to democracy, and others like it, would be lost if the left-wing protesters were to succeed in destroying PEN America because of its perceived failure to sufficiently condemn Israel. As I explained earlier this year at The Hill, the writers demonizing PEN America are "burning down their own house."