The story of Utah banning books continues to make international news. Beyond the 13 books on the statewide “no read” list, there have been over 140 additional titles publicly reported to have been banned in schools across the state. This is certainly an undercount, as there is no requirement for schools to report book removals to parents and taxpayers.
While some claim that we must ban books to protect children, the fact is that many of the books banned in Utah deal with challenging topics, including sexual assault, and these books — available to teens, not little kids — help them protect themselves, their friends and their siblings from abuse. Many authors have shared that their own experience with abuse led them to write their books. They are writing the books that they wished they had access to when they were being abused and didn’t know how to get help — or even know it wasn’t their fault.
According to the Utah Women and Leadership Project, child sexual abuse is a significant problem in Utah. One in five girls reported experiencing sexual violence in the past 12 months. Seventy-nine percent of sexual assault victims in Utah reported being assaulted when they were a minor. The impact of this abuse is significant. The Utah Women and Leadership Project reports that high school dropout rates increase as much as 40% for survivors of childhood sexual abuse, and they are four times more likely to develop symptoms of drug abuse.
And yet, some Utah legislators continue to falsely label books obscene and pornographic based on a few lines that, taken out of context, may be uncomfortable to read aloud in public meetings. This falls short of the standard both state and federal laws require when determining which books are harmful to minors — to consider whether the material, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, and whether it lacks significant literary, artistic, political or scientific value.
We challenge any proponent of book banning to explain how a description of sexual assault is enticing. Precisely the opposite: It is repellant. And many of the books banned in Utah are bestsellers and recipients of prestigious literary awards. These are not works that lack value.
And what happens when committees of parents and teachers read and assess books as a whole? More often than not, they decide against removal. Only by reading a book can one determine its value. And yet current Utah law doesn’t allow books to be read before being removed. It must also be noted that Utah’s “Sensitive Materials” law forces school districts to remove books simply because other districts have chosen to remove them. This is a clear violation of the principle of local control and allows a small minority to harness the power of the state and threat of criminal prosecution to impose their views on others who hold a different view.
This extreme overreach of the state legislature not only disenfranchises locally elected boards, voters and taxpayers, it sweeps potentially life-saving books off of library shelves.
[Was there a book you read as a child that challenged your beliefs or changed your perspective? Tell us about it.]
Some have incorrectly suggested that a law was necessary because of a lack of curation and parental input in school libraries. However, in 2022 the President of the Alpine School Board testified that they had a process that worked well. He noted that librarians were trained professionals and that there were policies to allow individual parents to restrict access for their children.
Likewise, a deputy superintendent from the Utah State School Board (USBE) testified that out of a collection of 200,000 titles in one district, only 10 challenged titles (.005% of the collection) were removed. The curation “success rate” was therefore 99.995%. Notably, the cost to taxpayers of removing those 10 books was $20,000 and 500 hours of staff time.
There is a legitimate policy discussion to be had about what books should be available to students, but these policies have always been determined by locally elected school boards in conversation with parents. Like most Americans, we believe that it is ultimately parents — not politicians — who are best positioned to set boundaries with their children regarding reading (as they do with any activity) and to discuss those boundaries within the context of their family’s beliefs and value system.
(Peter Bromberg) Peter Bromberg is a board member of Let Utah Read and the associate director of EveryLibrary, a national nonprofit that builds voter support for libraries. A librarian of 32 years, Peter is the former Director of the Salt Lake City Public Library and serves as co-chair of the Utah Library Association's Advocacy Committee.
Peter Bromberg is a board member of Let Utah Read and the associate director of EveryLibrary, a national nonprofit that builds voter support for libraries. A librarian of 32 years, Peter is the former Director of the Salt Lake City Public Library and serves as co-chair of the Utah Library Association’s Advocacy Committee.
(Christina Allen) Christina Allen is a board member of Let Utah Read, a Utah author and president-elect of the League of Utah Writers. Christina writes fantasy novels for tweens including her middle grade novels Relatively Normal Secrets and The Secret Benefits of Invisibility. She also writes picture books for children and short stories and poems for former children.
Christina Allen is a board member of Let Utah Read, a Utah author and president-elect of the League of Utah Writers. Christina writes fantasy novels for tweens including her middle grade novels Relatively Normal Secrets and The Secret Benefits of Invisibility. She also writes picture books for children and short stories and poems for former children.
(Paisley Rekdal) Paisley Rekdal is a board member of Let Utah Read and is the former Utah Poet Laureate. She is a highly regarded and award-winning author of four books of nonfiction and seven collections of poetry and serves as a Distinguished Professor at the University of Utah, where she directs the American West Center. She currently serves as poetry editor for High Country News and as co-chair of PEN America's Utah Chapter.
Paisley Rekdal is a board member of Let Utah Read and is the former Utah Poet Laureate. She is a highly regarded and award-winning author of four books of nonfiction and seven collections of poetry and serves as a Distinguished Professor at the University of Utah, where she directs the American West Center. She currently serves as poetry editor for High Country News and as co-chair of PEN America’s Utah Chapter.
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