Utah to Schools: Dispose of These 13 Books

Utah has given schools statewide a list of 13 books deemed "pornographic or indecent" that must be "legally disposed of," including Margaret Atwood's Oryx & Crake and Judy Blume's Forever. They have been banned under a new state law that requires books to be outlawed statewide if they are banned by at least three of the state's 41 public school districts, or two districts and five charter schools, the Guardian reports.

• Schools and librarians have traditionally considered factors including literary and artistic value when deciding if a book should be allowed in schools, the New York Times notes, but the Utah law says school boards should put "protecting children from the harmful effects of illicit pornography over other considerations."
• The full list, which can be seen here, includes six books by fantasy author Sarah Maas. The graphic novel Blankets by Craig Thompson is the only book of the 13 with a male author.

• The law went into effect on July 1. It applied retroactively, and school districts were asked to re-evaluate books they had already banned and submit lists to state authorities, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
• In a post on X, Jonathan Friedman, director of free expression programs at the PEN America free-speech group, said "many states have passed laws to facilitate book bans," but Utah is the first "to outlaw a list of books." "This is literally the government saying that Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood, cannot be shelved in public schools," he said, per the New York Times. The group said the list "will likely be updated as more books begin to meet the law's criteria."
• The law says the banned books "may not be sold or distributed," the Guardian reports. Kasey Meehan, Pen America's Freedom to Read program director, says the guidelines will "undoubtedly result in dumpsters full of books that could otherwise be enjoyed by readers." She says the list "will impose a dystopian censorship regime across public schools," going against "local preferences" in many cases. She adds: "Allowing just a handful of districts to make decisions for the whole state is anti-democratic."

(More book ban stories.)