Booksology In just over a month since adding two titles to the list of books banned at all public schools across the state this week, Utah’s “Sensitive Materials” Act added another book to its rank. Trick Ellen Hopkins was added to the list this week, and school officials now have to work to remove the title from their institutions. The second book is banned in the state by Hopkins. Trick It was released in 2009.
Utah passed one of the toughest bills related to public school books last year. House Bill 29 (HB 29) allows parents to challenge books they deemed “sensitive material,” and also prohibits books from all public schools in the state if they are deemed “objectively sensitive material” or “porn” in at least three public school districts, two public school districts and five public school districts. The bill came into effect on July 1, 2024 and began with 13 titles.
This bill is retroactive. This means that the list included titles that met state guidelines prior to the bill’s opening date. Every HB 29, the state board of education must be notified whenever a public or charter school removes a book deemed “sensitive material.” If the book meets the removal threshold, all The school is notified and expected to be disciplined.
Currently, 17 books are prohibited in Utah public schools. Of these, 15 are written by women, and their average publication date is 2011. This means that most of these books are on the shelf and have been available for many years and did not cause any problems until this manufactured crisis. The list is as follows:
- Tilt Ellen Hopkins (2012)
- Maiden Elana K. Arnold (2018)
- Tricks by Ellen Hopkins (2009)
What is important to understand the law is that despite this claim regarding “local control,” state schools are forced to follow decisions made in other districts. Utah has 42 public school districts. two The district accounts for nearly 80% of the statewide banned books: the Davis School District and the Washington School District.
Davis and Washington are two of three schools that led to the ban on Trick.
In January, the Utah State Board of Education revealed more of the laws that apply to students. It is not permitted to bring any personal or public library copies of any state’s prohibited books to school campuses. The freedom of students to even carry these books to their classes to read them freely is against the law. The state will publish guidance on how local educational institutions can approach students who bring any of the 17 books above to schools.
As the school year continues, we will continue to see more books added to this list in Utah. Of course, these are not the only books banned in states where book bans occur, despite the federal Department of Education’s claims. Individual school districts are permitted to ban books that they deem inappropriate. Of course, it helps you add titles to your state list, as only the three districts needed to delete a book should be deleted anywhere before you delete it.
Utah is not the only state with such a book list. South Carolina also maintains a list of licensed books that must be removed in all public school districts. At the time of writing, 11 books are banned in South Carolina public schools, and another 10 are being considered for consideration of the state-run ban on March 13th.
These laws do not apply to private or homeschool institutions. That’s intentional.
If the Ministry of Education is eliminated under the new administration, hopefully more education sectors will implement similar ban book lists under the guise of “local control.”
