Emma Hulse is education counsel in the New York Civil Liberties Union’s Education Policy Center.
It’s Banned Books Week, a time to celebrate that, in America, we have the right to read what we want. But across the state — including in the Syracuse area — a legion of far-right activists is dead set on purging school libraries of books they don’t like. Many of the books they have in their sights are about race or racism, feature people of color or include LGBTQ characters. If these activists have their way, they will deny New York students their right to read stories that reflect their lives and give them a window into other worlds.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has a golden opportunity to help prevent this by signing the Freedom to Read Act. This legislation — which the state legislature passed this year — would empower librarians to make sure New York students can choose from a wide range of inspiring books in their school library.
Some New Yorkers might think book bans are confined to red states. But our state is not immune, and neither is Central New York.
In the spring of 2023, the extremist group Moms for Liberty was behind an effort to get five books taken off the shelves at Clyde-Savannah Junior/Senior High School in Wayne County, claiming the materials were “obscene.” The books — “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson, “It Ends with Us” by Colleen Hoover, “People Kill People” by Ellen Hopkins, “Jesus Land” by Julia Scheeres, and “Red Hood” by Elana K. Arnold — appeared on lists on the website Book Looks, which was affiliated with Moms for Liberty. (“All Boys Aren’t Blue” was also the subject of an unsuccessful challenge at Auburn High School in 2022.)
Crucially, the Clyde-Savannah Central School District has a policy in place that establishes a rigorous process when a challenge happens. After reviewing the complaint, the district’s library materials review committee recommended that the materials remain on the shelves. But the book challengers appealed to the school board. The board decided to overturn the recommendation of the review committee and order the books removed.
Determined not to give up, Clyde-Savannah High’s librarian Emilie Bastian appealed the district’s decision to the state Commissioner of Education. Thankfully, before the commissioner weighed in, the board reversed its decision and allowed the books to stay.
Moms for Liberty appealed the reversal all the way to state Supreme Court. My colleagues and I at the NYCLU submitted an amicus brief in support of the board’s decision to keep books on shelves. Moms for Liberty ultimately lost their appeal.
A similar battle played out at Saratoga County’s Galway Junior/Senior High School in 2023. Two parents challenged a pair of books – “The 57 Bus” and “Ink Knows No Borders” – on the grounds that they were “inappropriate.”
Amidst the challenge, Galway English teacher Kelly O’Brien-Yetto said she was grateful the school board had a strong policy for dealing with these types of challenges. In the end, the board voted to keep the books on the shelves.
These are just a small sampling of the hundreds of book ban attempts across the state. The fact that these districts had policies in place for how to handle book challenges is critical. Those policies empowered educators and helped guide the districts to ultimately decide to keep books on the shelves. But dozens of districts across the state do not have such comprehensive policies.
The Freedom to Read Act would change that by requiring the state Commissioner of Education to create statewide regulations that make sure library collections are vibrant and inclusive. The bill would also require school library systems like the one in Syracuse to adopt policies that empower librarians to curate diverse library collections.
Writing strong guidelines into law is particularly important because of the chilling effect that even failed challenges can have. The NYCLU has heard from educators across the state who say that, after unsuccessful challenges, administrators had reservations about selecting curricular and library materials that include diverse characters or focus on themes of racial or gender oppression.
The Freedom to Read Act will make it clear to districts that they have a legal obligation to provide access to a range of materials and that they can’t limit students’ choices because of isolated parent complaints.
Books like “All Boys Aren’t Blue” — which is about growing up Black and LGBTQ+ — aren’t “obscene.” They are important pieces of literature that allow students to feel seen, heard, and valued. As the author, George M. Johnson told NPR, “Students have publicly said on record that works like mine have saved their lives.”
Hochul can protect students’ right to life-saving stories by signing the Freedom to Read Act today.
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