The law’s language is so vague, school librarians say some districts have banned nearly 30 books while others have banned none.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Preliminary results of a survey by the Tennessee Association of School Librarians (TASL) found more than 1,100 books have been taken off school library shelves since a series of state laws that rewrote the rules on what students can read has taken effect.
The book ban debate skyrocketed in Tennessee in 2022 when the General Assembly passed Gov. Bill Lee’s proposal that required school districts to publish a catalog of their library materials on the school’s website and another that required districts to establish procedures for developing and reviewing school library collections.
This past legislative session, the General Assembly passed a revision to the “Age Appropriate Materials Act of 2022” to prohibit books and materials with references to sexual content and excess violence in public school libraries.
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Xan Lasko, a retired school librarian and the chair of the TASL’s Intellectual Freedom Committee told News 2 the law is too vague, forcing individual school boards, and sometimes librarians, to interpret the language themselves.
“We’re in a position of trying to figure out what the law means,” Lasko said. “It becomes an issue of equity because it’s not being done consistently.”
While some districts have yet to ban a single book, others, like Rutherford County Schools, have banned nearly 30 books this year alone. Just one-sixth of TASL members responded to the survey, so the number of banned books across the state is likely much higher than 1,100.
Lasko worries about the potential, unintended consequences when it comes to curriculum.
“In my county where I just retired from, they just banned Beloved, which is a Pulitzer Prize-winning book and frequently quoted on AP exams, so then we look at how does that ramification go out into our schools for our teachers who are teaching those courses?” Lasko said.
Lasko and the TASL are also concerned if the large-scale bans continue, some school libraries could fail to meet state minimum requirements for collection counts and will need additional funding.
The group wants legislators to more clearly define what is prohibited in the law and more closely align the legislation’s language with federal best practice, which says librarians should consider the book as a whole when determining what’s appropriate.
“Otherwise you’re looking at an excerpt of a book. That’s like looking at a soundbite of a person. That’s not their whole work,” Lasko said. “We need to take into consideration curriculum. Some of these, it could be a visual interpretation like Michelangelo, it could be the Bible; it could be a wide range of books in libraries.”
The TASL will continue this discussion during their annual conference this week, which also falls on Banned Books Week, a national event that highlights the value of free and open access to information.