This week in book-banning news, the lawsuits continue: the American Civil Liberties Union is suing the Department of Defense’s education agency on behalf of twelve students who argue that their First Amendment rights are being violated by censorship in their schools. Plus, the first public library to become a book sanctuary in Pennsylvania, the dismissal of a Michigan pro-book-banning lawsuit, and the spillover of book ban rhetoric into the UK.
While Kelly Jensen is off this week, the rest of the editorial team is filling in to cover censorship news! The first story you’ll read below is by Danika Ellis, the next two are by Erica Ezeifedi, and the last is by Rebecca Schinsky.
The ACLU and Pentagon School Students Sue Over Book Bans
For years, Kelly Jensen has been arguing in these Censorship News updates that the best way to push back the tide of censorship is legal challenges, and it looks like we’re finally starting to see that happen. Last week, we reported on the ALA suing DOGE for gutting the IMLS. This week, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the Department of Defense’s education agency and defense secretary Pete Hegseth for the removal of books from schools run by the Defense Department. 67,000 children of military families attend these schools on bases around the world.
The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of twelve students who argue that their First Amendment rights are being violated. They also argue that it is endangering children by preventing their education in health or learning about abuse. In addition, this censorship means that Advanced Placement students are not being taught material about sex and gender that may appear on their AP Psychology exam.
These schools have been on the front lines of anti-DEI policies. In addition to removing books about gender, sexuality, or race, the schools also cancelled Black History Month and Women’s History Month. Among the hundreds of books removed are classic works like To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, as well as history books like A Queer History of the United States by Michael Bronski and picture books like Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love. Mein Kampf has remained on the shelves.
Literary Activism
News you can use plus tips and tools for the fight against censorship and other bookish activism!
The lead counsel, the ACLU’s senior staff attorney Emerson Sykes, said,
“The quality of children’s education, their exposure to ideas and the preparing of citizens in the next generation are all being harmed by this censorship…This is not how public schools are supposed to work—students have a right to learn and to access information that should be above the political fray.”
This isn’t the only kind of censorship these students are facing. Their yearbooks have also been restricted from any mention of the existence of trans people. A letter from management instructs that “student yearbooks are not to include any visual depictions, written content, or editorial choices that would directly or indirectly support the instruction, advancement, and/or promotion of ‘gender ideology’ and/or ‘social transition’.”
Read more about this story at the New York Times and the Guardian.
Don’t miss an excerpt highlighting the best new poetry collections of 2025 (so far) after this book censorship news.
The Mt. Lebanon library has become the first public library in Pennsylvania to declare itself a book sanctuary. Book sanctuaries, for the uninitiated, are places that “pledge to collect and protect endangered books that meet the standards of the library’s collection policy.”
The library’s director, Robyn Vittek, said that making the library a book sanctuary was a way to say that “libraries are for everyone.” The library’s Board of Trustees voted to pass the resolution declaring their library a book sanctuary in mid-February, joining public libraries in Chicago, Dayton, Ohio, Hoboken, NJ, and Arlington, VA, in their fight against book banning.
Vittek said that the Mt. Lebanon community’s response to becoming a book sanctuary has been “100% positive.”
In more book-banning litigious news, the Michigan Court of Appeals has dismissed a lawsuit that had tried to ban books from a library in the West Michigan School district. The group that brought forth the suit—the “Parents and Taxpayers Against Pornography in Rockford Public Schools”—did so with the claim that 14 books on the library’s shelves were “sexually explicit,” but the court ruled that the group couldn’t prove that they were negatively affected by the books.
The books they targeted were among the most banned nationwide, and included:
- A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
- A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas
- Breathless by Jennifer Niven
- Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez
- Crank by Ellen Hopkins
- Ask the Passengers by A. S. King
- Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
- All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M Johnson
- Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
- Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
- Looking for Alaska by John Green
- Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
- Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
UK Librarians See Impact of US Censorship Attempts
Librarians across the pond are reporting an increase in requests to remove books from their shelves, a change they attribute to the growing influence of US-based pressure groups. As in the States, many of the books being targeted for banning center on LGBTQ+ themes. At present, most of the book challenges in the UK come from individuals and small groups, but librarians report being harassed by members of US-based groups online, and one librarian found propaganda from a US-based group on her desk. While library professionals in the UK report that the situation there is not (yet) as dire as it is here in the US, the global media ecosystem and the rise of far-right groups worldwide make this a serious threat to intellectual freedom. You’d be right to wonder if Moms for Liberty (named a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center) is among the US groups now reaching overseas. The Guardian does not specify.
The following comes to you from the Editorial Desk.
This week, we’re highlighting the best new poetry collections of 2025 (so far)! From the deeply personal to powerfully political, many of these collections reflect the zeitgeist and introduce some fresh voices in poetry. Read on for an excerpt and become an All Access member to unlock the full post.
How is it that we’re already more than a quarter of the way through 2025? I’m ahead of my reading goals and still feel so far behind at the same time. I’ve packed in plenty of poetry, though, finding lots of wonderful and surprising voices emerging. It’s early, but totally time to check in with some of the best new poetry collections of 2025 so far.
It’s funny how timely these collections are. Keep in mind that publishing moves VERY SLOWLY, so books that have been released in the first quarter of 2025 were probably completed in late 2023 or early 2024, only seeing the light of day recently. So, these collections were written in the run-up to last year’s presidential election. Nevertheless, many of these collections feel like guttural reactions to the world right now. Amazing how prescient art and artists can be, huh?
These poetry collections run the gamut from deeply personal to powerfully political. Let’s face it, those two are often the same anyway, particularly when it comes to poetry. Most exciting to me is how many of these best new poetry collections of 2025 so far are fresh voices to the poetic scene. Let’s dig into those collections, shall we?
Sign up to become an All Access member for only $6/month and then click here to read the full, unlocked article. Level up your reading life with All Access membership and explore a full library of exclusive bonus content, including must-reads, deep dives, and reading challenge recommendations.
