Book restrictions in Indiana pressure public schools and libraries to remove books

Over the last few years, parents and a network of organized conservative groups have put pressure on public schools and community libraries across the country to remove certain books from their collections. In Indiana, teachers may even be charged with a crime for providing books deemed “harmful.” WFYI’s Lee Gaines reports.

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Stephanie Sy : As the school year gets underway, 13 popular books were banned at Utah’s public schools this week under a new law. It’s one of many moves around the country threatening to reshape school libraries. Lee Gaines of WFYI reports on how in Indiana, teachers may even be criminalized for providing books deemed harmful.

Woman : It is a parent’s decision what their child is going to be reading.

Lee Gaines (voice-over) : This is totally inappropriate for K2 students to be discussing this with anybody but their parents.

Last year, Indiana governor Eric Holcomb signed a controversial book restriction bill that made two sweeping changes. First, it’s now easier for community members to request the removal of books from schools that they believe are inappropriate. Second, if a teacher or school librarian provides a student with a book their parent believes is harmful and a prosecutor agrees they could be charged with a crime and they can’t use the book’s educational value as a defense.

Indiana Republican state senator Jim Toms co-authored the initial legislation.

Jim Tomes (R) Indiana State Senator : These were pornographic books, something you would see probably in adult bookstores.

Lee Gaines (voice-over) : Efforts to restrict kids and teens access to certain types of books are happening across the country. PEN America, a nonprofit that advocates for free expression, documented nearly 6,000 instances of book bans in 41 states and 247 public school districts over a two year period, 37 percent of the banned books included characters of color or themes of race and racism, and 36 percent included LGBTQ characters or themes.

Jonathan Friedman, PEN America : Distinguished members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today.

Lee Gaines (voice-over) : PEN America’s Jonathan Friedman says Indiana’s law doesn’t ban specific types of content from schools, but it does create a sense of fear and anxiety among educators.

Jonathan Friedman : Now no one is telling them, You better not have X book or y book or books with sexual content on the shelves, but it’s clear that that kind of material is going to be targeted, and that the law that has passed is going to enable the targeting of that kind of that kind of content.

Lee Gaines : So there’s a fear that this legislation is going to lead to the removal of books like that, either because parents complain about them or because educators worry that they’ll get in trouble for including those types of books in their collection.

Jim Tomes : Well, maybe they should worry. Maybe educators should work through doing it. Maybe it should have the chilling effect if it’s going to put these kind of books in the hands of a minor child.

Lee Gaines (voice-over) : This targeting of books prompted Indianapolis author Leah Johnson to open her own bookstore, which stocks frequently banned titles.

Leah Johnson, Owner, Loudmouth Books : In retrospect, I can identify that not having books that reflected my experience did deeply change the way I thought about myself and my position in the world.

Lee Gaines (voice-over) : Johnson is now trying to fill that gap by writing stories about queer black girls. Her debut young adult novel “You Should See Me in a Crown,” follows the story of a black queer high school girl from Indiana.

The book received critical acclaim, but it was also one of about 50 titles that were put under investigation by the Oklahoma Attorney General because of complaints from parents and conservative groups that they contained obscene material.

Leah Johnson : There’s no content in the book that could even realistically be viewed as obscene, except for the fact that it is queer. And to a lot of people, queerness is inherently obscene.

Lee Gaines (voice-over) : The Oklahoma Attorney General dropped the investigation, but for Johnson, the current surge in book challenges and the state laws that support them are an existential threat.

Leah Johnson : It’s not about the removal of books from shelves. It’s about the removal of queer people from public life. It’s about making queer people ashamed and afraid and driving them back into the closet.

Lee Gaines (voice-over) : Indiana’s law has also sparked worry among librarians. Diane Rogers is the president of the Indiana Library Federation. She’s a high school librarian who has made it a point to stock her shelves with a diverse range of literature.

Lee Gaines : Do you have anything in this collection that could potentially fall under the category of obscene or harmful, as defined by Indiana law?

Diane Rogers, President, Indiana Library Federation : I have never had items that would be considered obscene by law in my collection. Do I have books that someone may find objectionable, but objectionable is not the same thing as obscene, and perhaps I do because people have different views about things. People have different feelings.

Lee Gaines (voice-over) : While she doesn’t believe this law affects her ability to do her job right now, Rogers worries about the future.

Diane Rogers : I worry that students won’t get the reading materials that they want, and they also won’t get the reading materials that they need. I have always tried to make sure that students can see themselves on the library shelf.

Lee Gaines (voice0over) : Bruce Boyd is a resident of Noblesville, Indiana, who describes himself as a Christian missionary. Boyd told me he thinks books that feature diverse representations of gender and sexuality could be harmful to kids.

Bruce Boyd, Noblesville, Indiana Resident : In a public library in a Christian nation, I think that, you know, my opinion, I feel like the standard has been set, and if we a Christian nation, we need to abide by the Christian standard.

Lee Gaines : But Boyd’s perspective isn’t one shared by everyone in the Indianapolis suburbs.

Max : My name is Max. I’m 16.

Lee Gaines (voice-over) : Max heard that their local public library board approved a new rule in late 2022 to ban books that contain sex, drug and alcohol use repeated profanity and violence from the children and teen sections in the library system. The policy led to the relocation of nearly 2000 books from the youth section to the adult collection. Max described it as outrageous. We’re not showing Max’s face to shield them from potential harassment.

Max : The first book that I read wasn’t the reason I realized I was trans. It was just nice to see once I realized that, and I see that represented a book. So now that it’s not being represented, it’s might be harder for people to realize or even just feel safe in their own identity, and that’s my concern.

Lee Gaines (voice-over) : The American Library Association documented over 4,200 unique book titles targeted for censorship in 2023 that represents a 65 percent increase over 2022 numbers, and the highest ever recorded since the ALA began tracking this data two decades ago, of the 10 most challenged books in 2023 seven were challenged because they contained LGBTQ content, and all 10 were claimed to contain sexually explicit content.

Max : It seemed really ill thought out.

Lee Gaines (voice-over) : Following backlash in Max’s community, several conservative members of the public library board either quit or were not reappointed. And in November 2023 the board voted to rescind the policy that banned certain books from the youth section of the library.

Max : What makes me hopeful is the fact that a lot of other people my age, who are Gen Z, we have access to the internet, and know how much power that can hold. I think that we have the power to stop this if we all pitch in. And I think we can.

Lee Gaines (voice-over) : Legislative efforts to control the types of books and activities children have access to in schools and libraries continue across the country, including Indiana. Legislation was filed in early 2024 that again targeted libraries and sought to define what was harmful to kids. But these bills didn’t get any traction this year.

Still, Republicans like Indiana State Senator Jim Tomes are adamant that libraries and schools continue to offer inappropriate content to kids.

Jim Tomes : I will say this if you’re defending these libraries and these books, you’re on the wrong side of things, but that’s okay. You’re entitled to be on the wrong side.

Lee Gaines (voice-over) : Meanwhile, there are librarians, educators, authors and parents determined not to let lawmakers restrict what young people have access to. Leah Johnson says her goal with Loudmouth Books is to be a steadfast home for titles that have been the target of bands.

Leah Johnson : My hope is that this is the beginning of what is going to become the new canon, full of people who look like me and move through the world the way that I move through the world.

Lee Gaines (voice-over) : For PBS News Weekend, I’m Lee Gaines in Indianapolis.