Resources

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

THE FACTS / MESSAGING

  1. AMERICANS OPPOSE BOOK BANNING
    Americans oppose book bans, don’t believe that there are problematic books on the shelves, and believe books shouldn’t be removed when parents complain
    [source: Deseret News / BYU "American Family Survey]

    • Only 12% of Americans agree that books should be removed from libraries if a parent objects.

    • Only 16% believe public school libraries include inappropriate books on their shelves. (source: American Family Survey (BYU/Deseret News)

    • 65% said it was important for public school libraries to represent a variety of perspectives about controversial issues — even if it makes some people uncomfortable.

    • “The public really doesn’t like book banning,” said Jeremy C. Pope, professor of political science at Brigham Young University and co-investigator for the survey.

  2. BOOK BANS ARE VERY EXPENSIVE
    They are a waste of taxpayer money, and it pulls teachers and librarians away time educating students

  3. THE LAW REQUIRES THAT BOOKS MUST BE EVALUATED “AS A WHOLE”, NOT BY EXCERPTS TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT
    One drop of water does not a thunderstorm make - degree and context matters, legally, and with regard to assessing educational value

    • A few sentences in a book that deal with sexual situations do not automatically make the work as a whole educationally unsuitable, or pornographic. Context matters.

    • The conservative First Liberty Institute recently made this argument in defense of the bible, which was challenged in a Utah school district for having sexually explicit content in violation of the “bright line” rule. The Institute correctly point out that the bible has great value and must be assessed “as a whole”, rather than banning the book based on sexually explicit passages evaluated out of context. This is both a common sense and legal standard that must be applied to all books, or we will continue to see the bible challenged and removed in other school districts in Utah.

  4. LIBRARIES ONLY PURCHASE FROM MAINSTREAM PUBLISHERS

    • Mainstream publishers that libraries purchase from don’t print or sell obscene materials.

  5. BOOKS THAT ADDRESS DIFFICULT TOPICS IN AN DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE WAY KEEPS KIDS SAFE
    Access to developmentally appropriate information helps protect kids and keep them safe from predators and abusers

    • Banning books harms kids and makes them MORE vulnerable to abuse: When kids can’t find reliable, developmentally appropriate information in books, they will driven to the Internet and social media sites to find information — and that puts them in REAL danger of encountering malevolent characters online who can do them harm. Books give kids the language and concepts to protect themselves and their siblings and friends from harm, and helps them to recognize the warning signs of danger or abuse.

  6. THE “BRIGHT LINE RULE” ISN’T VERY BRIGHT - IT PUTS SCHOOL DISTRICTS (AND TAXPAYERS) IN LEGAL JEOPARDY
    The so-called “Bright Line” rule is anything but. It puts school districts — and taxpayers - in danger of unnecessary lawsuits

    • A true “bright line” rule provides crystal clarity regarding what is legal and what is illegal so that one can easily discern the lawful from the unlawful and thus choose to stay on the right side of the line and be protected from any threat of civil or criminal penalties. Yet school district leaders, and the legislature’s own counsel, are clear that the “bright line" rule puts them in legal jeopardy whichever side of the line they are on. (i.e. whether they pull books or leave them on the shelf.)

    • Michael Curtis (Managing Associate General Counsel, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel), clearly established the untenable predicament the “bright line” rule has created for LEAs when he said in the October 2022 Interim Education Committee meeting, “What lawsuit does the LEA want to defend, because that’s kind of what they are choosing now.” Later in the meeting Curtis reiterated this point saying, “The dynamic that LEAs are in right now is sort of pick a lawsuit to defend.”

    • “[P]icking a lawsuit to defend” is literally the opposite effect of a “bright line” rule, and the use of the term is Orwellien in it’s “war is peace”, “freedom is slavery” inversion of meaning. [Source: Video of Oct 2022 committee meeting; See timestamps 1:13:37 and 1:14:10 for Curtis’ comments]

  7. BOOK BANNING IS A WAY TO DISTRACT FROM SOLVING REAL PROBLEMS
    If we’re concerned about porn hijacking kids brains,     let’s be real about solving the problem.

  • As Common Sense Media says in their new report "Teens and Pornography",  "Today’s teens have more options than previous generations, including generally unfettered access to pornographic websites, social media, and other outlets... 

  • “Personal devices enable more pornography access as well as easier sharing with peers, generally undetected by parents." 

  • If teens want to see sex, they aren’t hiding under their covers with a flashlight reading Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood, or Shannon Hale — they are typing a few words into their phone and watching explicit videos.

  • When we water down the definition of “pornography” to apply to books that may touch on themes of sexuality within the context of a larger theme or story, we make it HARDER to deal with the REAL problem.

  • As author Shannon Hale has said, “In cultures where discussion of sex is taboo, predators flourish.”

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES