Nearly 300 books targeted, banned in MO schools since new state law took effect in August
In the wake of a new Missouri law making it a crime to provide books with "explicit sexual material" to students, nearly 300 books available in school libraries or classrooms have been banned or targeted for removal, a national group reported Wednesday.
The nonprofit PEN America group, which works to defend free expression, noted that books pulled from the shelves include a graphic novel adaptation of The Gettysburg Address, The Children's Bible, and education books about the Holocaust.
The advocacy group headquartered in New York City tracked nearly 300 books in at least 11 Missouri districts that were removed, or under review, in response to the new law — in effect since August — that makes providing "explicit sexual material" to students a class A misdemeanor, punishable by a penalty of up to one year in jail and a $2,000 fine for anyone convicted.
"Even amid an avalanche of book bans this fall, the removals in Missouri stand out,” said Jonathan Friedman, the PEN director of free expression and education programs, in the release.
“These districts — and likely others — have deputized themselves censors, sweeping up in a dragnet all manner of educational materials often with little documented justification."
Except for Willard, in southwest Missouri, nearly all the districts with challenged books have been in the Kansas City or St. Louis areas.
The other districts include Independence, Lindbergh, Kirkwood, Mehlville, North Kansas City, Raytown, Ritenour, Rockwood, Webster Groves, and Wentzville.
The list does not include the two books removed in Nixa Public Schools prior to the new law or the nine additional books recently challenged in that district south of Springfield.
The largest number of targeted books are in the Wentzville district which in February reversed its earlier decision to remove Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye.”
The targeted books include works on Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, graphic novel adaptations of classics by Shakespeare and Mark Twain, and the Pulitzer-prize winning Maus. Others include comics about Batman, X-Men, and Watchmen; The Complete Guide to Drawing & Painting by Reader’s Digest; and Women, a book of photographs by Annie Leibovitz.
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"These districts seemingly sought to purge any potentially offending visual material to avoid running afoul of the new law," Friedman said. "In so doing, they have cast aside the rights of students to read and learn, as well as the fundamental mission of public education and school libraries.”
In an open letter to Missouri school boards and districts, more than 20 authors and illustrators — some of whom have had their published works challenged in the Show-Me state — called on school officials to reverse the bans and return all books to library shelves.
They include Margaret Atwood, Art Spiegelman, Lois Lowry, Neil Gaiman, Roxane Gay, Alison Bechdel, Carmen Maria Machado, Laurie Halse Anderson, M.T. Anderson, Derf Backderf, Khalil Bendib, Matt Bors, Ellen Crenshaw, Mike Curato, Juno Dawson, Evan Dorkin, Deborah Hopkinson, Miles Hyman, Kelly Jensen, Lita Judge, Rupi Kaur, Maia Kobabe, Dylan Meconis, Ryan North, David Small, Amir Soltani, and Colleen AF Venable.
Here is the letter:
We, the undersigned, join authors, illustrators, and the literary and free expression organization PEN America, to protest the alarming book bans that have been enacted in Missouri schools this fall. These bans represent a grave threat to the freedom to read, much to the detriment of students across the state.
These bans have been enacted largely in reaction to a provision in Senate Bill 775, which makes the distribution of material deemed “harmful to minors” to students in Missouri by any school official (educators, librarians, student teachers, coaches) or by any visitor to a school, a misdemeanor punishable by fines or jail time.
What is the definition of "harmful"? Who decides? The new law focuses on “visual depictions” and “sexual material,” and some school boards and officials have interpreted it broadly, removing an astonishing range of material: dozens of graphic novels and comics, books with photography, memoirs, and books about art history. In the ten weeks since the provision went into effect, at least 11 school districts have banned over 300 books. Several districts banned books from their libraries permanently. In one district, over 200 books came off library shelves for an indeterminate period of “review.”
Provisions in the law that exempt materials of artistic or anthropological significance are clearly being ignored. Students have been barred from checking out works on Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, graphic novel adaptations of classics by Shakespeare and Mark Twain as well as The Gettysburg Address, the Pulitzer-prize winning Maus, and other books about the Holocaust. Districts have banned comics about Batman, X-Men, and Watchmen; The Complete Guide to Drawing & Painting by Reader’s Digest; Women (a book of photographs by Annie Leibovitz); and The Children’s Bible.
Such overzealous book banning is going to do more harm than good. Book bans limit opportunities for students to see themselves in literature and to build empathy for experiences different from their own. They deprive students of the freedom to read — to think, to imagine, to grow. And photographs and illustrations can be vital to storytelling: a window into the past, a means of reflecting the human condition, a tool for helping reluctant readers engage with literature.
Students in Missouri are having these educational opportunities denied. They are bearing the brunt of a hasty and poorly considered reaction to a broadly worded provision that has spurred censorious acts across the state. They are having their right to access a diversity of ideas, information, art, and literature in school libraries diminished.
We urge school district officials in these 11 districts to reverse these dangerous bans, and to put materials back on shelves where students can regain access to them.
Claudette RIley covers education for the News-Leader. Email tips and story ideas to criley@news-leader.com.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Nearly 300 books targeted in Missouri schools since new law in August
