NJ ban on banning books? New bill would cut aid to libraries, schools that block access

Public and school libraries that ban books or restrict access to them could see their state funding cut if a law proposed this week by Democratic senators passes the state Legislature.

The bill aims to deter a growing trend of right-wing and religious activists pressuring these institutions to remove content they say is too mature for children and teenagers.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Zwicker, D-Middlesex, and Sen. Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex, aims to prohibit the banning of books in public libraries and public schools.

Calls to ban books that feature mature discussions of gender, sexuality and racism have been increasing nationally and in New Jersey since 2021. The movement to remove books perceived by some as offensive from school and public libraries picked up steam in the aftermath of the Trump presidency and the pandemic's mask and quarantine wars, which pitted Republican and Democratic voters and administrations against each other.

The most contested books range from recent publications that discuss gender identity and sexuality, such as "Gender Queer," to classics that have been taught in American schools for years that deal with racial and sexual violence, such as "The Bluest Eye," by Nobel prize-winning African American author Toni Morrison.

Many of these books have been targeted at school board meetings, with librarians and school staff caught in the crossfire, trying to defend their selections and themselves to some angry parents convinced that public school educators and Democrats are grooming schoolchildren and teenagers by carrying these titles and implementing LGBTQ-friendly policies in schools.

'Disturbing' Hackensack library denounces increase in book bans, challenges

And as parents, students, librarians and board members fight it out, drivers of the divide in the usually small-town communities where book bans become a hot topic include self-proclaimed parental rights groups such as Moms For Liberty, which has chapters in New Jersey, and the Center for Garden State Families, which has an anti-gay platform and promotes heterosexual relationships.

"Librarians should not be in the middle of this fight, and book-banning is always wrong," Zwicker said. The new bill has yet to have a hearing in either house, but some Republicans are already poised to fight it."

Commenting on Zwicker's bill, Sen. Holly Schepisi, R-Bergen, said, "While I agree books shouldn’t be banned, I strongly disagree with the premise that all books, regardless of content, should or must be available in every public school without regard to age appropriateness."

School libraries usually have policies that organize books according to age restrictions, maturity and other criteria, and elementary, middle and high school library collections are usually in separate buildings. The American Library Association interprets its bill of rights to mean that students have "equitable access" to all books, with librarians working as responsible conduits who implement policies created by school boards.

'It's happening all over' NJ librarians push back against book ban demands

Challenging censorship

The bill would require municipal public libraries and school libraries to adopt the American Library Association's Bill of Rights, which specifies: "Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval." The bill of rights also says libraries should challenge censorship.

"The intensely sexual content and mature themes contained" in some books in New Jersey school libraries are the reason for controversy, Schepisi told NorthJersey.com. "A middle school student shouldn’t be reading 'Fifty Shades of Grey' or 'Gender Queer.'"

Zwicker said he strongly supports parental rights and the need for most parents to know what their children read, but while that can occur through conversations between them, he did not think it was fair to control access to content for all parents and all children, who might visit a library to be exposed to topics that do nor interest others.

Book banning efforts in NJ

In New Jersey, three books faced bans in 2021 in the Sparta Township, Lower Township and Westfield school districts, according to PEN America.

A Roxbury public school librarian has sued local parents alleging harassment, and spoke defiantly about her support for LGBTQ-themed titles at a board meeting this week that was filled with groups of parents up in arms against one another over the issue.

That librarian, Roxana Russo Caivano, is seeking damages in a lawsuit that names four township residents who she says have labeled her a "child predator" and accused her of "luring children with pornography" in public and online.

And the Board of Education in Bernards Township in Central Jersey voted this week to remove a social studies textbook from its curriculum, citing its content, according to reports.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ book ban law could block state aid to some libraries