At the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University, we’re tracking developments in the continuing problem of books being banned.
Under the press-freedom guarantee of the First Amendment, government agencies are barred from prohibiting people’s access to books. It’s a form of censorship, in fact the most common form. Yet attempts are made, from the right and from the left, to declare certain books off-limits.
Bookstores may decide not to carry certain titles, as they are not government bodies. But public libraries public schools should not be in the business of deciding to take books off shelves because they are controversial in one way or another.
Below you’ll find a list of recent incidents involving book banning.
See also: Book Banning, in the First Amendment Encyclopedia.
NEW:
Mich. librarian threatened with prosecution unless LGBTQ novel removed
N.C. school district takes 41 books off shelves ‘for review’
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