The Iowa State Education Association and Penguin Random House filed a lawsuit in federal court Thursday challenging parts of a state law prohibiting books that depict sex acts from being available in Iowa K-12 school libraries. It’s the second lawsuit filed against Senate File 496 this week. On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union of […]
book banning
Posted inStatewide
Contact Buzz: The right to read we will maintain
“Don’t join the book burners. Don’t think you’re going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don’t be afraid to go in your library and read every book …” ―Dwight D. Eisenhower In its current, divisive state, Americans are doing a lot of talking at one another and very little listening on […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Marginalization and book bans protect abusers, warns Iowa writer Lyz Lenz: ‘Silence always benefits power’
Growing up in a conservative evangelical family, Lyz Lenz internalized Old Testament proverbs, like, “It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.” She was conditioned to believe that anger was a bad emotion, especially if you were a girl or a woman. As […]
Posted inCommunity/News
The nonprofit Annie’s Foundation, founded by Johnston parents to fight book bans, is giving away books at pop-ups all month
The aim of Senate File 496 is not to clearly define what is considered problematic. Rather, the law is meant to scare educators into over-censoring the books in their care. Teachers and librarians will be facing harsh penalties after Jan. 1, 2024 if any “questionable” materials are available and under their control. Some zealous school […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Every book removed from Iowa schools (so far) in response to SF 496
Gov. Kim Reynolds signed SF 496 into law in May, after it was pushed through the Iowa Legislature with only Republican votes. Among the bill’s provisions is a requirement that school districts remove all books with “descriptions or visual depictions of a sex act” except for approved science or health class texts. It also prohibits […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘More than 1,000 books’ removed from Iowa schools, as districts work to comply with new state book ban; Scholastic apologizes for book fair ‘bigot button’
The impact of the book banning provisions in SF 496, which Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law in May, is becoming clearer as the Des Moines Register continues to update its database of books pulled from classrooms and school libraries. “More than 1,000 books have already been removed from 39 public school districts,” the Register […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa City Community School District releases list of 68 books it’s removed (so far) to comply with the new state law
On Monday, the Iowa City Community School District released the “current list” of books it has removed from schools in its “ongoing efforts to ensure compliance with Iowa law Senate File 496.” Gov. Kim Reynolds signed SF 496 into law in May, after it was pushed through the Iowa Legislature with only Republican votes. Among […]
Posted inStatewide
Iowa’s broad new law for schools prohibiting books with sex lands nearly 400 titles on Urbandale’s ban list, including sexless LGBTQ children’s books
The impact of a bill Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law on May 26, which has provisions banning certain books from schools and certain topics from being mentioned in K-6 classes, is beginning to be felt around the state. SF 496 requires schools to remove all books with “descriptions or visual depictions of a sex […]
Posted inCommunity/News
The new state laws affecting LGBTQ students this fall
In many important ways, the bills passed by Republican lawmakers and signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds this year that targeted transgender students echoed the law enacted last year banning transgender girls and women from participating in girls’ or women’s sports at schools or colleges in Iowa. Like the sports ban, the new laws […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Gov. Reynolds boasts about her anti-LGBTQ school policies, calls for new law restricting students’ access to books conservatives don’t like
Speaking at a gathering of conservative activists on Thursday, Gov. Kim Reynolds expressed her opposition to schools offering support to transgender students and called for a new law to restrict student access to books some conservative parents find objectionable. The governor characterized these proposals as part of her agenda of “parental rights,” a term she […]
