Oppose book bans, stand for freedom to read

Published 1:30 am Sunday, February 2, 2025

On Jan. 24, 2025, the Department of Education dismissed complaints against book banning made by students, parents, and educators, with a press release titled “U.S. Department of Education ends Biden’s book ban hoax.”

Under Trump, the Department of Education is gaslighting us. Book bans are real. According to PEN America, during the 2023-24 school year, over 10,000 books were banned or challenged across the country. In Clay County, Fla., one man alone has challenged over 900 books, trampling on the First Amendment rights of parents and their families. In Utah, where one complaint can get a book banned in every school in the state, students are now prohibited from bringing those books to school.

Don’t think it only happens in red states either. In the Kent school district, part of the blue bastion that is the Seattle Metro area, a middle school librarian had to fend off harassment and abuse from his own principal when someone filed a challenge in 2022.

Jan. 27 was International Holocaust Remembrance Day. As we reflect on one of the worst atrocities of the modern age, it’s not lost on me that the vast majority of books are being challenged because they feature voices and perspectives from people of color and the LGBTQ+ community. Remember: before the Nazis burned people, they burned books.

Don’t let it happen here. Attend your local school and library board meetings, read banned books for yourself, and talk to your neighbors. Together, we can protect the freedom to read.

Shannon Ozog Somes

Lake Stevens