“What you can see with book bannings is that they are tied to whatever is causing anxiety in society,”

Emily Knox, author of Book Banning in 21st-Century America.

“I guarantee you, the vast majority of schools don’t even have the most outrageous books that are on these [banned books] lists,” Noah said. “What’s happening here is that people are finding the most scary parts of the most scary books, and then they’re making a bad faith argument that kids are being bombarded with all this stuff. So, all the books have to go.... People are using these books as an excuse to go after all the books they don’t like," said Trevor Noah.

The big concern with the book challenges and banning that have occurred are extremely alarming as school libraries are being attacked. The optional reading material that is the key component of libraries is being highlighted. It is the right of ever parent to make the decision for their own child. It is not the right of any parent to make that decision for all students. In the past, challenges have tended to be limited to curricular text but this is no longer the case.

Protections for Library Material

Section 4509 - Library Exemption - NYS CPLR Section 4509 language

Library records, which contain names or other personally identifying details regarding the users of public, free association, school, college and university libraries and library systems of this state, including but not limited to records related to the circulation of library materials, computer database searches, interlibrary loan transactions, reference queries, requests for photocopies of library materials, title reserve requests, or the use of audio-visual materials, films or records, shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed except that such records may be disclosed to the extent necessary for the proper operation of such library and shall be disclosed upon request or consent of the user or pursuant to subpoena, court order or where otherwise required by statute.

NYS Obscenity Exemption language

- In the Supreme Court case Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982), the Court held that the First Amendment limits the power of junior high and high school officials to remove books from school libraries because of their content.

FOIL/FOIA – refers to Freedom of Information Law (NY) and Freedom of Information Act (Federal).

- Always check with your FOIL records officer before answering requests for data such as purchase orders, student records and library holdings.
- Also, here are older “Ask the Lawyer Questions” that deal with FOIL/FOIA.