Industry & Advocacy News
January 16, 2025
The Authors Guild, the NAACP, and individual plaintiffs filed a federal lawsuit on December 19 against the Elizabeth School District in Colorado for removing books from school libraries based on their content and viewpoints. The lawsuit challenges the school board’s decision to permanently ban 19 books, many of which are highly acclaimed and widely taught across the country.
The complaint details how in the summer of 2024, the Elizabeth School Board began removing books it deemed contained “sensitive topics.” The banned books primarily feature works by or about people of color and LGBTQIA+ individuals. Many are award-winning titles that have been classroom staples for years, including Beloved by Toni Morrison—winner of the Pulitzer Prize—and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas—a #1 New York Times bestseller.
Beyond removing existing books, the board directed librarians not to order any new books for school libraries, banned classroom libraries entirely (causing teachers to cover their book collections with brown paper or take them home), and prohibited students from sharing books with each other in school. It switched from Scholastic to SkyTree Books, a vendor that promised book fairs without any LGBTQIA+ content, Critical Race Theory, foul language, explicit content, or dark magic.
The board also implemented a system requiring parents to be notified whenever their child checks out a book on the “sensitive list,” with no way for parents to opt out of these notifications. These actions stigmatized books by and about racial minorities and LGBTQIA+ people by labeling them as inappropriate or dangerous, creating an environment where parents and teachers feel afraid to disagree with or challenge these policies publicly. The board threatened disciplinary action against staff members who provided “harsh feedback” about its decisions, compelled teachers to create inventories of their classroom libraries for review and potential further removals, and ultimately caused some families to withdraw their children from the district entirely.
To add insult to injury, board members admitted they had not fully read many of the banned books before deciding to remove them. The board’s actions appear politically motivated rather than educationally justified, with board members explicitly stating they were acting to impose “conservative values.”
This is an especially aggressive form of book banning that goes beyond typical content concerns into what appears to be systematic viewpoint suppression. The lawsuit argues that the board’s actions violate students’ First Amendment rights by restricting access to books based solely on the board members’ personal political views. Plaintiffs seek an injunction to restore the banned books to libraries and prevent future removals based on viewpoint discrimination. The case represents a significant challenge to the rising wave of book bans nationwide.
The Authors Guild has long been at the forefront of defending authors’ rights and fighting censorship. Our involvement in this Colorado case is part of a broader effort to combat the alarming rise of book bans across the nation. We are currently co-plaintiffs in ongoing legal actions in Florida and Iowa, challenging similar laws that encourage or mandate book banning, with recent victories in Arkansas, Texas, and Virginia.
The Authors Guild remains committed to defending literary freedom and will continue to challenge any attempts to censor or ban books through legal action, advocacy, and public education.
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