Burning Ideas: Book Banning in School Libraries

Imagine reading in your school newspaper that the school library has banned Harry Potter for the presence of witchcraft. This, unfortunately, is reality: recently, a Catholic school banned Harry Potter for showing “actual curses and spells.” Other books that have been targeted are classics like Beloved by Toni Morrison, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. As recent as 2019, books were challenged for topics including sexual content, offensive language, violence, and homosexuality. 12% of those book challenges took place in schools, and an additional 19% happened in school libraries. 

Why do public school libraries ban books, and by what authority can they do so? This question calls for the interpretation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” The First Amendment has been fully incorporated: so, state governments are under the same limitations that Congress faces under the First Amendment.

Let me focus our discussion on public school libraries. The Supreme Court of the United States has often cited that public schools are places where the community rightfully inculcates in students “fundamental values necessary to the maintenance of a democratic political system.” These values have included, among others, a “respect for authority and traditional values,” which in turn are cultural, ethical, and political values. Sometimes, in order to protect these community values in student bodies, school districts may desire to ban some content from their libraries. The Supreme Court, however, has made it clear that a public school’s discretion to ban books is confined within the limits of the First Amendment. 

So, what kind of content can a public school library ban? This question is most easily answered by describing what it cannot ban. In Island Trees School District v. Pico by Pico, the Supreme Court explicitly writes that “Our Constitution does not permit the official suppression of ideas.” These liberties, which draw their power from the First Amendment, apply to students even inside a schoolhouse, according to Tinker v. Des Moines. So, for example, a Democratic school board cannot censor a book on the basis that it supports the Republican party. Similarly, a school board cannot ban literature on the sole basis that it promotes gender equality, racial justice, or other ideas. In contrast, books may be banned for being “pervasively vulgar” or “educationally unsuitable.” These are categories which are largely left to the interpretation of school boards and courts.

The Supreme Court argues that it is imperative that students learn to think, analyze, and form opinions for themselves in the context of thought-provoking (and sometimes controversial) texts. While community values are important, it is critical for a student to learn that these values may be subjected to debate in a democratic society. In a broader sense, the Supreme Court holds that public schools must not “prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion” in its students.

Some dissenting judges in Island Trees School Dist. v. Pico by Pico argued that when a school board bans a book, the government does not actually violate students’ First Amendment rights. School libraries are not the only venue by which students can obtain books. When “government as educator” removes a book from a public school library, it does not extend its power to ban a book across all platforms. That is, students may gain access to banned books elsewhere, such as from a private vendor, a public library, or online. Therefore, the government does not infringe upon students’ First Amendment rights.

However, Justices William Brennan Jr., Justice Thurgood Marshall, and Justice John Stevens in Island Trees School Dist. v. Pico by Pico emphasized that school libraries are important places where students can explore ideas and acquire knowledge. Public school libraries, by providing access to ideas, help prepare students to engage in the democratic society that we live in. Fundamental democratic values include the right to free speech and free press. As such, public school libraries are “especially appropriate for the recognition of the First Amendment rights of students.” Banning a book from a school library, then, would be a poor example of how students should engage with ideas once they become adults.

The community will always be concerned about the ideas and reading material that kids are exposed to. But the Supreme Court has emphasized that public school libraries may not remove books based on controversial ‘ideas.’ After all, students are entitled to their First Amendment rights within the schoolhouse. Though the battle to protect children from ‘offensive’ material will continue to occur, it will occur within the realm of students’ First Amendment rights.

Jaehyun Hong is a current first-year student who plans to study philosophy. She is a Staff Writer of the Law Review's Blog and can be reached at jaehyun_hong@brown.edu.