The possibility of books becoming banned has spiked in discussion lately. Each school and state can consider this for their own. However, New Jersey’s Governor, Phil Murphy, passed the “Freedom to Read Act” in December. This requires clear procedures by schools and librarians when reviewing if a book should be taken off the shelves. New Jersey law now prohibits books from censorship on the basis of origin, background or author’s views. This act makes New Jersey the third state to legally oppose the banning of books.

USA Today’s headline “US public schools banned over 10K books during 2023-2024 academic year, report says” is alarming to many. The American Library Association (ALA) reports “Between January 1 and August 31, 2024, ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 414 attempts to censor library materials and services. In those cases, 1,128 unique titles were challenged.” According to PEN America, Texas and Wisconsin have the most banned books, with 538 in Texas and 408 in Wisconsin. “There were attempts to censor more than 100 titles in each of these 17 states: Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin” according to the ALA.

In New Jersey, there is a banned book week, from October 1 to October 7. During that week people will read banned books or books that might become banned during that week.

However, in many other states librarians and schools can face harsh penalties for allowing teens to read books censored. The Associated Press notes that “Arkansas and Indiana targeted educators and librarians with criminalization laws last year. Tennessee criminalized publishers that provide “obscene” materials to public schools.” In Indiana, school librarians and educators can be charged with felonies punishable by up to 2½ years in jail and $10,000 in fines for giving minors “obscene” or “harmful” material.